A great company culture encompasses a lot of factors — things like trust and transparency, respect and inclusivity, supportive leadership, career opportunity, and more. But at the end of the day, creating a positive culture comes down to people. 

At Sovrn, we’re fortunate to employ an amazing group of talented people who share our core values. Together, we’ve developed a culture that’s truly unique and special — and it’s often the number one reason our employees give when asked why they love working at Sovrn.

Here are just a few examples that demonstrate the real-life impact of the Sovrn culture:

Pride Month celebrations  

June is Pride Month, and we made the most of this opportunity to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community and support all employees’ right to be their full authentic selves. Throughout the month, our DEI Council planned a number of activities including shared office goodies, volunteer opportunities, and virtual game of Pride Bingo. Since we are a hybrid work environment, the virtual option gave everyone the opportunity to participate. 

Bike to Work Day

Colorado also celebrates Bike Month every June. Since Sovrn is headquartered in Boulder, we encouraged employees to ditch their vehicles and join us for Bike to Work Day on June 22. We had an impressive showing of cyclists who took the opportunity to get an extra workout, save some gas money, and help protect the environment. Every employee who embraced the bike-to-work challenge received a free breakfast and a raffle entry for a chance to win a $100 gift card to their favorite bike shop.

A return to in-person gatherings

For the first time in more than two years, we were able to bring some of our teams together in person at Sovrn headquarters in Boulder, CO. Members of our Data, Engineering, Product, and Technology teams came from around the globe for a week full of learning, collaboration, and team building. It was a great opportunity for people to meet in person — often for the first time — and work on projects face-to-face. Of course we also incorporated fun activities like an office scavenger hunt, “Guess Who?” quiz featuring fun facts about our team members, food trucks, and a group hike. 

Unique employee perks

We’ve put together a unique set of perks to keep all of our employees healthy and happy. In addition to first-class health benefits and wellness options, we offer lots of little “life-improvement perks,” like a free subscription to the Calm app, generous commuter benefits, an in-house barista, and an employee recognition program. We even organize frequent volunteer opportunities, so our employees can enjoy time together while giving back to the community.

Swag, swag, swag!

We love our branded company swag — and we love to share it with our people! Every new employee receives a welcome package their first week with lots of Sovrn goodies. We also take every opportunity to create themed hats, T-shirts, water bottles, coffee mugs, and more, so our employees can sport their Sovrn gear with pride. 

Interested in building a career with us? Visit our Careers page to explore our open positions and learn more about what makes Sovrn a great place to work.

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As shared in a previous blog post, Farm to Majors allows employees to work on real-life projects outside their normal area of responsibility so they can explore new career directions and expand their skill sets. Senior staff members serve as mentors to the program’s participants, which gives them an opportunity to shape the next generation of talent while refining their own expertise in the process.

This unique program offers a wealth of benefits for everyone involved — and for the company as a whole. To better understand its impact, we’ve compiled a few insights from the people who know Farm to Majors best — including graduates, mentors, and the program’s founder. 

How it started

When Chris Prokopiak joined Sovrn as a software engineer in 2018, he discovered the outlines of a program that would help technical support reps develop the skills to move into engineering roles. The foundation was there — all it needed was someone with the vision and dedication to bring the program to life. 

“I was intrigued by the idea of creating a pipeline of technical talent within the company, so I really wanted to make the concept a reality,” said Chris. “As we worked through the initial phases of the program, we found a lot of support throughout the organization. From the top down, people recognized this as an opportunity to create new career paths and improve diversity within the engineering org.”

Since then, more than a dozen participants have successfully completed the Farm to Majors program. 

A measurable impact

Farm to Majors has had a tremendous impact in just a few short years. When asked about their experience, both program participants and mentors eagerly shared their insights.

Jarod Means joined Sovrn in 2021 as a software engineer. When the opportunity arose to serve as a mentor in the Farm to Majors program, he jumped at the chance. “I love to teach, and this was an exciting way to apply that passion in my career,” he said. “Most of the program participants have a good background in writing code, but being a successful engineer is so much more than that. As a mentor, I can help mentees think through technical problems and learn new skills like testing and troubleshooting. And teaching helps me sharpen my own skills, too, because it makes me think about things in different ways.”   

For Brandon Oney, the Farm to Majors program was an opportunity to explore career options outside his area of expertise. He joined Sovrn as an IT engineer, but his real interest was in product development. Through Farm to Majors, he was able to “try on” several different product-focused roles and lead a product development project from start to finish, which led to a new role as a product manager. “My favorite part of the program was being exposed to so many diverse perspectives,” said Brandon. “It gave me the chance to see many different ways of being effective in a product role, so I got a more holistic view of what success looks like.”

Roxanne Baldwin has a unique perspective on Farm to Majors, having been both a participant and a mentor in the program. She joined Sovrn in 2018 in a support role, but her goal was to move into software engineering. The Farm to Majors program provided a unique way to learn new skills without leaving her current job. After completing a year-long engineering project and graduating from Farm to Majors, Roxanne took a new role as a software engineer — and then decided to “pay it forward” as a mentor. 

“For me, participating in Farm to Majors was really empowering. It helped me overcome that ‘imposter syndrome’ and prove that I have the skills to succeed as an engineer,” Roxanne said. “And as a mentor, it’s just so gratifying to help grow the next generation of talent. So far, I’ve mentored three people through the program and into software engineering roles.” 

Interested in building a career at Sovrn? Check out our current job openings. 

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Because of our commitment to second-order thinking, we’re turning the concept of quality on its head – especially when it comes to our engineering and product development processes. 

Traditionally, quality review processes tend to be lumped towards the end of a project. Tests may be running in parallel while development is taking place, but ultimately, the question is, “Did it pass?” In many cases, quality checks aren’t finalized until well after a product goes into production.

We think that’s too late to be sure of a desirable outcome.

The pitfalls of test-driven performance

Test-driven development has become more mainstream in recent years. It is a thoughtful approach to developing, ensuring that tests are being conducted every step of the way, and the act of passing each test demonstrates that the code works. But even if the code passes the test gauntlet it could be different from what the product specifications require.

Communication is key

Communication is the best tool a team can leverage to enable quality throughout a development process. If everyone is on the same page, not only will the whole team have a better view of the project, but bugs are eliminated before they are written.

From the inception stage to deployment there should be quality waypoints. The first draft of the test plan can be developed in concert with the product at inception time. This is an ideal time to bring up test questions. Often this will allow you to identify architectural sticking points or pieces that may take more implementation time than originally thought, right from the outset.

Project check-in meetings can also be beneficial. If your project is being developed in phases, set a check-in meeting near the end of each phase. Sit down with the team and review the test plan and tickets. Ensure the work in this phase is meeting product expectations, and that blockers have not appeared between this phase and next.

At the end of the project, a final run-through of the test plan is equally useful. Break down the pass/fail stages of the test plan with team members, and try to ensure that engineers other than the original author take responsibility for testing each segment. This will help the whole team to develop a more comprehensive understanding of the project — beyond their individual assignment — and a fresh set of can reveal issues that would otherwise be missed.

Communicate early, communicate often

As these techniques become muscle memory, the entire development process becomes second nature. Your team will develop quicker and better projects. Architectural changes during the process will cease to exist, you will not see significant increase in your tech debt. Viewing the entire team, the entire project, and the entire customer experience as an inter-connected organic experience allows rapid and safe growth while mitigating risk.

Quality is not here to play the blame game, but rather to make developers’ lives easier. Fewer bugs, fewer on-call incidents, fewer outages. Happier developers, happier customers.

(Want to join the Sovrn team? If Sovrn sounds like the kind of place you’d like to work, let’s talk! We’re always looking for great people, so check out our open roles and submit an application.)

Quality extends to our customers

Our commitment to quality and second-level thinking are visible in our publisher approval processes. Whether you want to advertise with Sovrn or leverage our affiliate marketing platform, our quality team will first conduct a thorough review to ensure your site meets the industry best practices and typical merchant standards for quality, security and transparency.

While our approval processes might look different from other providers, they ensure a better long-term outcome for our publishers. 

• For affiliate marketers, our rigorous up-front approval standards eliminate the need for separate applications to work with individual merchants. Once you’re approved on our Commerce platform, you have immediate access to thousands of merchants so you can start earning right away. 
• On the advertising side, the success of your ad program depends on your ability to attract ad buyers who will pay premium pricing for high-quality placements. Having your site vetted by a trusted ad partner (like Sovrn) signals to buyers that you’re creating quality, original content that drives real, organic traffic.

To learn more about our core values, our dedication to quality, and our powerful publisher tools, you can contact us at sales@sovrn.com. 

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On a bright and sunny day, Sovrn employees had a chance to get their hands into the dirt, connect with one another outside of the office, and give back to the community. One team was busy transplanting eggplant and basil seedlings in the greenhouse while the other was outside on the farm planting broccoli and cauliflower plants into neat rows. 

And while most of the plants will be sold through Growing Gardens plant sales or through the farm’s Community Supported Agriculture program, more than 20,000 plant starts will be donated to low-income gardeners to grow their own food. All in all, Growing Gardens donated plant starts, seed packets, or fresh produce to over 15,000 people in 2021 – meaning the organization needs a lot of hands each spring to help.

Volunteering at local organizations is just one way Sovrn gives back to the communities in which we have a presence – both our employees and the company itself via matching employee donations. In Boulder, we’ve donated to the Boulder Humane Society and Emergency Family Assistance Association, and, most recently, to the Community Foundation Boulder County to help those who suffered tragic losses in December due to the Marshall Fire. And, we’ve helped the Veterans Community Project bring tiny homes to the neighboring town of Longmont. 

Sovrn also supports individual volunteering by providing paid time off for employees to give back to their local community, whether that’s where one of our offices are located (Boulder, Colorado; New York City; San Diego, California; and London) or, for our remote employees, wherever they reside.

For employees, volunteer team building events like the one at Growing Gardens this week is a way to give back, get out of the office, and to get to know people in a different way than inside an office (or via Zoom). 

“It opens up a new opportunity to talk to people and collaborate across departments in a non-work setting,” said Amber Blose, employee experience lead at Sovrn who organized the outing. “A team building event like this is such a great way to build connections with others you might not interact with every day and learn something new about them – and your community.”

Interested in joining Sovrn? Visit our Careers page to explore our open positions.

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In major league baseball, teams utilize minor leagues to grow and develop their players. At Sovrn, we utilize this same concept to create future opportunities for our “players,” or our employees. Since we have so many talented individuals here at Sovrn, we created the Farm to Majors program to help those that have the interest and the potential to grow their careers in a new direction.

While this program is great for creating opportunities for our employees to explore and grow, it is a wonderful addition to Sovrn, too. The graduates from Farm to Majors who choose to move their careers into a different direction are highly motivated. They are already very familiar with the business of Sovrn and the development practices and processes we use. This ensures they can make a very fast transition into their new team, performing at a high level much faster than a new hire. It is also a great program for mentors as it gives our senior staff an opportunity to teach and mentor the next generation, to not only give back but to grow their own skills and career in the process. And, it helps Sovrn make great strides in our diversity and inclusion goals as the Farm to Majors program opens up careers to individuals with unusual backgrounds. You no longer necessarily need a degree in computer science to become an engineer.

So what do we actually do in Farm To Majors? First, we group the participants into teams geared to similar skill sets and interests, such as full stack JavaScript development, backend development, product management or delivery management. Then we find each team several highly skilled mentors who are already doing that job.

Our Farm To Majors teams work on real engineering projects that will be used in production. We choose a project that is meaningful to them, something that addresses a need that they have encountered in their time at Sovrn. Participants working in the product management track start discovery and design of the feature while engineers and delivery managers attend a series of workshops to get them up to speed with everything they will need. This can include sessions on agile processes, introductions to the tech stack and the frameworks we use, CI/CD methods, QA practices and anything else that may come in handy.

We then take the teams through the full project lifecycle, including inception, story mapping, development, testing and deployment. This whole process takes six months. Throughout the program, teams follow standard agile practices, including all the standard ceremonies, and give a demo to the company at the end of the project. At every step, experienced mentors are available to help guide but the work is done by the participants, enhancing their own learning. All of this is done alongside the participants’ main job, and they are given time to attend workshops in their normal work day so that they can learn alongside doing their main job.

We also include opportunities for shadowing teams at work, plus interview prep in the program. When we have entry level positions open up in any field where we have Farm To Majors participants, they are opened internally first. Many of these positions we have been able to fill with our Farm to Majors graduates, showcasing the amazing skills they have gained. And we have had other graduates that decided the life of an engineer wasn’t for them and so tried a different track the next time around before moving onto a new career.

This Farm To Majors program has given us such amazing opportunities at Sovrn, whether looking to upskill in a new career, try out something new, get experience mentoring others or gaining an invaluable new team mate. I am so proud of being be part of this program and excited about what our new crop of Farm To Majors participants will achieve.

Interested in building a career at Sovrn? Check out our openings here! Sovrn Careers

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A place like Sovrn.

We’re currently hiring for a variety of roles across a number of teams. If you’re looking for a position in engineering, sales, marketing, finance, or people, check out our current job listings — and read on to find out more about why you should come work with us.

What does Sovrn do?

Sovrn is all about protecting the open web, leveling the playing field, and helping content creators stay independent in the competitive internet landscape. 

As a leader in online publisher technology, Sovrn offers a suite of publishing solutions that help content creators innovate and drive more value from their content and visitors through advertising, affiliate, and audience tools. We’re honored to partner with over 40,000 websites, ultimately reaching over 300 million active consumers.

Our company is headquartered in Boulder, CO, but our business is global. We also operate offices in New York, San Diego, and London.

What if I don’t know anything about online publishing?

We think publisher technology is a pretty exciting space to be right now. The industry is growing, digital media and ad tech are evolving quickly, and Sovrn is squarely in the middle of the action.

That said, we don’t expect every candidate to come in with expert credentials. Experience comes in different forms and we recognize that many skills are transferable. 
More important than your resume is your ability to thrive in a fluid and collaborative environment — and your passion for learning. We think it’s important for every employee to learn new things on the job, and we’ve created a supportive, nurturing culture that encourages continuous learning. In fact, it’s one of Sovrn’s core values.

What makes Sovrn such a great place to work?

Sovrn sits in that “just right” spot between too-small startup companies and too-big enterprise organizations. We’re small enough to stay agile, and we’ve maintained that scrappy, can-do startup mindset. But we’ve been around long enough to develop an amazing culture and we’re large enough to put significant resources behind the things we think are important — like new hire onboarding, training programs, and employee life.

Not to mention our incredible benefits package! Of course we offer everything you’d expect in terms of insurance, retirement savings, and paid leave, including:

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Life and disability insurance
• 401(k) with 50% employer matching
• Paid holidays
• Flex PTO with no set limit on days off
• Paid parental and medical leave programs
• Volunteer time off

But we’ve also put together a unique set of perks to keep our employees healthy and happy — things like a free subscription to the Calm app, commuter benefits, and an employee recognition program. Every office has its own personality and special touches to make workdays more enjoyable, from snacks and beverages to social events. Depending on where you’re located, you might even have an in-house barista!

Don’t take our word for it… 

We could go on all day about what makes Sovrn great, but we thought you might want to hear directly from real-life Sovrn employees. So we asked some of our newest team members — folks who were in your job search shoes not long ago — to give us their thoughts on working at Sovrn.

It turns out, one thing that truly sets Sovrn apart is our people. The themes of “people” and “culture” came up time and again. 

“I was in the interview process with two other companies, but I didn’t feel the same kind of warmth and engagement that I felt from everyone I spoke to at Sovrn. As soon as I was offered the job, I immediately dropped out of the running for the other two positions without hesitation. 
– Tori Mitchell, Customer Support Specialist

“My favorite thing about working at Sovrn is the people, first and foremost. I’ve had a really warm welcome from the beginning. Everyone I’ve met along the way has been generous with their time, open to new ideas, and very focused on helping me learn and feel involved.”
– Natalie Butler, Director of Product Marketing (UK)

“I was really hoping the cross-section of folks that I interviewed with was truly representative of the company and the culture, and I am THRILLED to say that this is the case. My experience has been nothing but a pleasure so far. Everyone has been more than generous with their time in helping me get up to speed.”
– Doug Pojar, Sr. Technical Recruiter

We also heard a lot about the opportunities that are available to employees at Sovrn: 

“I am most excited to be able to grow into a long term career. With the “Farms to Majors” program I will be able to see different parts of Sovrn and never feel stuck in one position.”
– Zachariah Jeter, Network Quality Specialist

“Our career development programming is really exciting to me. As we scale as an organization, we have a real opportunity to co-create and iterate a people-first approach.”
– Brian Curr, Sr. People Business Partner

“I am excited about my continued growth not only as a data engineer, but also in my knowledge about the business side.”
– Cameron Gridley, Software Engineer, Data Delivery

The word is out

We know we’ve got a good thing going, but other people are taking notice as well. Sovrn was recently recognized as one of Built In Colorado’s “2022 Best Places to Work” with rankings in several categories.

Ready to take the next step?

If Sovrn sounds like the kind of place you’d like to work, let’s talk! We’re always looking for great people, so check out our open roles and submit an application. 

If you don’t see anything that fits your needs right now, be sure to check back often. We’re growing fast and we’ll be adding new job listings on a regular basis.

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