At Test Double, we’re 100% employee-owned, 100% remote, and—above all—focused on building great software and great teams.
We look for engineers and product managers who are excited about delivering impact, bringing fresh perspectives, and solving tough problems. Efficiency and quality live in harmony here at Test Double. We care about maintainability, sustainability—across software and the teams we support. We do this by meeting client teams where they’re at and getting things done, without being dogmatic on how it’s done.
If that sounds like the kind of place you’d like to work, we’ve put together this roundup of resources to give you the lay of the land. From how our interview process works to what a day in the life of a consultant looks like, this is your guide to everything Test Double.
How and why Test Double was founded
Todd Kaufman and Justin Searls founded Test Double driven by a shared conviction that software could be better—simpler, higher quality, and more equitable.
They shared a frustration about the flawed sales processes they had witnessed, where unrealistic promises set projects up for failure. Read the founding story here.
Why we’re 100% employee-owned through an ESOP
CEO and co-founder Todd Kaufman shares why Test Double transitioned to ownership via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2020:
We believe ownership is about fairness, shared success, and building something that outlasts all of us.
Being 100% employee-owned means every Test Double agent shares in the company’s success. Here’s how Test Double’s ESOP works and why it matters.
What it’s like to do software consulting
We get a lot of questions about what it’s like to do consulting for custom software development. Our software development and product management consultants come to Test Double with a wide range of experiences. Some of them had consulting experience before, and some just love solving hard problems and have a knack for helping others improve.
In these articles our double agents share their experiences and insights on software consulting:
Why software consulting
- 4 reasons to be a software consultant
- From engineer to consultant: The powerful shift from inward to outward focus
Understanding the work of a software consultant
- Consulting at Test Double: What each role entails
- Starting your consulting journey at Test Double
- Speaking human: Engineers who communicate effectively with empathy
- Understanding product engineering vs consulting
How Test Double views consulting for software product teams
- 5 lessons to be a better software consultant
- Seven C’s of consulting change
- A guide to effective software consulting
- Growing strong without the burnout in consulting
- The consultant’s code: Building trust in effective software consulting
Our approach
We live our values every day through interactions with other double agents, as well as in our work with client teams.
We serve others.
We support our clients, coworkers, and others throughout the software industry to achieve their potential.
We are owners.
We empower our people to identify problems and develop solutions, and we reward hard work through equitable employee ownership.
We are principled.
We each maintain a vision for quality and integrity, and we embody this in all of our work.
We are inclusive.
We commit to an environment of allyship, equitable treatment, diversity, and support.
We are always improving.
We recognize we will never be perfect, so we continuously strive to become better as individuals, teams, and an industry at large.
We also believe in some core truths about software:
Scope to strategy
Big bets come with big risks. Don't try to solve everything at once. Do drive key business outcomes.
Clarify complexity
Understand essential vs incidental complexity—then simplify the incidental. (It's never too late to start.)
Fight for feedback
Tighten feedback loops—with people and codebases. Assess what's going on. Make scary things boring.
Trust your team
Create circumstances to do good work—from discovery to dev experience. Grow your team thoughtfully.
Own the outcome
Later equals never. Don't put off that overdue upgrade, infrastructure scaling, or product performance turn-around.
Work life balance
It doesn’t make much sense for us to say we have a supportive and flexible environment without having benefits to make that happen.
All double agents receive:
- 5 weeks flexible time off (vacation and sick time)
- 10 paid holidays
- 2-week sabbatical leave after your 5th year
- Dental and vision 100% covered for agents and employees
- Health Insurance: we reimburse 80% of PPO premiums through ICHRA (with a max limit)
- 10% Growth Time each week
Our commitment to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
Of all our values, inclusion is the most aspirational. Equity, diversity and inclusion work is a journey, and the work needs to be done every day. We know we have a lot of work to do. Find out more about our journey as we share stats every year.
Keeping connected with retreat
We take our retreats as seriously as our code. Peek behind the scenes of innovation, connection, and outdoor adventures in Las Vegas for our 2025 retreat.
Thoughts from CEO & Co-founder, Todd Kaufman
Todd Kaufman is our CEO & Co-Founder, driving intentional leadership across every function at Test Double. It’s no surprise that when Todd gives talks and writes blogs he tends to focus on business leadership and culture.
“At Test Double, we’re not just building great software—we’re building a company that trusts you to show up, solve hard problems, and make an impact every day at your client. That’s why we’re 100% employee-owned.”
–Todd Kaufman
Selected Talks
- Enacting change
- Running a business, demystified
- Under pressure: How to handle pressure to go faster
- Finding joy at work as a founder
Selected Blogs
- Echoing Wirth's plea for lean software
- ESOP explained: How employee ownership really works at Test Double
- Fair contracts build trust: How Test Double does it differently
- Policy update: We’re still remote
- Avoid these pitfalls of buying custom software development
Podcast interviews
- Fixing broken software development
- The connectedness piece
- How to overcome owner’s guilt
- Building a consulting business
Thoughts from Co-founder, Justin Searls
Justin Searls has given multiple keynote addresses at RailsConf and RubyConf, among others, and even delivered one in Japanese at RubyKaigi.
“I care a lot about speaking truth to power and broadcasting as many signals as possible about the perils and joys of software development as I understand them—playing those as loudly as possible with my John Cusack boombox over my head on Twitter or at a conference,” Justin has said.
He’s also diligently written blogs and recorded screencasts to share what he’s learned along the way as he solves problems and squashes the inevitable bugs he attracts.
Here are some of his talks, blogs, and screencasts:
Selected Talks
- Let’s Standardize Rails once and for all
- Please mock me
- Please don’t mock me
- How to trust again
- How to stop hating your tests
Selected blogs
- The looming demise of the 10x developer
- How to tell if AI threatens your job
- Why mastering testing is hard: The necessary and sufficient rule
- 16 things software developers believe
Selected Screencasts
- Only you can give meaning to your career
- How to start speaking at conferences
- My favorite way to TDD
Podcasts
- Breaking Change
- Merge Commits (appearances on other podcasts)
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