Culture
How we work
Every year, we survey ExpressVPN employees to find out what they like most about working at ExpressVPN, and every year, one answer far outranks everything else: the people.
ExpressVPN employees are kind, curious, and collaborative. We value intelligence and humility in equal measure: This is a place where people get things done—quickly—because we want our customers to reap the benefits of our work as soon as possible. And yet ours is also a fail-forward culture, where people aren’t afraid to make mistakes (because we learn from them!) or even have a laugh along the way.
Flexibility and collaboration underpin both our culture and our approach to work: We celebrate work-life balance precisely because it makes us better both inside and outside the office, and we recognize that the best wins are those we achieve as a team.
Teams and teamwork
You won’t find rigid hierarchy or top-down direction at ExpressVPN; employees across the board laud the high levels of autonomy that they have. And while we are proud to hire and empower extremely talented individuals, we know that the best work (and the most enjoyable, inspiring work) comes from putting our heads together and working towards a common goal.
We’re not really looking for people who just sit in isolation tapping out code every day. It’s a much more positive, open, and collaborative culture. The results are always better when you work with other people.
Andrew, Engineering Manager
Most of our work is done in cross-functional teams drawing on employees from departments across the company, whether engineers, product managers, marketers, designers, or content creators. It’s core to our way of working that these teams are not only held accountable for achieving clear OKRs (objectives and key results), but also given the tools and autonomy to reach those goals, enabling them to move with agility and impact.
A culture of learning and growth
Ultimately, sharing knowledge and helping each other to learn and grow is something that is valued, celebrated, and even rewarded at ExpressVPN. This happens both formally—through regular trainings and workshops, as well as personalized career plans and manager check-ins for every employee—and informally, whether employees are borrowing books from our lending library, organizing lunches to discuss relevant podcasts, or meeting up with their onboarding buddy.
People are really smart and talented, but they also know that there’s always room to grow. At ExpressVPN you’ll tackle completely new challenges, and have the autonomy and flexibility to try new things.
Harold, VP
A key part of our hiring process involves considering not just a candidate’s current knowledge and abilities, but also their drive to continue learning and growing, together with their colleagues. Are you hungry to learn? Are you unafraid to make mistakes and learn from them? Do you value feedback from others (and are you confident giving respectful, honest feedback to your colleagues to help them grow)?
Another core trait we see in our employees across the board is an appetite for tackling and solving tough challenges. Are you the type of person who gets excited when a problem arises, and do you love figuring out how to solve them? Then come and work with us!
A startup that’s scaling and making an impact
ExpressVPN started in 2009 and has grown exponentially by just about any metric—number of customers, app store downloads, revenue, global employees—since then. There’s a feeling of possibility and excitement in the air: The company has racked up awards and high-profile partnerships, but our insatiable appetite to learn, innovate, and grow drives us to continue improving and expanding.
It’s still very entrepreneurial. We are a startup that’s scaling. We often do things differently. We iterate and we learn as we go. And we’re not scared of challenging the status quo.”
Julien, Operations Manager
We’re still small and nimble enough to quickly adapt and change course, and because the company is so fast-growing, you have a very real chance to make an impact on where things are going.
Opportunities for all
ExpressVPN is a place for everyone to grow their careers, and we embrace diversity in all its forms. We have over 1,000 employees from 30+ nationalities spread across our offices around the globe (with probably even more languages spoken!). We have people advancing their careers as individual contributors, while others are focused on a management track. We cater to night owls and to early risers; all we ask is that everyone overlap during our core hours. What does your ideal role look like? We’re happy to work with you to carve out that special niche.
Office life
ExpressVPN employees are based in some of the world’s most dynamic and exciting cities, including Toronto, London, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Tokyo. Centrally located offices are stocked with amenities like healthy snacks, fitness areas, and comfy couches that are perfect for the occasional nap. You might find a ping pong table or even a golf simulator, because we believe breaks are healthy and necessary.
As part of our focus on health, we’ve equipped every office with state-of-the-art CO2 air quality monitors to ensure that the air our employees breathe is fresh and healthy. We know life can get stressful and want to do whatever we can to make office life a pleasant, and even invigorating, experience for our employees.
But on the off chance you do get sick? Don’t stress. We also offer unlimited sick days and full insurance coverage.
Precisely because we know how much our employees love to have fun (and actually enjoy each others’ company), we host quarterly parties and other events to let loose and celebrate our achievements. Cruises, beach barbecues, trivia nights, board game confabs—team input drives our activities to ensure we’re catering to all tastes and interests.
Work-life balance
We believe that a reasonable work-life balance doesn’t just mean healthier, happier employees—it also translates to higher delivery-pace and quality over the long term. So while we always work hard, and generally at a very fast pace, we’re not the kind of office where people are burning the midnight oil. We shoot for a productive 40 hours per week, and encourage employees to pursue their passions—sports, music, art, food, family time—and even share them in the office. We also take a flexible approach to remote work and working from home.
