Caxy
What's the Company Culture Like at Caxy?
Frequently Asked Questions
Culture at Caxy comes down to trust and genuine care for the people doing the work. We're a small enough team that people aren't just a name on an org chart, and that shows up in how decisions get made and how people treat each other day to day. We even celebrate "Caxyversaries" every year, marking the day someone started, because once you're here, you're one of us. The Caxy Promise isn't just a line on a careers page, it shapes how we set expectations, choose clients, and protect people's time. We take the work seriously without taking ourselves too seriously, there's real humor and warmth on this team alongside the high standards.
Collaboration at Caxy happens with intention, not by accident. In-office time is built around the moments that actually benefit from being in a room together, while remote days stay protected for focused work. We lean on async communication so people aren't stuck waiting on each other to keep moving, and meetings are kept tight and purposeful so time together is spent solving real problems, not sitting through status updates. Because we're a smaller team, collaboration also tends to cut across roles more naturally, developers, strategists, and leadership are often in the same conversations instead of working in silos.
We recognize great work in a few ways. Our weekly shoutout system rewards two employees with a cash prize, celebrating contributions as they happen. We've also had more than 10 team members featured as Built In Roundup contributors over the past three years, putting a spotlight on the people doing standout work. And when it comes to growth, we promote from within — every one of our current leads and directors started their journey at Caxy in a different role.
Caxy has been figuring out what good culture actually looks like since 1999, not chasing trends, but building something that holds up over time. That shows up in the Caxy Promise, in how we structure work and flexibility, and in a team that includes people who've left and come back because the culture here is worth returning to. We're not trying to be the biggest software consultancy in Chicago, we're trying to be one people are genuinely glad to work at.
Caxy's Candidate Tradeoffs
If you’re weighing whether Caxy is the right fit, these are the core tradeoffs to consider.
- Caxy emphasizes a culture where top performers are clearly recognized and rewarded, though that means high standards and regular performance conversations.
Caxy Employee Perspectives
Tell us about Caxy’s approach to the in-office experience. How are these elements emblematic of your team culture?
We are a hybrid environment — a few of our team members are permanently remote, but almost everyone is local and expected to be in office at least two days per week, between Tuesday and Thursday. Our team is highly collaborative, and the work we do is rarely done alone. We’ve found that consolidating the days that folks are in office creates enough overlap between team member attendance, and you can really see the impacts. The water cooler moments at the fully stocked fridge or our magic little coffee bot bring a level of personal connection that you can feel when you step into our conference rooms and start whiteboarding.
Our more tenured members have dedicated desks, but other desks remain open so you can change up your vibe — sometimes you’re looking for more socialization, so working by our community cafe area makes sense, and other times you need a little heads-down space, so the smaller “war rooms” or corners by the windows may make more sense. Our office is fully equipped with TVs, whiteboards, personal desk spaces, sofas and standing spaces to fit your style. There are strategically placed Caxy veterans around the office so everyone has a “swivel chair companion” if they need help.
In your opinion, what about your in-office experience feels the most impactful on your daily work life?
The human connection to know each other outside of just the required meetings really makes a difference. One of our values and pillars of leadership is this belief and stance that everyone deserves to be seen, heard and cared about as people first. That is simply easier and more effective to do when you know the people as more than just the really smart developer or really thoughtful product manager. Knowing about their pets, their interests, their worries and their approach to how they engage in conversation and problems really elevates the ability of the whole team to work cross-functionally and successfully through challenges.
We notice that junior developers and new team members speak up more and get assistance more quickly in office. We see relationships between senior and green team members flourish in person, which also makes remote work better because relationships are developed and reaching out is less of a barrier. We see more vocal participation in architecture, we see more camaraderie, and we see less idle or stuck employees overall in the office.
Is there anything you’re looking forward to with the in-office experience?
For local team members and anyone who isn’t permanently remote, they come to our office a minimum of two days per week between Tuesday and Thursday. We found that when it was spread out Monday through Friday, folks would be alone in the office on many days, which defeated the purpose. This also changed how we handle meetings. We dedicate remote work days toward deep work, and we adjust our collaborative meetings to be in person wherever possible. We often have a group lunch or may have a lunch-and-learn session to discuss new ideas and trends.
My favorite part about having an office is the ability to celebrate big milestones of our teams — personal and professional — in a dedicated way. Whether it is a “caxyversary,” (anniversary of employment) or an engagement, graduation, new baby or new house, the office space lets us customize our celebrations to the person, and we get to really emphasize their impact and their success in ways that aren’t as tangible remotely. Our culture is big on showing up for people — If everyone is doing the maximum good they can do, then everyone is cared for and everyone is able to feel confident with risks, opportunities and growth.
What People Are Saying About Caxy
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Collaborative & Supportive Culture: Colleagues are described as working together to succeed, offering ready access to input and support that helps people tackle difficult but rewarding work. Managers are also noted as accommodating during personal issues, reinforcing a sense of team care.
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Empowering & Trusting Leadership: People are given a meaningful voice in project direction, architecture, and technology choices, with autonomy emphasized over close supervision. This high-trust approach is presented as a core operating style that enables ownership and decision-making.
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Learning & Knowledge Sharing: Growth is repeatedly highlighted through mentorship, training funds, conference opportunities, and frequent check-ins that focus on development. Accounts describe substantial skill development and pride in progressing on complex projects.
Caxy's Benefits
Company or teams have recognition rituals for individual work
We have weekly shoutouts for people being excellent examples of our values. These are done in public channels on Fridays. Monday our Caxy Person of the Week is selected and gets $100.
Employee feedback used to shape policies and strategy
We take survey feedback in the 2nd and 4th quarters and work the 3rd and 1st quarters to implement the feedback defined. Meetings before and after help with the company so they can see their impact
Encourages autonomy and ownership from employees
We have team leads that guide products, epic owners that are leads over core features to train leadership, a dev lead in training program, and our mentorship program called PAC.
Established employee awards to honor work and contributions
We have the annual Caxys that give awards to our MVPs and our greatest examples of our values, delivery, and growth.
Managers give public shoutouts and celebrate employee milestones
We give weekly shoutouts for incredible work, have special parties called caxyversaries, and name new processes after people that came up with them. Some awards are named after them, too.
Managers offer consistent feedback loops
Mentors provide feedback bi-weekly, managers have checkins at least monthly, we have semiannual reviews, and there is a monthly lunch 1:1 employees can opt into each month.
Provides modern technology across teams
We are a tech company. We use the Mac products, slack for communication, figma for design, AI tools as approved, JIRA, Zoom, Google Suite, Loom as needed, note taking tools, and conference technology.
Provides resources to build team camaraderie
We have regular dev meetings, weekly leadership meetings, slack channels specialized with different info, donut 15-minute chats scheduled, welcome lunches, and big caxyversary celebrations.
Quarterly engagement surveys to gauge employee satisfaction
We send PTAR surveys (Project, Team, Accounts, and Recognition) every other quarter and then work that feedback in the off-quarters to improve. We also request annual feedback on our executive leaders
Transparent sharing of company-wide eNPS scores
We collect these scores a couple times a year and we have a company meeting to discuss them when we roll out. Sometimes we publish that content online as well.
Flexibility provided during personal challenges
Managers trained on identifying and mitigating employee burnout
Offers company-sponsored happy hours
The goal is to go out once a month for drinks and appetizers and get to know each other better.
Offers company-sponsored outings
Caxy's hosts frequent happy hours in Chicago for local people and hosts a number of all- company events where we fly in remote employees. We all bowled together last month.
Offers wellness initiatives designed to combat burnout and mental fatigue
Offers wellness programs
Provides employees with ability to schedule focus-time blocks
Defined policies promoting a professional, respectful workplace
Defined values and mission statements
Documented operating principles
Documented policies and procedures to protect employee privacy and data
This is one of the first things seen and signed by employees.
Engineering team utilizes pair programming
Hosts in-person all-hands meetings
In Person and Online. Sometimes this is remote.
Hosts in-person revenue kickoff meetings
Through our EOS plan, leadership is involved in revenue meetings. On projects, all team members are involved in revenue and profit conversations about specific projects.
Implements team-based strategic planning
Leadership encourages open, transparent debate
Leadership is transparent and communicative
Mistakes are treated as learning opportunities
Open office floor plan to encourage communication and collaboration
Policies promote a low-ego, team-driven culture
Promotes a people-first, social culture
Promotes a strong in-person office culture
Uses an OKR operational model to clearly define goals and priorities
Utilizes an open door policy that encourages accessibility
Allows work from home occasionally
We are always home Monday and Friday. We expect folks in office at least 2 days a week Tuesday through Thursday unless your role or performance requires 3 days a week.
Async-friendly policies, culture that encourage work flexibility
We expect folks that are working a skewed schedule have 5 hours of cross-over with employees so most hours are still shared and available.
Defined boundaries around off-hours communication
We allow people to set notifications to what works for them after-hours. We use scheduled messages where possible but people can send when needed.
Defined working hours and availability expectations
Documented overtime policy
Most employees are exempt. Those that are not have an overtime policy that is documented in our handbook.
Established expectations for communication between time zones
We all operate based on a 9-5:30Central time.
Flexible work schedule is defined with set expectations for start times, working hours and availability
In-office days / expectations are defined
Offers a remote work program
Some employees are fully remote but most of our team works hybrid. We work from home Mondays and Friday. You must be in office 2 or 3 days a week Tuesday through Thursday.
Provides work from home flexibility
Utilizes a flexible work schedule
Employees work in office 2 days a week between Tuesday-Thursday. We have early Fridays and flex schedules to start anytime between 8-10AM and work 8 hours from that date. FLEX and WFH also exists.
Utilizes a full-time remote friendly model
On rare occasions or for existing employees who have a proven, long-term record of excellence -- permanent remote exists.
Utilizes a hybrid work model
Utilizes a summer hours schedule
We have Early Fridays all year. If you have earned 40 hours by 1PM or any time after on Friday and projects are healthy --- you are able to leave early.
