We’re a small, fully distributed group of curious, collaborative craftspeople. We believe the best kind of leadership is servant leadership, that company values don’t exist just to decorate walls and webpages but to guide day-to-day operations, and that healthy workplace cultures require deliberate, sustained effort.
vision
We see you, introverted self-starters.
Open office plans give you hives, and micromanaging bosses grind your naturally high enthusiasm into a pulp of exasperation and wasted potential. You’ve dreamt of working from home, maybe even tried it before. But the Big Brother methods so many remote companies use to ensure productivity offend your superlative work ethic—rightfully so.
Then there are you nomads, day-trippers, and periodic wanderers. Why should you sit staring at your monitor when you’re blocked by a client and the hiking trail is calling? Why shouldn’t you tag along the next time your significant other heads off to a conference when you can easily work in the hotel room and then enjoy the city together? Why, indeed.
Our vision is one of innovation and quality and delighted customers. It’s one of thoughtful, deep work and consistent value delivery. A vision like that materializes amid trust, respect, and the wisdom to support whatever helps you produce your best, regardless of where or how you do it.
That’s what we offer.
Cornerstone's scientific affairs director, Lon (left) and system administrator, Mark (right) collaborate during a client meeting.
values
We couldn’t care less about corner offices.
One of the best things about remote work is that there aren’t any. As we see it, corporate status symbols just distract people from what matters. Here’s what matters to us:
Transparency
Anyone can talk to anyone at CSNW. There are no hierarchical hoops to jump through just to get a question answered or offer a suggestion. We also avoid perfecting our work before sharing it. Instead, we cultivate a safe, supportive environment for works in progress and their creators.
Empathetic Candor
We deal honestly and directly with each other and our clients. And we do it kindly. Experience has shown that the effort it takes to communicate with care is a direct investment in our culture and work product, paying dividends in the form of trust, creativity, collaboration, and more.
Autonomy
As a remote team, we make a point of hiring people who can prioritize their work for themselves. Our management approach is collaborative. Our default communication style is asynchronous, which frees us to work when and where it suits us. We’re biased toward action; we take initiative.
Unity
We share victories and setbacks as a team, celebrating each other’s successes and gently helping each other to learn from failures. Our unity fosters accountability. We don’t hide mistakes here. We own them, knowing as we do that our teammates will allow us the space to learn and grow.
Balance
We actively eschew hustle culture and applaud each other when we step away to attend the school play or take a walk. But balance isn’t just about when we work; it’s also how we work. We avoid marrying our ideas, take an agile approach, and reject the tyranny of the sunk cost fallacy.
Humility
We respect, learn from, and teach each other. There are no lone geniuses here. While we appreciate talent, we believe it’s amplified by remaining teachable. Similarly, we understand modesty but believe everyone has unique gifts and perspectives to share, and we encourage that sharing.
benefits
We freely admit to being vaguely uncool.
Enjoying a hike in Colorado during one of our biennial All Hands meetings
Join our team and you won’t get hip perks like meal delivery service or streaming subscriptions. It’s not that we think those sorts of things are useless, it’s just that the shine wears off rather quickly. Instead, we invest heavily in something that never loses its shine: your well-being.
That means over 3 hours of paid time off for every 40 hours worked and up to 3 weeks of unpaid—but fully benefitted—sabbatical annually. Just 20 hours per week qualifies you for medical benefits, and your dependents are covered at 50%. Other highlights are vision coverage and a Health Savings Account (along with the maximum annual contribution). Matching contributions to the company 401k plan make saving for your retirement that much easier.
Like many remote teams, we meet for All Hands retreats, though with our high population of introverts, we try to keep the frequency to once every 2 years at most. Occasionally we enjoy asynchronous camaraderie-building events like our Jack O’ Lantern challenge and home improvement days (which inevitably turn into opportunities for us to nerd out).
Nope, we’re not the trendiest bunch. But what we lack in chic we more than make up for in care, consideration, and support.
job opportunities
Are we your kind of tribe?
We hire dedicated, collaborative craftspeople who would rather learn from mistakes than never make them, choose team success over personal glory, and who get a genuine thrill out of producing stellar work.
We accept résumés year round at hr@cornerstonenw.com and post job listings below when actively seeking something in particular. We look forward to hearing from you.
A note about how we hire: First, we don't use screening software; real humans will review your application. Second, we're not interested in plugging people into product or client silos. Rather than start the recruitment process with a rigidly predefined role, we prefer to outline a wish list of skills and aptitudes and seek candidates who possess a mix of some of them. When a particular skill or educational requirement is non-negotiable, we indicate that in our job descriptions. Otherwise, we hope that interested job seekers will apply and let us know the areas of growth that interest them most.