Bellroy has sold carry goods direct-to-consumer in 172 countries from warehouses on 4 continents. We’ve made localization a first-class citizen of our internal e-commerce platform; we can pivot into new markets faster than any off-the-shelf platform can currently offer. Our site is translated into 9 languages, we sell to customers in 13 local currencies, with no duplication of configuration or content. We are constantly looking for new opportunities outside of our existing markets.
We have people that work with and for Bellroy in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. Our remote team are a critical part of our business, and are treated as such. We ask our remote people to be available to overlap Melbourne office hours a few hours a day, but otherwise, we’re highly flexible when it comes to working hours. If you’re located in Melbourne and surrounds, we’re flexible about how much of your week is spent in our offices.
We have carefully built our culture on radical effectiveness. Our credo is "smart people with good intentions who get shit done" (yes, really). We have two awesome physical workspaces in Victoria, Australia - one in the heart of Melbourne’s Fitzroy, and a great workspace in Bells Beach. We try to get our local and remote people all together in the same space once or twice a year.
Bellroy’s mission is to inspire better ways to carry; use business as a force for good; and help the world – and our crew – flourish. We make great carry products that delight people in their everyday lives. We constantly innovate to improve the sustainability of our materials. We help our staff love their work and grow as people. We donate a portion of our revenue to some of the world’s most effective charities. We are a certified B Corporation.
At some companies, we observe a familiar and depressing pattern: the most technically excellent developers hit a ceiling beyond which they can’t progress unless they start taking on direct “reports”, and becoming “managers”. At Bellroy we love the people who want to make that transition, but we don’t think that it should be the only way to progress your career, and we make sure that we have a technical stream that allows people to keep getting better at programming.
We really like weekends. This is why throughout our codebases, we’re moving to static types and a functional-programming mindset. We’ve found that this has resulted in fewer bugs, less maintenance and less time spent writing tests that just check for dynamic type explosions. We’d rather have code that “just works” delivered a little later than code that “sometimes works” delivered a little sooner.
We have a culture of intellectual honesty. We foster a friendly atmosphere, but you will be challenged about decisions you make and “this is the way I’ve always done it” will not cut it. If you see this as the best way to develop your knowledge and learn from other perspectives, you’ll fit right in! If this sounds like your worst nightmare, maybe this isn’t the right team for you.
We quite often get asked why we’d run our own e-commerce platform when there are so many in the marketplace. We’ve asked ourselves the same question every few years, evaluated the platforms and (so far) found them wanting. We have a world-class team across product design, creative, data science, logistics and production, and by working closely together we’re able to innovate in ways that we’re not seeing in the market.
You can expect to learn a lot while you’re here. We have an allocated learning budget, hack days and company-wide learning events to support your development. The Technology Team runs a book club that meets weekly to read and discuss various titles, from Don’t Make Me Think to The Pragmatic Programmer to Losing The Signal.
Start Day: We're ready when you are!
Q1:
We take great care to produce well-structured, well-tested, maintainable code. The first thing we’d love to see is if you can do this too - the most efficient way (for you and us) to do this is have you do a small coding exercise. Create a Javascript application in which you can simulate controlling a robot. The robot should be placed on a 5x5 grid. Supply controls that let you move the robot forwards in the direction it is facing, and rotate the robot in place to face any cardinal direction. Use any Javascript framework you’re comfortable with, as long as it runs in modern web browsers (we’re not looking for backwards compatibility in this test). Take a look around bellroy.com and use what you see to give your application a Bellroy “look”. Commit your code in a git repository and submit a tarball of that repository when you submit your application.
To think really well our brains needs rest and focus. In balancing our time, energy and attention, we rejuvenate with power naps, mindfulness or even a quick planking challenge.
Work and play matters. It keeps us balanced. So we’re always mixing it up. If there’s family commitments, hours are flexible. If the surf’s pumping, we grab our boards. And while at the office, we have monthly learning events to keep minds melding.
We want the world to be a better place because of Bellroy. Our giving program matches donations our team contributes to charities like The Centre for Effective Altruism, or those recommended by GiveWell. On top of that, we also donate a portion of revenue to effective charities.
Our search for radical effectiveness constantly leads to better ways to get things done. To help fuel that growth, we offer tools like Blinkist subscriptions, a digital learning library, workshops and more. Ask our Flourishing Team where to start, and see how deep the wormhole goes.
'Bellroy' is a fusion of our two homes – Bells Beach and Fitzroy. Bells Beach brings a relaxed, outdoor vibe to balance Fitzroy's creative, urban style. The city and the sea; inspiration and adventure. Together they provide a perfect balance.
Our beach HQ sits behind giant sandstone cliffs that overlook one of Australia’s best-known surfing coastlines. It’s where our Product Designers experiment in the Maker Lab, and our Sales team consume awesome amounts of espresso and Skype bandwidth. Things are more tranquil here than our Fitzroy neighbours and we like the focus that can create. There’s a cafe right next door if you need a quick bite and our 11am surf check always provides the perfect chance to reset the mind with some salt air.
Our Fitzroy space is immersed in the middle of Melbourne’s creative hub. It’s where our Creative, Marketing, Engineering and Operations teams develop campaigns and ensure each Bellroy is sent safely across the world. Walk out the door and you’ll find streets bursting with energy (and the best ramen joint this side of Tokyo). There’s also an olympic-size pool just around the corner for those in need of a lunchtime refresh.
Outside of our two main headquarters we have a team that works remotely - from Western Australia to parts of Asia, the USA and Europe. Being global is at the heart of Bellroy, it keeps us connected, and makes sure we see life from many different perspectives. If you have an internet connection and the flexibility to become part of a team you don’t see everyday, you might consider joining our growing global network.
It takes a diverse crew to make Bellroy tick. We’re a collection of thinkers and makers, coming from over 25 different countries (and counting). Everyone has a unique set of skills, which all blend to achieve a clear vision – Inspire better ways to carry; use business as a force for good; help the world, and our crew, flourish.
View our LinkedIn