With a slick new downtown workspace, Sonos is moving up in the world of Seattle tech.
“Opening an office in Seattle was a bit of an experiment,” VP of Software Antoine Leblond said. “We’re a relatively small company compared to the big players in town, and we’re competing for Seattle’s amazing software talent with some of the best software companies in the world.”
Santa Barbara-based Sonos is a wireless music system company that went public in August 2018. It employs more than 1,400 people in 12 offices worldwide.
During a visit to the new Seattle space last month, we found an office filled with mid-century modern furniture staged in sound-proof home theaters and communal lounge areas. Some 50-odd embedded speakers streamed employee-curated playlists — we heard Marlena Shaw and Soundgarden during our visit — and we’re told music tastes vary wildly between teams.
Sonos has just finished moving its 160 local employees — previously split between Capitol Hill’s Bullitt Center and a downtown coworking space — into the new 5th Avenue office, which has room for up to 220 people.
One of those employees is Director of Product Data Margaret Sherman, who works with Sonos’ globally distributed teams to collect and analyze data from customer usage to improve the overall product experience.
Sherman volunteered to walk us through her average day — and the problems she and her team are tackling — to get a sense of what life is like for Sonos’ Seattle employees.
What’s your morning look like?
The new office is located downtown, so I’m able to take the bus to work every day. I usually arrive around 8:30 a.m., grab a cup of coffee, say “hi” to the other early birds and, if there isn’t music playing in our work area already, I’ll put on a favorite playlist. Then I catch up on Slack before diving into meetings for the day.
Any favorite musical genres in the office?
We have speakers throughout the entire office and each work area chooses their own soundtrack. I have a very eclectic taste in music and like to mix it up. In our work area we play everything — jazz, ‘80s rock, rap, classical — whatever someone throws on. We have a Slack channel where we discuss what’s playing, request song skips and vote on what we like (and what we don’t!), which makes for fun conversation throughout the day. It’s also a great way to learn more about your teammates and discover new music, too.
What are you currently working on?
I am working on a cross-company team with colleagues across the globe to define metrics that represent the customer experience with Sonos. These metrics are then used to improve customer satisfaction with our products. I enjoy working with like-minded people who care about improving Sonos’ processes and products through data and delivering a great experience to our customers. Cross-organizational work can sometimes be challenging as each team has its own priorities and goals to meet, but I love how people here work to find common ground and support each other.
What’s your go-to for lunch?
Our office building has an underground tunnel that connects to the Columbia Tower, where there are tons of great food options. Right now I’m really into the salads at Evergreens.
How are you settling into the new workspace?
I tend to be in meetings a lot, so I’m usually running from one conference room to another. The new Sonos space has a variety of meeting rooms and collaboration spaces, most of which have video conferencing to make it easier to work with colleagues across the globe. One of my favorite things about the new office are the various hang-out areas, with comfy chairs and couches that I can relax and work on a document in. I’m still finding new corners I haven’t seen yet!
When does your work day end?
I usually wrap up around 5 p.m. I don’t normally stay after work because I have to get home to my family, but there are regular Seattle office events in the afternoon that I join to celebrate special occasions. For me, a lot of socializing happens over lunch. I usually get take-out or bring food from home and hang out with everyone in our new kitchen space.
