Away (JRSK, Inc.)

Redefining the Modern Travel Experience

Away (JRSK, Inc.) is an American travel and lifestyle brand that has significantly transformed the luggage industry since its inception in 2015. Headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City, Away operates primarily as a direct-to-consumer retailer, bypassing traditional third-party wholesalers and department stores to offer high-quality, thoughtfully designed luggage and travel accessories directly to the modern traveler. Founded by Jen Rubio and Steph Korey, two former executives from the pioneering eyewear brand Warby Parker, the company quickly gained traction by addressing common travel pain points that had long been ignored by legacy luggage manufacturers. Most notably, Away introduced built-in, TSA-approved batteries for charging mobile devices on the go—a simple yet revolutionary feature that immediately resonated with a generation of highly connected, tech-savvy travelers who frequently found themselves tethered to airport wall outlets.

Today, Away has expanded its product line far beyond its original signature carry-on suitcase. The brand's portfolio now encompasses a wide array of travel bags, including backpacks, duffels, and weekender bags, as well as interior organizers like packing cubes, toiletry bags, and a curated selection of travel accessories designed to make packing and transit as seamless as possible. The company ships to over 35 countries worldwide and maintains a growing physical retail presence, with beautifully designed brick-and-mortar stores situated in key global markets across the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. These physical locations serve not just as points of sale, but as immersive brand experiences where customers can interact with the products and absorb the Away aesthetic firsthand.

What truly sets Away apart in a crowded marketplace is its unwavering commitment to both aesthetics and functionality, wrapped in a highly engaging, aspirational brand narrative. The company has successfully cultivated a massive, devoted following through strategic social media marketing, leveraging visually stunning content and partnerships with high-profile influencers and celebrities. This savvy approach earned Away the moniker "the little black dress of luggage" from fashion publications, cementing its status as a must-have accessory for stylish travelers. Beyond merely selling products, Away views itself as a comprehensive platform for inspiring travel. This broader vision is evident in its expansion into lifestyle media, including the launch of the print and digital travel magazine, *Here*, and the *Airplane Mode* podcast. By deeply understanding the needs, desires, and aspirations of contemporary travelers, Away continues to build a fiercely loyal customer base, solidifying its position as a leading, innovative name in the global travel and lifestyle sector.

A Culture of Ownership and Inclusivity

At the heart of Away’s organizational ethos are five core values that guide its internal operations and external interactions: making great new things, being the customer, owning it, fostering belonging, and doing good as you do well. The company places a remarkably strong emphasis on employee empowerment, encouraging every team member to act as an owner, founder, and entrepreneur within their specific domain. This "Own it" mentality means that employees are trusted implicitly and held accountable for their results, fostering a dynamic environment where innovation, rapid iteration, and calculated risk-taking are not just encouraged, but expected. The expectation is that if a process is broken or a product can be improved, employees have the autonomy to rethink things and drive meaningful change.

Away’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion is formalized and actively promoted through its various Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). These groups are intentionally and thoughtfully designed by the employees themselves to share relatable cultural perspectives, explore personal interests freely, and raise awareness of unique experiences within the workplace. The company recognizes that while travel is powerful, it is not always accessible, and it strives to build teams that reflect its diverse, global customer base. By creating a culture of belonging and psychological safety, Away aims to ensure that all employees can bring their full, authentic selves to work every day.

However, it is crucial to acknowledge that Away’s workplace culture has undergone a significant and highly publicized evolution. In late 2019, investigative reports surfaced detailing a high-pressure, "grow-at-all-costs" work environment. Employees reported instances of extreme expectations, including working long hours, on holidays, and late into the evening without adequate time off, alongside communications that some characterized as overly harsh or intimidating. In response to these significant challenges and the ensuing public scrutiny, the company’s leadership took immediate, public steps to apologize and implement profound structural changes aimed at improving workplace dynamics and executive communication. Today, Away emphasizes a much more balanced, supportive, and sustainable culture, actively working to ensure that its internal practices and employee well-being closely align with its outward mission of creating a more open, connected, and joyful world.

What You'll Actually Do

Working at Away means contributing to a fast-paced, highly visible brand that operates at the complex intersection of e-commerce, physical retail, supply chain logistics, and lifestyle media. Roles at the company span a remarkably wide spectrum, offering opportunities for professionals across various disciplines, from software engineering, data analytics, and product design to brand marketing, customer experience, and retail operations. For technical and product-focused teams, the day-to-day work often centers on optimizing the direct-to-consumer digital experience, ensuring that the e-commerce platform is robust, scalable, and capable of handling high volumes of traffic, especially during peak travel seasons and major product launches.

Employees across all departments are expected to be incessantly curious about what travelers want and need, constantly gathering and analyzing data to translate those insights into tangible products and seamless digital experiences. If you are a software engineer at Away, you might be tasked with building out complex backend infrastructure to support global shipping logistics, developing new features for the online storefront to enhance the user journey, or integrating advanced analytics tools to better understand customer purchasing behavior. If you are a product manager, your role will likely involve steering the roadmap for entirely new travel accessories, working closely with industrial designers and manufacturing partners to ensure that every new item meets Away's exacting standards for durability, functionality, and aesthetic appeal.

For those in creative and marketing roles, the work involves continuously shaping and refining the brand's visual identity and narrative voice, developing campaigns that resonate across social media, email, and physical retail environments. Regardless of your specific title, the environment at Away demands exceptionally high standards, a willingness to rethink established processes, and a highly collaborative spirit to bring innovative ideas to market swiftly. You will be expected to cross-collaborate frequently, as the development of a new luggage colorway, for example, requires seamless coordination between the design, supply chain, marketing, and e-commerce teams. Your work will directly impact how millions of people prepare for, experience, and remember their travels.

Compensation & Benefits

Away recognizes that attracting and retaining top-tier talent requires a comprehensive and highly competitive total rewards package designed to support both the financial well-being and the personal and professional growth of its employees. While compensation figures vary significantly based on the specific role, level of experience, and geographic location, the company generally provides strong base salaries that are often supplemented by equity options. This equity component is a crucial part of the compensation philosophy, as it allows employees to act as true stakeholders and share directly in the financial upside and long-term success of the business. Based on publicly available data, software engineers at Away report a median total compensation of approximately $146,000 per year, while product managers see average total compensation packages ranging between $127,000 and $177,000 annually.

Beyond direct financial compensation, Away provides a robust and thoughtful suite of benefits that cater to the holistic needs of its workforce. These include comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans, ensuring that employees and their families have access to quality medical care. The company also offers flexible spending accounts (FSAs) to help manage out-of-pocket healthcare and dependent care expenses. Recognizing the importance of work-life balance, especially in a fast-paced startup environment, Away provides generous paid time off policies that cover vacation, sick leave, wellness time, and comprehensive parental leave for new parents.

To further its core mission of making travel accessible and inspiring its team, Away offers unique, industry-specific perks. Employees benefit from significant product stipends, generous discount codes, and occasional giveaways, helping them build their own "travel uniform" and experience the brand's products firsthand. Additionally, the company places a strong emphasis on corporate social responsibility and community impact. To support this, Away provides every employee with eight hours of dedicated, paid time off annually specifically for volunteering, encouraging the team to give back to local and global nonprofit partners and make a positive difference in the communities where they live, work, and travel.

The Interview Process

The interview process at Away is generally described by past and present candidates as highly structured, organized, and thorough, though the specific difficulty, number of rounds, and overall duration can vary significantly depending on the seniority and technical requirements of the role. On average, data suggests that the end-to-end hiring process takes approximately 31 days from initial application to final offer. For the majority of corporate, technical, and managerial roles, the process typically begins with an initial phone screen conducted by a member of the talent acquisition team. This conversation is designed to assess basic qualifications, review the candidate's background, and gauge initial cultural alignment with Away's core values.

Following a successful phone screen, candidates usually advance to a series of one-on-one or panel interviews with the hiring manager and key team members. Depending heavily on the specific position, candidates may be asked to complete a practical skills test or prepare a detailed presentation to demonstrate their subject matter expertise and problem-solving abilities in a realistic scenario. For example, engineering candidates should expect to face rigorous technical assessments, coding challenges, and system design discussions. Conversely, marketing, design, or product candidates might be asked to present a comprehensive case study, walk through a portfolio review, or outline a strategic plan for a hypothetical product launch.

Group panel interviews are also a common feature in the later stages of the process. These sessions are crucial for the team to evaluate how well the candidate communicates, collaborates, and aligns with Away's highly interactive and cross-functional work environment. Throughout the process, candidates frequently cite clear, timely, and respectful communication from the HR and recruiting teams as a notably positive aspect of the candidate experience, helping to set clear expectations and reduce anxiety during the interview journey.

Why Join / Why Not

Why Join:

Choosing to work at Away offers the unique opportunity to join a highly recognized, culturally relevant, and innovative brand that is actively reshaping the global travel and lifestyle industry. If you are deeply passionate about travel, exceptional design, and the mechanics of direct-to-consumer retail, Away provides a dynamic, high-visibility platform where you can see the immediate, tangible impact of your daily work. The company's hybrid work model offers flexibility, while its comprehensive benefits package—particularly the inclusion of equity options and generous travel-related perks—makes it a highly attractive option for professionals looking for a mission-driven organization that values its product as much as its people. Furthermore, the chance to be part of a collaborative team that genuinely values ownership, continuous iteration, and the freedom to "make great new things" can be incredibly rewarding for entrepreneurial, self-starting individuals who thrive when given autonomy.

Why Not:

As a fast-growing, venture-backed startup that has scaled rapidly over a relatively short period, the working environment at Away can be exceptionally demanding, fast-paced, and subject to sudden shifts in strategy, which may not suit everyone's working style. While the company has made concerted, highly visible efforts to improve its workplace culture and leadership communication following past public criticisms, the lingering reputation of a high-pressure, intense environment might remain a valid concern for some prospective candidates who prioritize strict boundaries. Additionally, as the company matures from a scrappy startup into a larger enterprise and aggressively expands its complex brick-and-mortar retail footprint alongside its global supply chain, the operational complexities are increasing exponentially. This growth can sometimes lead to shifting departmental priorities, ambiguous reporting lines, and the constant need for high adaptability. Professionals who are seeking a highly predictable, deeply entrenched traditional corporate structure with slow, methodical processes might find the required startup-like agility and rapid pace of change at Away to be challenging or exhausting.