we don't have managers.

how we organize

there's no traditional management hierarchy, no middle layer, no assign-and-track workflows. partners self-organize around projects and take ownership of work that matters to them.

offices

mutuol has four locations, each with their own character, scale, and operational focus. amsterdam is headquarters with the largest presence. the other offices operate with local autonomy but coordinate with HQ on shared infrastructure and strategy.

the executive team

mutuol has an executive team, and they have the final say. they handle cross-office coordination, budget oversight, and governance. when a project is important enough, the exec team can assign partners from other offices to help. day-to-day operations still run locally, but strategic direction comes from the top.

executive responsibilities:

• cross-office coordination and alignment
• budget approval above delegation thresholds
• tie-breaking when local consensus cannot be reached
• governance of organizational process and policy changes
• strategic planning and quarterly OKR review

teams

work is organized into teams based on function and shared goals. partners can contribute to multiple teams, and teams form organically around ongoing needs. these aren't departments with reporting lines, they're collaborative spaces. explore open positions across these teams →

how decisions get made

without a management hierarchy, mutuol relies on process and consensus to make decisions. this isn't perfect, but it's documented and it works.

for day-to-day decisions:
consensus within the team or office affected. if you're doing work that mostly impacts your local context, you decide. retros provide a feedback loop when decisions have downstream effects.

for cross-team or cross-office decisions:
lazy consensus: propose the change, give reasonable time for objection, and proceed unless someone raises a block. objections require justification and an alternative proposal.

for organizational changes:
RFC-style proposals with documented discussion periods. major changes (budgeting, governance, partner policies) go through the exec team for review and alignment.

when consensus fails:
escalations route to the exec team as a tie-breaking mechanism. this is meant to be rare. most decisions resolve at the local level through retros and direct communication.

inter-office coordination

autonomous offices need a way to stay aligned without heavy coordination overhead. mutuol uses a few shared mechanisms. for details on work arrangements, see our work policy.

• cross-office retros: monthly retros involving representatives from all locations. focuses on alignment, shared process issues, and coordination gaps.
• shared documentation: all offices maintain visibility into each other's operations through the same documentation infrastructure. nothing is siloed unless it has to be.
• federal budgeting: each office has authority over its own budget up to delegation thresholds. larger expenditures involve coordination and alignment with the exec team.
• partner mobility: partners can work from any mutuol office with advance notice. local offices are expected to accommodate remote partners in shared spaces and domestic operations.