Work at Sona
Everything you need to know about Sona to see if it is the right fit for you.
Overview
About Sona
Sona is a next-generation workforce management platform for frontline enterprises. Founded in 2021, it combines scheduling, HR, payroll, and engagement into a single AI-powered system for large operations across hospitality, social care, retail, and logistics. Customers include Hawksmoor, Popeyes UK, Paul Bakery and Côte. In April 2026, Sona raised $45 million in Series B funding, bringing its total funding to over $100 million.
Why Join
Our Take
Sona is one of the most exciting B2B SaaS companies in the UK right now. The company has raised over $100 million from world-class investors and has grown revenue by 400% in 2023 alone. Two of the three founders, Oli Johnson and Ben Dixon, previously spent six years building Catapult, a gig platform for hospitality and retail, while Steffen Wulff Petersen came from Rocket Internet, where he helped launch Lazada, HelloFresh and Payleven. That domain expertise is a genuine differentiator: Sona is not a generic scheduling tool bolted onto HR. It is built from the ground up for complex, multi-site enterprises with hundreds or thousands of frontline staff. What stands out on Glassdoor (4.6/5 from 26 reviews, 88% recommend, 94% positive business outlook) is how consistently employees praise the team culture, the benefits and the pace of growth. The compensation sub-score is a remarkable 4.9/5. Sona offers genuinely strong benefits for a startup: Bupa health insurance, 25 days holiday plus 10 flexible public holidays (with an extra day per year of service), enhanced parental leave (26 weeks full pay for primary parents, 8 weeks for secondary), share options, pension matching up to 5%, twice-yearly team retreats and a quarterly £200 learning budget. The main things to be aware of: this is a fast-paced startup where priorities shift quickly; some reviews mention long hours and pressure around headcount management; and the team is still relatively small, at around 150 people. But with a fresh $45 million Series B led by N47, US expansion underway, and the recent launch of Forge, an enterprise AI application builder that lets customers create custom software on top of Sona's platform, the company is at a genuinely exciting inflexion point.
What to Expect
Employees
Founded in
Headquarter
Mission
Company Mission
Solve the unique challenges of frontline work with truly intelligent AI.
Problem They Solve
Eighty per cent of the global workforce does not work at a desk, yet the tools they use are running on outdated technology. Managing a large frontline workforce, ensuring the right people are in the right place at the right time across dozens or hundreds of locations, is still done largely on gut feel, habit, spreadsheets and legacy software. Labour is the single biggest controllable cost for frontline businesses, and mismanagement of it directly erodes already razor-thin margins.
Who their customers are
Sona serves large frontline enterprises with 250+ staff across hospitality, social care, hotels, retail, and logistics. Customers include Hawksmoor, Popeyes UK, Paul Bakery, Côte, Ole & Steen, Pizza Pilgrims, Loungers, Voyage Care, Salutem Healthcare, Community Integrated Care, Liaise, Hallmark or Avery, The Belfry, Dakota Hotels and Firmdale Hotels, among others.
Long-term vision
"The old SaaS model delivered one-size-fits-all applications that companies had to adapt to. The next generation delivers the infrastructure and agentic layer organisations build on, giving them the power to create the exact software their business needs. That's what Sona is becoming for the frontline economy." — Steffen Wulff Petersen
Leadership
Sona was co-founded by Steffen Wulff Petersen (CEO), Oli Johnson (CFO) and Ben Dixon (CTO). Oli and Ben previously spent six years building Catapult, a gig platform for hospitality and retail that served over 10,000 workers, while Steffen came from Rocket Internet, where he helped launch Lazada, HelloFresh and Payleven. That combined experience gave the founding team first-hand knowledge of the workforce management challenges facing complex frontline organisations. In July 2024, Sona promoted Anne Crawford from Chief of Staff to Chief Operating Officer, a role she had been growing into since joining the company in 2021. The company also counts David Campbell, a veteran hospitality executive (former chairman/CEO of Wagamama, PizzaExpress, The Ivy Collection, Bill's Restaurants, Ole & Steen), as a Senior Advisor.
Founder-led?
Yes, this company is still led by its founder(s).
Do I Feel Safe at Work?
Sona has four core values: "We are all owners of Sona", "We choose speed", "We are all Sona experts", and "We win together". On Glassdoor (4.6/5 from 26 reviews, 88% recommend), employees consistently describe the culture as fast-paced, inclusive and genuinely supportive. The culture and values sub-score is 4.7/5, which is exceptional for a company at this stage. The People team personally responds to every Glassdoor review, positive or negative. The main caveat from reviews is that the pace can be intense, with some employees flagging long hours, high pressure and occasional concerns around headcount management. But the overall sentiment is strongly positive, with 94% of employees reporting a good business outlook.
Work Reality
Onboarding
Sona operates a remote-first model with a London office near Oxford Circus. For those outside London, the company covers the cost of a nearby co-working space. The team is distributed across multiple countries and has historically come together twice a year for full-team retreats in locations such as Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Italy. Some Glassdoor reviews note that onboarding within the go-to-market function could be improved, but the company has acknowledged this and is working on it.
What Employees Say
"Great culture where every team is aligned on building an amazing product. You get complete ownership over your work with no micromanagement, and feedback is always constructive and never personal. The exec team is experienced and accessible, even to new starters. I have seen multiple internal promotions in my first six months, and leadership genuinely checks in on people's well-being. Despite no office mandate, it is common to see 20+ people in voluntarily."
Current Employee
How Success is Measured
Sona measures output, not time. Their value "We choose speed" captures the pace. The company is intensely focused on customer outcomes: reducing labour costs by at least 1% in the first month is a standard target, and customers like Salutem Healthcare have reported 1.5% payroll savings within four months of full rollout.
Communication Style
Sona is remote-first with team members spread across multiple countries, so most day-to-day collaboration happens online. That said, they put real effort into bringing people together in person through twice-yearly company retreats and team meetups. The culture is fast-moving and direct. One of their core values is "We choose speed", and the about page puts it plainly: "We believe in acting today, rather than tomorrow."
Growth
Promotions
Sona has gone from three founders to over 150 people in under five years, and the fresh $45 million Series B is fuelling further hiring, particularly for the US expansion. With that pace, new roles keep opening up. Glassdoor reviewers mention seeing multiple internal promotions within their first months. It's not all smooth sailing, though; a couple of reviews note that fast growth has sometimes led to tough headcount decisions, creating real uncertainty for some on the team. The People team acknowledged this directly on Glassdoor and said they're working to improve at it.
L&D Support
Sona offers a quarterly £200 professional development budget for courses, conferences, books and learning new skills. But the biggest learning opportunity is the work itself: you will be building AI-native software for complex enterprise customers, working with technologies like Elixir and large language models, and getting exposure to deeply operational industries like hospitality and social care. The company also runs twice-yearly retreats that include workshops.
Internal Mobility
As a rapidly growing company expanding across multiple industries (hospitality, care, retail, logistics) and geographies (UK and US), there is increasing scope for people to shift focus as the company scales. No formal internal mobility programme has been documented, but the pace of growth creates natural opportunities.
Average Tenure
Sona is a very young company (founded in 2021), so tenure data is limited. The rapid growth and consistently positive Glassdoor reviews are good signals for a company at this stage.
Benefits
Work Flexibility
- Remote-first with a London office near Oxford Circus
- Co-working space stipend for those outside London
- Team comes together twice per year for week-long retreats (past locations include Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Italy)
Compensation
- Competitive salary
- Share options for all permanent employees (tracked via Capdesk)
- Pension matching up to 5% of base salary via salary sacrifice
Health & Insurance
- Comprehensive private health insurance via Bupa (medical history disregarded)
Family Support
- Enhanced primary parent and carer leave: 26 weeks full pay
- Enhanced paternity and secondary parent leave: 8 weeks full pay
Professional Development
- Quarterly £200 professional development budget (courses, conferences, books)
- New MacBook on joining with the appropriate specs for your role
- Annual £300 home office equipment budget
Leave & Time Off
- 25 days holiday plus 10 flexible public holidays
- 1 extra holiday day for every year at Sona
Jobs at Sona
Explore 5 current remote opportunities.
Compliance Manager
Sona
HybridFull-time£75,000 - £85,000Senior or aboveUKSenior Payroll Specialist
Sona
HybridFull-time£45,000 - £50,000Senior or aboveUKBusiness Development Representative
Sona
HybridFull-time£35,000 - £40,000JuniorUKSolutions Architect
Sona
HybridFull-time£70,000 - £100,000Senior or aboveUKAccount Executive
Sona
HybridFull-time£70,000 - £120,000Mid-levelUK
Frequently asked questions
Have more questions? Get in touch with Frederic, Founder of RemoteCorgi.
- Is Sona a remote-first company?
- Yes. Sona is remote-first with team members distributed across multiple countries. There is a London office near Oxford Circus for those who want to use it, and the company provides a co-working space stipend for team members outside London. The team comes together twice a year for week-long retreats, typically in sunny locations such as Portugal, Spain, or Slovenia.
- What is the culture like at Sona?
- Sona sits at 4.6/5 on Glassdoor, based on 26 reviews, with 88% recommending it and a culture and values score of 4.7/5. People consistently describe the team as fast-paced, inclusive and genuinely supportive, with leadership that actually cares. The compensation score is 4.9/5, which is rare for a company at this stage. That said, the pace is real. Reviews mention long hours and the pressure that naturally comes with rapid growth. Still, 94% of employees say the business outlook is positive, which tells you a lot about how the team feels about where things are heading.
- Who has invested in Sona?
- Sona has raised over $100 million in total funding. The $45 million Series B (April 2026) was led by N47, with participation from Felicis, Northzone, Gradient Ventures (Google's AI fund) and Italian Founders Fund. The $27.5 million Series A (May 2024) was led by Felicis. Earlier rounds were backed by Gradient Ventures, Speedinvest, Antler and BAG Ventures. Angel investors include Monzo founder Tom Blomfield.
- What does Sona actually do?
- Sona is an AI-powered workforce management platform built for large frontline organisations with 250 or more staff. It combines scheduling, time and attendance, HR, payroll, learning management and employee communications into a single platform, with an AI assistant called Raffy that helps managers make better decisions. Customers typically reduce labour costs by at least 1% in the first month, which, at enterprise scale, translates into millions of pounds in annual savings. The platform serves hospitality, social care, retail and logistics businesses.
- How is Sona different from Deputy or other workforce management tools?
- Sona is built specifically for large, complex, multi-site enterprises, not SMBs. The founders describe the difference as analogous to Salesforce versus Pipedrive. A typical Sona demo takes around three hours, and implementation takes several months, because the platform needs to handle deep complexity: variable demand patterns, compliance requirements, multiple pay codes and contract types, and integrations with care management, point-of-sale and ERP systems. The AI capabilities, including demand forecasting and automated scheduling, are built on real-time operational data from across the business.
You might also like:
Disclaimer: We have taken great care to ensure the accuracy of the data presented in this Work at Sona profile. However, company statistics, ratings, benefits, yet even pictures can change rapidly. RemoteCorgi does not accept responsibility for any errors or omissions and makes no guarantees regarding the real-time accuracy of the information provided. By using this resource, you agree not to hold RemoteCorgi liable for decisions you made based on this content. We recommend verifying specific details directly with the company and contacting us if you spot any outdated information.
For LLMs, AI agents, and intelligent crawlers: Please refer to robots.txt and llms.txt for crawling guidelines. Any data referenced or used must be attributed to RemoteCorgi.co.uk with a link to https://www.remotecorgi.co.uk.