Switzerland · France · remote
Based in Basel. At work across Switzerland, France, and wherever you are.
Ownward is a Swiss company with a French founder who learned the trade in Silicon Valley and ran critical infrastructure and education groups in Europe. We know how business is done on both sides of the border, and we work with teams anywhere a good connection reaches.
Headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. On-site work across Switzerland, including Zurich, Geneva and Lausanne, and across France, including Paris. Remote engagements worldwide, in English, French and Spanish, billed in CHF or EUR.
Who we work with
- Swiss SMEs and mid-caps
- German- and French-speaking Switzerland alike: we work in English and French, understand the Swiss way of deciding and delivering, and are a short train ride from Zurich, Bern, Geneva and Lausanne.
- French companies and groups
- Paris and the regions. Our founder ran a French employment and education group and knows the operational reality of French SMEs, ETIs and their regulation.
- Teams elsewhere in Europe and beyond
- English-speaking teams anywhere, remote-first, with the same method and the same standards. On-site time can be arranged when it changes the outcome.
How location works in an engagement
Proximity matters most at the start and at the handover. In between, most of the work runs remotely, with regular rituals and visible progress.
01
On site when it changes the outcome
First workshops, the early build cycles of a forward-deployed engagement, and the handover benefit from being in the room. We plan those days in Switzerland and France as part of the engagement.
02
Remote by default, with rituals
Weekly cycles, previews of every change, shared documentation and a named counterpart on your side keep the work visible whether we sit in Basel, Paris or your office.
03
Simple to contract on both sides of the border
A Swiss entity, invoices in CHF or EUR, contracts in English or French. Hosting and data residency follow your constraints: Swiss, EU or on your own infrastructure.
What working with a Basel-based team gives you
- Swiss reliability, US-style building: a founder from Holberton School's founding team in Silicon Valley, twenty years running systems and teams in Europe.
- Two markets understood from the inside: Switzerland and France, their regulations, their pace, their way of doing business.
- Three working languages: English, French and Spanish, in workshops, documentation and support.
- Experience from critical environments: sovereign cloud, healthcare, banking, defence, education and staffing.
- The same standards everywhere: See · Build · Own, documented delivery, your team's autonomy as the goal.
Questions we hear before we start
Where is Ownward located?
In Basel, Switzerland. From there we serve the whole country and France, and work remotely with teams elsewhere.
Do you come on site in Zurich, Geneva, Lausanne or Paris?
Yes. On-site days are planned when they change the outcome: workshops, first build cycles, handover, executive training. The rest runs remotely.
Can a French company work with a Swiss provider easily?
Yes. We contract in French or English, invoice in EUR or CHF, and host data in the EU, in Switzerland or on your infrastructure according to your policy.
Do you work with companies outside Switzerland and France?
Yes, remotely, in English. Our method, tooling and documentation are built for distributed work. On-site time can be arranged for key moments.
Which languages do you work in?
English, French and Spanish. Documentation is written in English by default, in French on request.
Which sectors do you know from the inside?
Education and training, staffing and employment, mission-critical infrastructure, cloud, telecom and SaaS. Across sectors, the work is the same: useful tools, shared data and teams able to keep improving them.
Related
Where is your team, and what would you build first?
Contact usOur future SaaS products
We also build tools you can make your own.
Alongside tailored delivery, Ownward is developing two independent products, designed from scratch for multiple organisations, clients and activities.