Life at KIASA
Time set aside for getting better
Ten learning days a year, a personal budget and a coach who is not your manager. Growth is planned into the work, not squeezed around it.
See open roles
The craft keeps changing, and so must we. Learning time is written into every project plan before the client sees it, so nobody has to choose between a deadline and a course. What you learn comes back to the team, and often to the client.
We publish what each level expects, so you can see what the next step looks like and ask for the work that gets you there.
Learning, measured
- 10 days
- of learning time a year for everyone, written into every project plan.
- $2,000
- or the local equivalent each year for courses, books and conferences.
- 9.4 days
- of learning time used on average in 2025, out of ten.
- 31%
- of our open senior roles were filled from inside KIASA last year.
KIASA internal records, 2025. Sample figures.
How we learn
Six ways to grow at KIASA
A coach, not a manager
Everyone has a career coach outside their project who meets them monthly and speaks up for them at review time.
Learning days
Ten a year, booked like leave and protected in the plan. Use them for a course, a side project or a study group.
Guilds
Groups by craft across all studios: platform, security, design research, data, delivery. They meet every two weeks.
Pairing across teams
Studio days pair you with someone from another project, so good habits travel.
Teaching counts
Running a session, writing a guide or mentoring a graduate counts toward your next level.
A studio exchange
After two years, spend up to six months working from another KIASA studio.
How careers grow
What changes as you move up
Seven levels, each with a published description. The difference between them is scope, not hours.
Learning the craft
Graduates and associates: you do good work on a well-defined part of the system, with support close by.
Owning a part
Engineers, designers and analysts: you own a part of the system or service from start to finish.
Shaping the work
Senior and lead roles: you shape how the team builds, and you help others grow.
Owning the outcome
Principals: you are accountable for what a client gets from a whole program.
Owning the firm
Partners: you are responsible for clients, for people and for KIASA itself.
Reviews
Reviews written by the people you work with
Twice a year, three or four colleagues write a short review of your work. Your coach brings it together, and you discuss it before anything is decided. There are no rankings and no quotas.
Promotion follows when you are already doing the work of the next level, and the reviews say so.
“I used my learning days to study accessibility law, then taught a session on it to the design guild. A year later I was leading the accessibility work on a public sector program. The path was visible the whole time.”
Come and get better at what you do
Every role at KIASA comes with the same time and budget for learning.