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Startups are often associated with ambiguity. They’re fast-moving, figure-it-out-as-you-go environments where long-term career growth may take a backseat to shorter-term business goals. At Viam, we encourage individual growth alongside our daily work. It is built into the culture, and backed by real programs that give employees the tools, clarity, and time to develop.
Here's a look at three programs that reflect how Viam invests in its people:
Lead with Curiosity: The Learning & Development Budget
Every Viam employee is allotted $2,000 annually for professional growth, a direct investment in their development. The budget covers courses, books, conferences, certifications, and more.
"I used my L&D budget to attend the National Marine Electronics Association conference and take a two-day course on programming boat networks. I'd been wanting to go deeper on it — now I contribute regularly to Viam's boat module, which decodes the NMEA protocol to communicate between marine devices."
- John Walicki, Forward Deployed Engineer
Viam team members have used it in ways that reflect their own curiosity: attending industry conferences in person, enrolling in role-specific technical courses, and even pursuing creative interests like photography that build skills they bring back to their work. The philosophy behind the program is simple: when people are given the resources to grow within and beyond their day-to-day role, they show up more creative, motivated, and committed.
Career Ladder: Clarity Over Ambiguity
Viam's career ladder was established early in its founding, when the company had about 20 employees. From the beginning, Viam’s leaders wanted to establish clear expectations and pathways for development for every employee, regardless of their level or team.
The ladder defines expectations across the following categories at every level: technical execution, architecture and design, ownership, collaboration, and team impact. Rather than relying on tenure or subjective perception for promotions, career advancement at Viam is grounded in demonstrated impact across these categories.
The ladder isn't just a document. It's used actively in annual reviews, self-reviews, and regular start/stop/continue conversations. It gives team members a shared vocabulary to describe where they are today, where they want to go, and what they need to develop to progress.
Build on Viam: Hands-On Learning
Every three weeks, engineers spend three days building working robots as part of a structured program designed to deepen technical fluency and spark new ideas. Recent builds include a dual-arm salad-making robot, a chess-playing robot, and an automated espresso machine.
This dedicated time building on the platform provides proof points for developers evaluating Viam, and informs opportunities to improve the platform in the process. It also gives team members who joined without robotics experience a hands-on path to get up to speed quickly, experiment freely, and develop a genuine understanding of what they're building for customers.
"My background is in mobile software — I had never touched robotics before Viam. Building on Viam was how I actually learned it. The dual-arm salad maker and the teleoperation robot we demoed at Hannover Messe are things I am really proud of, and not something I would have predicted for myself before Viam."
- Clint Purser, Lead Engineer
Growth That's Built In
Professional development is built into the culture at Viam, whether it's funding outside learning, providing clear expectations for advancement, or dedicating time to hands-on learning.
Interested in joining a team that takes growth seriously? View open roles at Viam
