By Martin Lynch, Software Engineer at Kainos
When I graduated with a degree in Computer Science, I was focused on finding the right opportunity. Like many people starting out in technology, I wasn’t necessarily thinking about where that career might eventually take me.
I found myself working in Letterkenny, but I always knew that being closer to home mattered to me. When an opportunity came up to join the Kainos office in Derry, it felt like the right move.
That was 11 years ago, and since then, I have built my career as a software engineer at Kainos while remaining based in the North West. For me, that is one of the most important messages we can give people considering a career in technology today: you do not necessarily have to move away to access interesting work, develop specialist skills or build an ambitious career.
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Kainos has had a presence in Derry since 2011 and today around 108 people work from the office. As part of our latest recruitment drive, a further 32 roles are being created in Derry, contributing to 341 new opportunities across Northern Ireland. Those roles span software engineering, platform and data engineering, AI and data science, architecture, consulting, delivery, design and business support.
Creating jobs is only one part of building a strong technology sector. We also have to make those careers visible and give people the skills and confidence to access them. That is something I have become increasingly passionate about during my time at Kainos.
Alongside my day-to-day role, I spend a significant amount of time on technology outreach, working with universities, schools, and community organisations across the North West.
Part of that involves spending half a day each week teaching in a local primary school. At that age, it is not about telling children that they have to become software engineers. It is about introducing them to technology, problem-solving, and new ways of thinking early enough that they can begin to imagine where those skills might take them.
Through Kainos, I have also had the opportunity to support the North West Migrants Forum through a six-week programme focused on creating an accessible starting point into technology. For those who have not followed a traditional route into the industry, tech can often feel difficult to access or understand from the outside. Giving people the chance to explore new skills, build confidence and gain a clearer understanding of the career opportunities available can make a real difference in helping them see technology as a path that is open to them.
The same principle sits behind the Kainos Academy, which I help to lead. Now in its second year, the Academy is an eight-week programme designed to give graduates, placement students, and other early-career colleagues the skills, learning, and understanding of how we work that they need before moving into projects across Kainos.
It is delivered on a hybrid basis across Derry, Birmingham, and Gdańsk, which means geography does not have to be a barrier to participation. We have people travelling from places including Strabane and Coleraine to take part in the Derry programme.
Participants develop their technical capability, but the Academy is about much more than learning a particular programming language or tool. It introduces people to ways of working, collaboration, problem-solving, and the skills required to contribute effectively within project teams.
Once the eight weeks are complete, graduates move into the business and are assigned to projects as opportunities become available, while placement students remain with Kainos for a full year. The results have been really encouraging. Around 95% of those taking part in the Academy go on to be offered a permanent position with Kainos.
For me, that demonstrates why investment in early talent matters. Technology moves quickly. The skills I needed when I started my career 11 years ago are not identical to the skills someone joining Kainos today will need, and they will continue to change as artificial intelligence becomes part of more of the work we do.
Employers cannot simply wait for fully formed skills to appear in the labour market. We have a responsibility to develop people, create pathways into the sector, and give talented individuals opportunities to learn. That is particularly important for the North West.
There is already an excellent talent pipeline across the region, supported by institutions including Ulster University, North West Regional College and Atlantic Technological University. The more employers can connect with those institutions, schools, and community organisations, the more we can demonstrate that technology careers are genuinely available locally.
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When I joined Kainos, knowing people in the Derry office helped make the company feel accessible to me. Eleven years later, I want more people to have that same visibility of the opportunities on their doorstep.
Whether someone is graduating from university, completing a placement, considering a change of career or simply beginning to explore technology for the first time, there should be a route for them to take that next step.
With Kainos continuing to invest in Derry and recruit new people across the North West, this is an exciting time to consider what that next step could look like. You can build a career in technology without leaving the region; more importantly, we can build the next generation of that industry right here.
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