About Kakapo Labs
What is Kakapo Labs?
Kakapo Labs describes itself as "a multi-functional tech incubator with a focus on the humane" with a mission to "explore the boundaries between various forms of media via our creative approach to problem-solving projects, whether that be online or offline." The studio marries digital technology with traditional and non-traditional applications to produce thought-provoking products — work that ranges from web tools to physical machines.
The project portfolio spans both digital and physical: ChecQR (a suite of tools for digital record-keeping), PingPenguin (personalised scannable labels for valuables), Olga (a collaboration with retail-display agency Alter/d Designs for their booth at the Visual Merchandising and Display trade show), Love Machine (a ChatGPT-powered gumball machine that dispenses treats in exchange for compliments instead of money), and Penguin Machine (a revamp of Love Machine built as part of a sponsorship for Wandsworth Swimming Club's open meet). The company is based at companies-house record copyright "© Copyright Kakapo Labs 2022."
Where will I work?
The team works from a lab in Limehouse, east London. Current open Creator/Developer role explicitly states "This is not a remote position." The lab is dog-friendly. Working hours are Monday to Thursday, 10-4 — a 24-hour, four-day week at full salary.
What is the Kakapo Labs team like?
A small studio (two employees per DB record) led by an experimental, practical approach: "Our approach is experimental — we often try new things — and we keep our projects small. We're often building new things or trying new approaches to a problem." The team has "a vast range of technical and practical capabilities to bring your concept to life" and is "most interested in working in partnership with people with great ideas — whether our clients are business owners, marketers, project facilitators, day dreamers, content creators, bakers, artists, or developers." The hiring brief asks for makers as much as developers: candidates are encouraged to disclose hands-on experience in "Sewing, Drawing/painting/sculpting, Art and design, Woodwork, Crafting, Electronics/soldering, Printing, DIY/Repairs."
Work-Life Balance
Kakapo Labs publishes its 24-hour, 4-day-week schedule directly on its careers page: "We work a short 4 day week (Monday to Thursday, 10-4) in our lab in Limehouse, east london." That gives every full-time team member a permanent three-day weekend at no loss of pay. The studio is dog-friendly and explicitly office-based — a deliberate, in-person studio culture rather than a distributed one.
Perks and Benefits
The public careers JD is brief and focuses on schedule + work environment rather than enumerated perks. What's confirmed:
- 24-hour, 4-day week at full salary (Monday-Thursday, 10am-4pm) — verbatim
- Office-based work at the Limehouse, East London lab — verbatim "This is not a remote position"
- Dog-friendly studio — verbatim "We are dog friendly"
- Maker tooling and lab equipment supporting both software development and physical prototyping (electronics, embedded development, Arduino, Raspberry Pi, woodwork, sewing, soldering, printing)
- Skill development emphasis — the JD prizes "Learning new skills and techniques", "Problem solving", "Pair/team programming", and a broad tech stack spanning cloud (AWS / Google Cloud / Azure), web (JS/TS/Node/React/Python/GraphQL), IoT/embedded, and Linux/Git deployment
Applications go directly through the studio's self-hosted Developer page at kakapolabs.co.uk/careers/developer (no third-party ATS).