Calab Skills Registry

This registry defines the skill vocabulary referenced by role criteria across the handbook. Every criterion row carries a Skill value in the format FRAMEWORK-SKILL-LEVEL, mapping the criterion to either a SFIA 9 skill, a SFIA responsibility attribute or behavioural factor, or a Calab custom skill. Criteria files are the artefact of record — a skill is in Calab’s assessment scope if and only if at least one criterion references it, and the coverage map below is derived from those references, never maintained independently.

SFIA 9 validation record

All SFIA codes, names, and level ranges in this registry and the Engineer L1/L2 criteria files were validated against the live SFIA 9 skill pages at sfia-online.org on 2026-08-13 (KNOW, LADV, and the CALAB-ADM coverage check on 2026-08-14). Each professional skill was checked for existence, current SFIA 9 name, and defined level range. SFIA 9 (published October 2024) is the pinned version; SFIA 10 is in consultation only.

Skill reference format

FRAMEWORK-SKILL-LEVEL, e.g. SFIA-PROG-3, SFIA-AUT-2, CALAB-AGE-1.

Two rules govern what the trailing level number means:

1. SFIA-* values carry SFIA’s own level (SFIA-PROG-3 means SFIA level 3 of Programming/software development). This preserves the external benchmark value — the Calab role level is already in the criterion ID (L2-SEM01), and the anchor map below makes translation mechanical.
2. CALAB-* values carry Calab-calibrated levels 1–5, deliberately aligned to role levels: CALAB-AGE-2 reads naturally as “agentic engineering as expected around L2”. The level descriptors in this registry define each rung.

The anchor is the default pitch, not a straitjacket — an individual criterion may reference a skill one level above or below its role-level anchor where the expectation genuinely sits there.

Calab to SFIA anchor map

Calab level	Title	SFIA level	SFIA essence
L0	Graduate	1	Follow
L1	Engineer	2	Assist
L2	Senior Engineer	3	Apply
L3	Lead Engineer	4	Enable
L4	Senior Lead Engineer	5	Ensure / Advise
L5	Principal Engineer	6	Initiate / Influence
—	Head of Functional Area	7	Set strategy / Inspire / Mobilise

SFIA responsibility attributes and behavioural factors

Where a criterion describes generic professional responsibility rather than a specific professional skill, it maps to SFIA 9’s responsibility structure using SFIA’s official codes. SFIA 9 defines four core generic attributes:

Code	Attribute	Describes
SFIA-AUTO	Autonomy	Level of direction needed, ownership of outcomes, escalation judgement
SFIA-INFL	Influence	Whose decisions and behaviour the person affects, and how
SFIA-COMP	Complexity	Ambiguity and difficulty of the problems handled
SFIA-KNGE	Knowledge	Depth and breadth of applied knowledge

The former single “Business skills” attribute is expressed in SFIA 9 as 12 behavioural factors, each with its own code: Adaptability (ADAP), Collaboration (COLL), Communication (COMM), Creativity (CRTY), Decision-making (DECM), Digital mindset (DIGI), Improvement mindset (IMPM), Leadership (LEAD), Learning and development (LADV), Planning (PLAN), Problem-solving (PROB), and Security, privacy and ethics (SCPE).

Calab usage rules:

• SFIA-BUS is retained as a Calab umbrella shorthand for the Business skills / behavioural factors grouping, used where a criterion spans several factors (e.g. commercial awareness plus communication plus planning). SFIA itself still describes this five-way grouping, so the umbrella remains faithful.
• A specific factor code is preferred where one factor clearly fits — e.g. SFIA-IMPM-2 (Improvement mindset) for improvement-seeking behaviour.
• SCPE (Security, privacy and ethics) is new in SFIA 9 and the most load-bearing behavioural factor for an AI consultancy — criterion authors should prefer it over SFIA-BUS for ethics- and privacy-flavoured expectations.
• Attribute and behavioural-factor levels follow SFIA’s own 1–7 responsibility scale, per the anchor map.

Calab custom skills (CALAB-*)

Custom skills are defined only where SFIA 9 has no adequate coverage. Each has a named steward accountable for its level descriptors and for retiring or remapping the skill if SFIA later covers the ground. Stewards: guild-technology for the three AI skills (CALAB-AGE, CALAB-CTX, CALAB-EVL); guild-administration for CALAB-ADM.

The three AI skills were re-tested against SFIA 9 (2026-08-13): SFIA 9’s AI coverage comprises Machine learning (MLNG), AI and data ethics (AIDE), Data science (DATS), Data analytics (DAAN), Data engineering (DENG), and Analytical classification and coding (ANCC) — none covers agent workflow design, context/prompt engineering, or model-behaviour evaluation, and SFIA’s own AI skills guidance maps AI activity onto existing skills without addressing these three disciplines. All three are therefore retained. CALAB-ADM was validated the same way (2026-08-14): the SFIA 9 A–Z defines no professional skill for personal time management, timesheeting, leave planning, or administrative self-discipline — the closest, ADMN (Business administration), is a skill for administrative-services roles, not engineer self-discipline.

CALAB-AGE — Agentic engineering

Designing and operating agentic solutions: task decomposition for agents, guardrails, critical review of agent output, and agent tooling.

Level	Descriptor
1	Uses approved AI coding assistants and agents for well-scoped tasks; reviews, tests, and understands all generated output before submitting it as their own work.
2	Decomposes feature work into well-scoped agent tasks; runs agents effectively with context, guardrails, and iteration; critically reviews output and recovers when agents go wrong.
3	Designs a team’s agentic ways of working — workflows, review gates, guardrails — and measures agent-assisted quality and throughput.
4	Builds organisation-level agent capability: shared platforms, standards, governance, and enablement across teams.
5	Sets Calab’s agentic engineering strategy; a recognised authority internally and externally, shaping how the market sees Calab’s AI engineering.

CALAB-CTX — Context engineering

Designing the context AI systems consume: prompt and instruction assets, retrieval design, and knowledge-as-code for AI consumption. The term and scope align with current industry usage (e.g. Anthropic’s context engineering guidance, which frames context engineering as curating system instructions, tools, MCP, retrieval, and message history).

Level	Descriptor
1	Provides effective prompts and context — specs, code, examples — to AI tools for their own tasks, iterating when output misses.
2	Builds and maintains reusable context assets — prompts, instruction files, skills, MCP configurations — that raise a whole team’s agent effectiveness.
3	Designs the context architecture for a team or product: what knowledge is captured, where it lives, and how agents consume it.
4	Sets context-engineering standards across teams; curates the organisation’s knowledge-as-code estate for AI consumption.
5	Shapes Calab’s strategy for organisational knowledge and AI context; advances the practice beyond the organisation.

CALAB-EVL — AI evaluation

Judging and assuring the quality of AI output: evaluations, regression harnesses for model behaviour, and human-in-the-loop review design.

Boundary notes to avoid double-counting: SFIA TEST (Functional testing) and NFTS (Non-functional testing) own deterministic software test mechanics; SFIA ANCC (Analytical classification and coding, levels 2–6) covers the dataset-labelling and ground-truth slice of evals work and may be cited as a complement; SFIA AIDE (AI and data ethics) owns ethics practices, not quality harnesses. CALAB-EVL covers what none of these do — evaluating non-deterministic model behaviour.

Level	Descriptor
1	Identifies common failure modes in AI output — hallucinated APIs, insecure patterns, licence-risk code — and corrects them before use.
2	Designs lightweight evaluations — test harnesses, spot-check protocols, regression suites — to verify the quality of AI-generated output.
3	Owns the evaluation strategy for a team or system: evaluation datasets, quality gates, and human-in-the-loop review design; measures and reports AI output quality.
4	Builds shared evaluation infrastructure and standards across teams; audits AI quality organisation-wide.
5	Sets Calab’s AI quality bar and evaluation strategy; represents it to clients and industry.

CALAB-ADM — Operational discipline

Managing one’s own administrative obligations — time recording, leave planning, expenses, policy acknowledgements — and, at higher levels, improving the administrative practices that keep the organisation running. Validated 2026-08-14: SFIA 9 defines no professional skill for personal administrative self-discipline (see custom-skill validation note above). Personal work organisation in the general sense maps to the PLAN behavioural factor; CALAB-ADM covers the Calab-specific administrative execution that PLAN does not.

Level	Descriptor
1	Keeps their own administrative records — timesheets, leave, expenses, policy acknowledgements — accurate and on time with occasional guidance; plans leave ahead of known commitments.
2	Manages their administrative obligations reliably without prompting; coordinates time and leave around delivery commitments and flags allocation issues early.
3	Guides others on administrative practice — onboards teammates into time, leave, and record-keeping rhythms — and keeps their team’s records healthy.
4	Improves administrative practice across teams: identifies friction, proposes process or tooling changes, and lands adopted improvements.
5	Sets the organisation’s operational discipline standards; designs the administrative operating rhythm that keeps Calab audit-ready and efficient.

Advisory SFIA category routing

Routing guidance for authors and reviewers — which guilds typically reference skills from each SFIA 9 category. This is not ownership: any guild may reference any skill through its own criteria, and sign-off authority always follows the criterion owner.

SFIA category	Typically referenced by
Strategy and architecture	GL01 Executive (strategy), GL04 Technology (architecture, security)
Change and transformation	GL03 Delivery
Development and implementation	GL04 Technology
Delivery and operation	GL04 Technology
People and skills	GL05 Administration
Relationships and engagement	GL02 Sales, GL03 Delivery

Engineer skill coverage map (derived)

Derived from the Skill columns of the Engineer L1 and L2 criteria files across all contributing guilds. Regenerate whenever criteria change. L3–L5 will be added when those levels are revised.

SFIA professional skills

Skill	SFIA 9 name	Defined levels	L1 criteria	L2 criteria	Owning guild(s)
SFIA-BPRE	Business process improvement	2–7	—	L2-FDE01	guild-delivery
SFIA-BSMO	Business modelling	2–6	L1-FDE01	—	guild-delivery
SFIA-BUSA	Business situation analysis	2–6	—	L2-BAM02, L2-CM01	guild-delivery
SFIA-CEXP	Customer experience	2–6	L1-SGM03	L2-SGM01	guild-sales
SFIA-CFMG	Configuration management	2–6	L1-SEM03	—	guild-technology
SFIA-DENG	Data engineering	2–6	L1-DAT01	L2-DAT01, L2-DAT03	guild-technology
SFIA-DEPL	Deployment	2–6	L1-DVO01, L1-DVO02	L2-DVO01	guild-technology
SFIA-DESN	Systems design	2–6	L1-PAM01, L1-FDE04	L2-PAM01, L2-PAM02, L2-AAM01	guild-technology, guild-delivery
SFIA-DTAN	Data modelling and design	2–5	L1-DAT02	L2-DAT02	guild-technology
SFIA-HCEV	User experience design	2–6	L1-UXD01	L2-UXD01	guild-delivery
SFIA-ITOP	Infrastructure operations	1–5	L1-PAM04	L2-PAM04, L2-DVO02	guild-technology
SFIA-KNOW	Knowledge management	2–7	L1-KNM01	L2-KNM01	guild-administration
SFIA-METL	Methods and tools	2–6	—	L2-PAM03	guild-technology
SFIA-MLNG	Machine learning	2–6	—	L2-AIE04	guild-technology
SFIA-PROG	Programming/software development	2–6	L1-SEM01, L1-SEM04	L2-SEM01, L2-SEM03	guild-technology
SFIA-REQM	Requirements definition and management	2–6	L1-BAM01, L1-BAM02, L1-BAM03	L2-BAM01, L2-BAM03	guild-delivery
SFIA-SCTY	Information security	2–7	L1-AIE04, L1-SEC01, L1-SEC02, L1-DAT03	L2-SEC01, L2-SEC03	guild-technology
SFIA-SINT	Systems integration and build	2–6	L1-FDE02, L1-AAM02	L2-FDE02, L2-AAM02	guild-delivery, guild-technology
SFIA-SWDN	Software design	2–6	—	L2-SEM04	guild-technology
SFIA-TEST	Functional testing	1–6	L1-SEM02, L1-FDE03	L2-SEM02	guild-technology, guild-delivery
SFIA-USEV	User experience evaluation	2–6	L1-UXD02	L2-UXD02, L2-UXD03	guild-delivery
SFIA-USUP	Incident management	1–6	L1-DVO03	L2-DVO03	guild-technology
SFIA-VUAS	Vulnerability assessment	2–5	L1-SEC03	L2-SEC02	guild-technology

Remap history (2026-08-13 SFIA 9 validation): HCDE retired in SFIA 9 → HCEV (which now means UX design; evaluation moved to USEV); RLMT (levels 4–7) → CEXP at L1/L2; CNSL (levels 4–7) → BUSA-3; EMRG (levels 4–6) → METL-3; INOV (now Innovation management, levels 5–7) → IMPM behavioural factor; RELM (now Release management) → DEPL for hands-on CI/CD and deployment work. RLMT-4, CNSL-4, and EMRG-4 remain natural references for the L3+ criteria pass.

SFIA responsibility attributes and behavioural factors

Code	L1 criteria	L2 criteria	Owning guild(s)
SFIA-AUTO	L1-VAL01, L1-SGM02, L1-CM03, L1-PM01, L1-PAM03	L2-VAL01, L2-CM02	guild-executive, guild-sales, guild-delivery, guild-technology
SFIA-BUS	L1-VAL02, L1-CM01, L1-CM02, L1-PM02	L2-VMA01, L2-VAL02, L2-STM01, L2-SGM03, L2-FDE03, L2-PM01, L2-PM03	guild-executive, guild-sales, guild-delivery
SFIA-COMP	—	—	(available; unused at L1–L2)
SFIA-IMPM	L1-VAL03	L2-VAL03	guild-executive
SFIA-INFL	L1-SGM01	L2-SGM02, L2-CM03, L2-PM02	guild-sales, guild-delivery
SFIA-KNGE	L1-VMA01, L1-STM01, L1-PM03, L1-PAM02, L1-AAM01	L2-FDE04	guild-executive, guild-delivery, guild-technology
SFIA-LADV	L1-HRM03	L2-HRM03	guild-administration

Calab custom skills

Skill	L1 criteria	L2 criteria	Owning guild(s)	Steward
CALAB-AGE	L1-AIE01	L2-AIE01	guild-technology	guild-technology
CALAB-ADM	L1-HRM01, L1-HRM02	L2-HRM01, L2-HRM02	guild-administration	guild-administration
CALAB-CTX	L1-AIE02	L2-AIE02	guild-technology	guild-technology
CALAB-EVL	L1-AIE03	L2-AIE03	guild-technology	guild-technology

Maintenance

• Criterion-to-skill mappings live in the criteria files and are owned by the criterion’s owning guild — sign-off authority at evaluation follows the criterion owner, and this registry’s coverage map is only a derived summary.
• CALAB skill stewards maintain descriptor text, watch SFIA releases, and retire or remap a custom skill when SFIA adequately covers it.
• SFIA version pin: SFIA 9 (validated against live sfia-online.org pages, 2026-08-13). The version pin and anchor map are org-wide policy owned through governance. Re-validate on SFIA 10 release.

Known coverage gaps (candidates for future criteria)

SFIA 9 skills defined at levels 2–3 that a modern AI-era engineering ladder would normally assess but no Calab criterion references yet. Adding any of these requires authoring a criterion first — the registry never lists a skill without a referencing criterion.

Skill	SFIA 9 name	Defined levels	Why it matters
SFIA-NFTS	Non-functional testing	1–6	Performance, security, and reliability testing — split out of TEST in SFIA 9; AI-heavy systems especially need it
SFIA-AIDE	AI and data ethics	3–6	New in SFIA 9; an AI consultancy assessing MLNG but no AI-ethics skill is a conspicuous gap (fits L2+ anchor exactly)
SFIA-DATS	Data science	2–6	Statistical judgement and predictive-model literacy for engineers evaluating AI systems (alternative: DAAN Data analytics, 2–7)