Svetlana ShevchukAccording to an extended 2022 LinkedIn Jobs on the Rise list, web development (specifically back-end development) science is a specialty that has been growing significantly across all industries. Thus, we have created this comprehensive guide to help you hire a back-end developer, as they are crucial for your web development team.
This article will first explore the types, technologies, skills, and responsibilities of a great back-end developer. Then, we are going to analyze the cost of hiring one for your company and all the alternatives you have concerning a candidate’s experience, employment type, and region. By the end of our guide, you will be able to choose a back-end developer that will correspond to your company’s needs.
Table of Contents
What does a backend developer do?
A back-end developer is one of the most critical roles in your development team. This person will be responsible for creating and maintaining your website’s server, application, and database by utilizing related web technologies (i.e., Java, Python, Go, etc.). For this definition to be more understandable, let’s look at the back-end engineer’s types, technologies, skills, and responsibilities.
The three types of back-end developers based on experience
The level of back-end developers’ expertise is subdivided into three engineering degrees to define your potential employee’s capabilities: junior, middle, and senior.
- Junior back-end developer.
In most cases, a junior back-end developer has 0-2 years of experience and is, in most cases, a back-end assistant. However, most junior back-end developers have the required knowledge to define and solve common obstacles when creating servers or databases. For this reason, they can be the best option for your company if you want to offer a lower salary but still complete a relatively easy project. Yet, most junior back-end developers have an intrinsic passion for learning. They tend to work slower than more experienced developers and might not have the skills you require. - Middle back-end developer.
As with most fields, seniority in web development comes with years of experience. This is why a middle back-end developer is a safer choice for your company. A great web programmer will examine your business aims and budget and propose alternatives to solve occurring problems. The middle back-end developers have also gained valuable experience in the creation and maintenance of different website servers, applications, and databases. They have a better understanding of the development process in general. - Senior back-end developer.
On the other hand, if you need a person for a senior web developer position, only a senior back-end developer will have the skills and experience (more than five years) required for the job. This person is not only a quick and effective web developer but also has the knowledge necessary to direct your website’s development team. They don’t require much control and can maintain development workflow by themself. That is why senior software developers are in high demand by early-stage startups.
Skills to look for in a back-end developer
As mentioned, for back-end developers to be useful for your website’s creation, they need to use at least one programming language, like Java or Python. You need to understand their experience with those different technologies to get a clear picture of your back-end developers‘ profile.
If front-end development is mainly needed for user interface creation (with the help of such technologies as HTML/CSS, JavaScript, Angular.js, and others), back-end development is about connecting the client-side part with the server-side and making it all work together as a system.
A back-end developer will need to use some server-side languages like Go, Ruby, Python, Java, PHP, R, or Node.js to build an application. These languages are the engineer’s primary tool to create the server, application, and database of your website and make them communicate with each other. Java and Python are the most popular programming languages of all time, specially designed and evolved to be easily understood by both beginners and experienced back-end engineers.
However, like Google’s GO, the rest programming languages are also efficient for developing and optimizing your website. For this reason, it is essential to discuss with your potential developers and understand what they can offer and which of those technologies they can utilize for your website’s creation.
Apart from those technologies, a great back-end developer has considerable skills in creating and maintaining your website’s server and database. In a few words, a back-end developer can work with:
- Database technologies like MySQL, MongoDB, Oracle, etc., to find, save, or change data and serve it back to the user.
- Administering servers like Microsoft IIS, Linux, Apache, etc., to develop and deploy the system.
- APIs executed across devices such as AJAX, SOAP, and JSON to trade data between mobile devices, websites, and other connected systems.
What are a back-end developer’s main responsibilities?
The back-end developer will be a valuable member of your web development team. This person will use all the tools and technologies we mentioned to construct each project’s whole back end.
Thus, your back-end developer will be responsible for creating or contributing to the web application with well-documented, clean code. Likewise, code testing, optimization, and security are usually your developer’s responsibilities.
Finally, your back-end developer must be an enthusiast. We mean that the person you choose shouldn’t only love the job but also be a great team player. This should be a priority for you as, in most cases, your back-end developer will collaborate daily with other team members (like the front-end developer or the project manager).
How much does it cost to hire a back-end developer?
According to Indeed, a back-end developer’s average base salary in New York for 2023 is $151,694. However, this is just an example, as a developer’s income is influenced by numerous parameters.
Backend developer salaries vary based on region, experience, and type of employment. Let’s dive deeper into those three parameters.
Back-end developers’ salaries in different regions
The USA and Western Europe are the regions where back-end developers have the highest income. According to our company’s research, the average back-end engineer hourly rate in New York (for 2023) is $55.94. Likewise, the average web developer rate per hour in the United Kingdom is $71.
However, things are entirely different when it comes to Latin America or Eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa. The average income per hour for a back-end engineer in Ukraine is $42.
Accordingly, the average software developer hourly rate in Brazil in 2023 is $47. This is why many companies from the US choose to create or hire offshore development teams from Eastern Europe, Latin America, India, or other places worldwide.
| North America | Western Europe | Eastern Europe | Latin America | Asia | Africa |
| $46.35 | $67.20 | $32.29 | $45.71 | $25.83 | $28.00 |
Source: Average hourly rate for software development, 2023
Offshore back-end developers available for hire
Back-end developers’ salaries based on experience
The average back-end developer salary in the US is $100K per year. The developer’s experience also influences this amount. Similarly, a senior back-end developer in the US has an average salary of $155K.
However, a mid-career back-end developer makes around $102K a year, and junior back-end developers earn around $78K.
Back-end developers’ salaries based on employment type
If you want to hire a back-end developer, you can choose between three different types of engineers based on the employment type. You can either hire a freelancer, an in-house developer, or an outsourced one.
If you choose to hire a freelancer through Upwork or another platform, you have to pay only for the job done. Compared to the other two options, hiring a freelancer is the most affordable solution. However, it has been noticed that many specific problems pop up when working with a freelancer. Delays, time zone difference difficulties, or even project cancellations are only a few of those obstacles. For this reason, hiring a freelancer for web development may be cheaper, but it isn’t always a safe choice.
Contrarily, in-house developers are directly interested in positive results and are less likely to leave one of your projects. Of course, if you choose to hire a full-time, in-house developer, you have to offer a monthly salary and pay different financial and non-financial benefits.
This is why IT outsourcing proves to be a smart solution for an enormous number of companies. According to Ideamotive report, offshore outsourcing is becoming a better alternative for hiring web developers, and the reasons are convincing.
The methodology of outsourcing development services is pretty simple. All you have to do is hire one or more web developers through an offshore software development company or with the help of a marketplace like YouTeam. Then, a team of back-end developers will work on your project remotely. The fact that this company isn’t located in the US makes this solution more affordable than in-house developers. Although this solution is relatively more expensive than freelancers, it is favored due to its safety.
Where can you find the best back-end developers?
In order to hire the best software engineers for your company, it is important to define your business goals. By understanding your priorities, goals, and needs, you will find it easier to decide if you need to hire a freelancer or an outsourced development team, a junior or senior engineer, etc.
Where to find and hire a freelance back-end developer?
Hiring a freelancer is the best solution for companies that need to offer the lowest rates. Due to the competition on freelance platforms, you will find a back-end developer who will do the job at a relatively low price in most cases.
Also, working with freelance developers can be a good solution when you simply need to clear your backlog and don’t have long-term development tasks.
Thus, you could consider hiring a freelancer if you need a person to cope with a startup web development project. Those are the best platforms to hire a freelancer:
Where to find and hire an in-house back-end developer?
If you need to hire a developer for a long-term project of your company, a freelancer proves to be a risky choice. This is why many companies prefer to hire an in-house back-end developer.
By offering a monthly salary, you will add a motivated developer to your software development team. Thus, if you have substantial development projects, then an in-house back-end developer is a safe (yet expensive) solution. Those are the best online platforms to find and hire one:
Where to find and hire an outsource back-end developer?
If you need more affordable web developers with an in-house team‘s characteristics, you can hire an offshore developer. We have already explained how this kind of service works.
IT outsourcing services prove to be an excellent solution for companies that can’t afford the expensive US salaries but need a great development team or individual.
In this case, similarly to freelance hiring, the best way to find a reliable development partner is to have a good recommendation. This is how you can be sure that your partner has similar business values and that you can trust them in your product development. But if you don’t know anything about offshore outsourcing companies, you can try to minimize your risks by referring to platforms like ours. YouTeam is a Y Combinator-backed marketplace that verifies each outsourcing partner so that our clients can hire developers with no risk.
Why hire dedicated back-end developers with YouTeam?
If you are thinking of hiring a high-quality back-end developer or even an offshore team of engineers for your web development, our company will ensure that this cooperation will be both effective and affordable. Let’s have a look at the advantages of hiring an offshore web developer with YouTeam:
- We provide a vast number of software developers to choose from.
- We vet every engineer and cooperate only with trusted development firms.
- You will have the ability to up- or down-scale your development team.
- You can check the previous work of full-stack developers listed on the YouTeam platform here.
Conclusion
To sum up, we have analyzed the characteristics of a back-end developer and the role’s main technologies, skills, and responsibilities. We also had a look at the cost of hiring back-end developers and their income variations based on region, experience, and type of employment.
Finally, we concluded that using YouTeam’s platform to hire a backend developer proves to be a safe and cost-effective choice for your company.
Hiring a back-end software developer: FAQ
What does a backend developer do?
A back-end developer is responsible for creating and maintaining your website’s server, application, and database by utilizing related web technologies (i.e.Java, Python, Go, etc.).
What skills do back-end developers need?
Here is the skillset of a great back-end developer:
- Work with server-side languages like Go, Ruby, Python, Java, PHP, R, or Node.js
- Work with Databases (i.e., MySQL, MongoDB)
- Work with API (JSON, AJAX, SOAP)
What is the salary of a back-end developer?
Backend developer salaries vary based on region, experience, and type of employment. Likewise,
- a junior developer is paid less than a senior (according to the Payscale, in the US, this difference can make more than $70K from $78K paid to junior developers up to $155K for senior back-end developers),
- a freelancer less than an in-house developer (the last also gets financial and other benefits),
- and Eastern Europe’s salaries are lower than those in the US (for example, developers in Ukraine get $42K which is a significantly lower salary comparing to the US engineers).
How do I find a back-end developer?
If you have identified the type of developer that suits you best (freelancer, in-house, or outsourced), there are numerous platforms to choose from. One way we can recommend with certainty is hiring individual back-end developers or development teams via YouTeam. Because we know for sure that only verified partners with skilled developers and high working ethics get into YouTeam’s talent pool.
What is the safest way to hire a back-end developer?
In-house and outsourced developers have proved to be the safest way to hire a back-end developer. In any case, getting a recommendation or feedback about a particular developer or outsourcing company is a must before final hiring.
We at YouTeam validate each and every outsourcing company that applies to our platform and also provide candidate vetting via HackerRank for Work. You can read more about our vetting process here.
What are the best countries to hire offshore back-end developers?
Countries in Eastern Europe and Latin America are both cost-effective and full of great web developers. You can read more about the pros and cons of different offshore regions in this article.
Artem Vasin
