What does a Software Developer do?

A Software Developer writes, tests, and maintains the code behind applications. They implement features from product requirements, fix bugs, review teammates' code, and keep the codebase healthy. Depending on the team, they may work on web, mobile, desktop, or backend systems.

Is a Software Developer the same as a Software Engineer?

In most job markets, yes. The titles are used interchangeably and candidates search for both. Where companies do distinguish, developer usually signals hands-on feature work and engineer signals broader system design. Pick the title your target candidates use, and make the actual scope clear in the posting.

What skills should I look for when hiring a Software Developer?

Look for fluency in your core language, the habit of testing before shipping, comfort reading and extending unfamiliar code, and clear communication in reviews and stand-ups. A candidate who explains past work simply and asks sharp questions about requirements usually outperforms one who only lists frameworks.

How much experience should a Software Developer have?

It depends on the role. Junior developers with under two years of experience can ship well with mentoring and a solid review culture. For roles that involve owning features end to end with little oversight, look for three or more years of experience and evidence of independently shipped work.

Software Developer Job Description

Teams usually open this role when the backlog grows faster than the people able to work through it. The symptoms are familiar: releases slip, bug reports pile up, and two people are the only ones who understand a critical service. Adding a developer helps only if the posting is specific enough to reach people who want that particular codebase, in that particular language.

The draft below includes a summary paragraph, the day-to-day duties, and requirements written for hands-on implementation work. Before you edit, decide how much of the job is new development and how much is maintaining what already exists. Both are legitimate, but developers care deeply about the ratio and ask about it in the first conversation, so the posting may as well answer it.

Name your languages and frameworks in the sections below, describe how the team ships, and remove any requirement you would not genuinely reject someone for. The developer boards you already advertise on will do more work here than a general job site. If you would rather start closer to your setup, the generator below builds a version around your language, framework, and team size.

Written by Jasmin Erge, HR Content Specialist at Hirex. Reviewed by the Hirex Recruitment Team.
Last updated August 20, 2026.

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About the Software Developer role

A Software Developer writes, tests, and maintains the code behind applications and services. Day to day, that means turning tickets and specifications into working features, fixing bugs, improving existing code, and collaborating with teammates through code reviews and stand-ups. Developers are the people who convert product ideas into software that users can actually run.

The title overlaps heavily with Software Engineer, and most companies use the two interchangeably. Where a distinction exists, developer postings tend to emphasize hands-on implementation within an established codebase, while engineer postings lean toward system design and architecture. Candidates search for both titles, so what matters most is that your posting names the stack, the product area, and the level of ownership expected.

When writing your posting, be concrete about the languages and frameworks in daily use, whether the work is greenfield or maintenance-heavy, and how the team ships: sprint cadence, review process, and deployment frequency. Developers evaluate teams on these practical signals, and a specific posting will consistently outdraw a generic one.