Hire Senior Software Developers Remotely in 2023
Looking to hire a skilled senior software dev, but are already worried about the headache the process might cause? Hire with Lemon.io stress free!
Let us show you who a Senior software developer is
Senior software engineers are the masterminds of information systems, designers, and developers of software solutions. They understand what makes a product great and can iterate on improvements quickly. Just like plants thrive under the sun, senior developers thrive in unstructured environments and enjoy identifying big problems and solving them.
Don’t rush to leave yet. We got what you need!
Haven’t even started the hiring process yet, but are already overwhelmed by it? We know how you might feel, and that is why we have created Lemon.io to put an end to such struggles. Choosing to hire with us, you choose pleasant rates, skilled developers and smooth onboarding with data protection.
Let’s roll!
Ivan S.
// senior back-end web developer
If you are searching for the top Developer in Golang and Java, Ivan is the cream of the crop. More than 10 years of commercial experience make Ivan even more required.
Daniel R.
// senior full-stack developer
Software Engineer with 10 years experience specializing in Javascript; usually prefers to build UI complex websites but also feels comfortable working on backend development.
Marcin D.
// senior full-stack developer
A pragmatic and hardworking developer, he can bite his tooth into any task and seeks projects where he can make architectural decisions and show his impact.
Why we hired senior software developers and suggest you do the same
The job of a senior software engineer
There are three main reasons why you would want to have a senior engineer on your team.
First and foremost, a senior software developer converts your abstract ideas into meaningful and specific objectives. The word «meaningful» is essential here because it is the senior programmer’s job to ensure time is not wasted on useless activities.
Secondly, senior developers possess a perspective that can only be earned by many years of problem-solving practice, and observation of new technological trends and themes. Therefore making them valuable team members who are able to provide an informed decision free of any bias related to mainstream technologies.
Thirdly, senior developers are your partners, and making your business progress is their goal. They share your perspective on the development experience and critically assess the process, ensuring the completed tasks are only done for improvement.
Skills to look for in your mighty senior software developer
Now that you know why you want to have a senior developer on your team, we would like to share the skills you should look for in a specialist when hiring a senior software engineer.
- 5+ years of full-time software engineering experience;
- Experience in building scalable production-level applications;
- Strong product intuition;
- Entrepreneurial mindset;
- Excellent expertise with API (REST, GraphQL, gRPC, etc.);
- DevOps experience with AWS or similar cloud providers and CI/CD tools.
In-house vs. remote employment
We know you might still have doubts about getting remote developers, even a vetted one. Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered!
In-house employment
Advantages of hiring an in-house developer
No doubt in-house employment got its pros.
- Bigger chance of culture fit. When all the company members come from the same country or city, there will be less miscommunication and misunderstandings;
- Better security. Since there are no third parties involved, it is easier to maintain security;
Efficient crisis management. It is easier to assemble a team located in one spot in case of crisis, than the ones located in different parts of the world, and times zone; - Social capital. Some studies show that information and knowledge are better shared when people work in one place;
- Skills are transferable. If you chose to train your employee on a project-specific task, chances are they’ll be able to apply what they’ve learned elsewhere. Consequently, this makes an employee a valuable asset.
Disadvantages of hiring an in-house developer
But also consider these cons when making a decision.
- Higher costs. Starting with rent, adding utilities, snacks, and equipment to it, in-house employment immediately results in additional couple thousand dollars a month;
- Communication. To ensure effective communication of ideas and tasks within the team, project and account management must be at a high level;
- Recruiting takes time and requires a lot of resources. You must not only find a suitable candidate but also onboard them and provide them with a workplace and necessary work equipment;
- Smaller talent pool. Finding skilled professionals in small cities might be challenging;
- A limited set of skills. When training for new tasks, an employee can get distracted from their initial responsibilities and get overwhelmed, therefore losing interest in the position they were initially hired for.
Remote employment
Advantages of hiring a remote developer
These advantages, oof, how can you resist the fruits the current world structure offers?
- Bigger talent pool. The market is saturated with skilled freelancers. You can find a developer with a rare tech stack who is just the right fit for your specific tasks or project. In addition, hiring offshore from other countries opens an opportunity for lower hourly wages;
- Lower costs. Hiring a freelancer saves budget since you don’t need to cover office expenses, yet you can share a pleasant monthly bonus for the home office with your remote developer;
- Direct communication. Freelancer reports only to you without any mediators unless so decided.
- Adaptability. As technology advances with the speed of light, so do freelancers improve to remain competitive;
- Dedication. Freelancers take their time to understand your needs, as their reputation and income depend on how well they perform.
Disadvantages of hiring a remote developer
Surely, there are risks and disadvantages of offshore hiring, but the advantages are much brighter, wouldn’t you agree? Especially, when knowing where to hire from.
- Transparency and security risks. The absence of in-person communication might create tension and feel like a lack of transparency. Moreover, when sensitive information keeps being passed between often changing employees, the security risk rises;
- Neverending search. Yes, you do find the right platform to hire skilled developers from there, but if you are new to this it is going to take time by trial and error;
- Language barrier. If you are hiring offshore, language can become an issue;
- Quality assurance control. Unless you are a developer yourself or have someone to consult with, there is not much you can do to make sure a developer builds unique and stable code;
- Reliability. Not all freelancers are trustworthy. In case they don’t like you, the project, or something changed their mind, they won’t hesitate to break a deal.
However, when you know where to hire, the risks you might have when thinking of a freelance employee dissolve!
Three ways to hire a senior software engineer
There are three ways you can hire a senior software developer. Some feel like walking barefoot on glass, others like feathers – effortless, mind and heart soothing.
Directly to your company using in-house recruiting resources
It all begins with searching for a senior software developer job description template, writing a job profile, and posting it on multiple job boards to increase your chances of finding the right match.
And then it goes like this: skimming through hundreds of resumes, figuring out the ones worthy of an interview, conducting interviews, providing a test assignment, waiting to see who passes, and picking that one perfect developer to join your team. Then you’ll have to do the onboarding, and wait till a developer adapts and gets into your rhythms… only to see them walk away. And all this trouble comes at a steep cost for your company.
On average, this process takes up to six months. Moreover, the talent pool is not as big as one would hope.
Bidding platforms
Such platforms have a bigger talent pool. Their greatest advantage is availability and flexibility. Since the talent pool is bigger, you can definitely find a professional according to your needs and schedule or time zone. However, there is no guarantee that the work will live up to promises and expectations. Besides, on bidding platforms, expert software developers establish their own rates, which might fluctuate through the working process, and might not correspond to their knowledge. Commission fees on such platforms are pretty high, yet they offer no guarantee you won’t throw your money out of a window.
Great platform for hiring programmers and web designers. Offers payment protection and works with budget-based projects. However, it has high service fees.
The oldest running freelance platform can offer vetted, location-based senior software developers. Free bids are limited.
This is that safe, heart-soothing walk on feathers we mentioned above. Such platforms have vetting procedures and add to their talent pool only verified and trustworthy candidates. In addition, they match you with the right fit within just a couple of days, if not hours. You don’t have to conduct the recruitment process yourself, go through hundreds of resumes and extended interviews – it has already been done for you. Just click a button to transform your life!
One of the areas of expertise is finding software development talents. Toptal offers top developers thanks to a lengthy screening process. In addition, it has free invoices and payments. One «BUT» – long-term projects only.
It has an exhausting 4-step vetting procedure and can offer a great verified senior software engineer quite fast, however, it has much higher hourly rates.
Most of the billing platforms don’t have as thorough vetting procedures as the specialized platforms, like us- Lemon.io, do. A thorough vetting procedure not only eliminates multiple risks when you want to hire a skilled freelance developer but also saves you tons of time that could be otherwise invested into better deeds.
Why hire remote senior software developers from Lemon.io?
Our formula is simple: vetted professional + quick matching = satisfied customers. Our vetting consists of four steps, and only 4 out of 100 candidates make it to our database.
The first vetting step is background checks. We analyze LinkedIn, Github, etc. to check the work and project history.
The second and the third steps are live interviews to ensure candidates have good communication skills, English proficiency, and other soft skills such as time management, for example. We are firm believers in the culture fit importance for a remote team, and thus, take this step very seriously.
Final fourth step implies live coding test assignment. We invite experts to check the candidates’ coding proficiency by giving them a task to write and analyze the code.
Curious to know more on how the vetting is performed? Here is how our backstage operates. Get behind the curtains and see for yourself that we are the most reliable platform to hire developers quickly and pain-free.
- We provide talent for both long-term and short-term projects;
- We take care of payments on both ends;
- Minimal bureaucracy, maximum joy. There is no need to sign tens of papers to start working with a matched developer;
- Great and hardworking Customer Success and Matching departments that care about your prosperity and welfare will ensure a smooth and productive collaboration with top senior software developers;
- We match our clients with skilled senior developers within 48 hours.
Ivan S.
// senior back-end web developer
If you are searching for the top Developer in Golang and Java, Ivan is the cream of the crop. More than 10 years of commercial experience make Ivan even more required.
Daniel R.
// senior full-stack developer
Software Engineer with 10 years experience specializing in Javascript; usually prefers to build UI complex websites but also feels comfortable working on backend development.
Marcin D.
// senior full-stack developer
A pragmatic and hardworking developer, he can bite his tooth into any task and seeks projects where he can make architectural decisions and show his impact.
FAQ
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What is higher than a senior developer?
Higher than a senior developer is a Lead developer or a Tech architect. While a senior developer implements designing solutions into software, a Lead developer has much more qualifications and experience to be in charge of developing a design.
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What qualifies you as a senior software engineer?
To be qualified as a senior software engineer, a person must have 5+ years of experience in software development, knowledge of any modern language, managerial, commutation, and technical architect skills.
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Do senior developers have a code?
Senior software developers do know programming languages and are able to code. However, their job role anticipates other more relevant to their knowledge responsibilities than just coding.
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How long does it take to hire a senior software engineer?
Depending on how you hire, anywhere between 2 days to 2 months. Lemon.io offers you a vetted candidate within 24 hours after the request. Most clients stick to the first developer we offer, and only a few would request change and remain with the second developer.
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What is the highest salary of a senior software engineer?
According to Glassdoor, the average yearly salary of a senior software developer in the USA is 169,000 USD a year. Whereas the highest salary is 375,000 USD a year, as reported by Comparably.
