Hire Erlang developers

Hiring Guide: Erlang Developers

If you’re looking to hire Erlang developers, you’re seeking specialists who can build highly concurrent, fault-tolerant, and distributed systems. Erlang was originally developed by Ericsson for telecom-grade backend systems and continues to power messaging platforms, real-time applications and scalable microservices. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}  

Why Hire Erlang Developers?

Erlang developers enable you to build systems that:  

 
• Support thousands or millions of simultaneous lightweight processes.
 
• Recover from failures automatically with supervision trees and hot-code upgrades.
 
• Operate across distributed nodes with minimal latency and high availability.

Core Responsibilities of Erlang Developers

 
• Design and implement backend services using Erlang/OTP (Open Telecom Platform).
 
• Build supervision trees, message passing and fault-tolerant architecture.
 
• Manage distributed nodes, cluster communication, and data replication.
 
• Perform hot code upgrades without downtime and ensure live system stability.
 
• Optimize performance for concurrency, process spawning and garbage collection.
 
• Integrate with other languages (Elixir, C/C++ ports) and work across a heterogeneous stack.

Key Technical Skills to Look For

 
• Languages & Frameworks: Erlang, Erlang/OTP, Elixir (bonus), BEAM VM fundamentals. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}
 
• Concurrency & Distributed Systems: lightweight processes, message passing, supervision trees, clustering.
 
• Fault-Tolerance & Scalability: hot code swapping, node supervision, distributed data stores.
 
• Tools & Infrastructure: rebar3, Erlang shell (erl), Observer, Dialyzer, common test frameworks. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}
 
• Databases & Protocols: Mnesia, RabbitMQ (often built with Erlang), Riak, TCP/UDP or WebSockets for real-time communication. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}
 
• DevOps & Cloud: Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD in distributed environments, monitoring of BEAM systems. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}

When to Hire Erlang Developers

 
• When your application requires extreme concurrency, real-time messaging or uptime constraints.
 
• When you’re building telecom, VoIP, chat platforms or high-traffic microservices.
 
• When you need live updates (hot code upgrade) and zero downtime deployments.
 
• When you work with distributed systems that need built-in fault tolerance and process isolation.
 
• When conventional stacks (Java, C#, Node) struggle with scale or require complex workarounds for process management.

How to Hire the Right Erlang Developer

1. Define Your Project Requirements

Clarify whether you need purely Erlang/OTP backend services, or a mixed stack (Elixir + Erlang) or interoperability with other languages. Knowing your usage (messaging system, streaming, IoT, telecom) will help define the precise candidate profile.

2. Evaluate Portfolios and Code Contributions

Look for open-source contributions, GitHub repos showing Erlang code, BEAM ecosystem participation. Strong candidates will demonstrate not just syntax but architecture design for fault-tolerance and concurrency. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}  

3. Interview Questions

 
• What is ETS and how does it differ from Mnesia in Erlang?
 
• Explain supervision trees and how you’d design one for a messaging platform.
 
• How does hot code swapping work in Erlang? What are the risks?
 
• How do you handle distribution and node failure in an Erlang cluster?
 
• What’s the difference between processes in Erlang vs threads in other languages?

4. Practical Assessment

Ask the candidate to build a small Erlang/OTP application that: spawns multiple processes, uses a supervisor, and handles node failures gracefully. Review code clarity, use of OTP behaviours (genserver, genfsm or gen_statem), and error handling.

Average Cost of Hiring Erlang Developers

Because Erlang developers are relatively rare and highly specialized, rates tend to be higher than many mainstream languages. For remote contracts or full-time roles:

 
• Junior (1–3 years Erlang): £45–£65/hour
 
• Mid-Level (3–6 years): £70–£110/hour
 
• Senior (7+ years): £115–£160/hour+

Through Lemon.io, you can access pre-vetted Erlang talent ready to start within ~48 hours. :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}  

Why Hire Through Lemon.io?

Lemon.io matches you with experienced Erlang developers—each screened for technical and communication skills. The platform handles payroll, contracts, onboarding, and gives you access to a curated talent pool so you can focus on building your product, not recruiting.

Hire Expert Erlang Developers →

Related Skills

 
• Hire Elixir Developers – Build scalable systems on the BEAM VM alongside Erlang.
 
• Hire Backend Developers – Broader backend engineering expertise beyond Erlang.
 
• Hire Go Developers – Alternative concurrency-oriented language for microservices.
 
• Hire Rust Developers – High performance systems with low-level control and safety.
 
• Hire DevOps Engineers – Ensure your Erlang service is deployed, monitored and maintained reliably.

FAQs About Hiring Erlang Developers