Technology
A software engineer designs, builds, tests and maintains the applications and systems a company sells or runs on. The role matters because the quality of the code determines how quickly a business can ship, change and scale its products.
Median pay
$134,040a year
Software developers, QA analysts and testers, U.S. BLS, May 2025
The role
Companies hire one when a product roadmap outpaces the current team, a legacy system needs modernizing, or a one-time build requires added engineering capacity.
Typical responsibilities
Core skills
Tools and systems
Related titles
Typical background
Typically 2 to 8 years of professional development, with a computer science degree or equivalent experience and shipped projects.
At a glance
The essentials for planning the hire: level, background, how you can hire and what the role typically pays.
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FAQ
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A software engineer designs, builds, tests and maintains the applications and systems a company sells or runs on. The role matters because the quality of the code determines how quickly a business can ship, change and scale its products. Typical responsibilities include: design and write maintainable code for new features; review teammates’ code and follow shared engineering standards; write unit and integration tests to protect behavior.
Look for data structures, object-oriented design, version control, unit testing, system design and debugging. Experience with Java, Python, GitHub, Docker and Jira is common in this role.
Yes. A software engineer is one of the roles employers most often hire on contract, for projects, busy periods, leave cover and vacancies. Contract-to-hire is also an option if you want to work together before making a permanent offer.
Mid-level engineers deliver well-defined features with some guidance. Senior engineers lead designs, mentor others and handle ambiguity. If your team has no senior technical lead, hire a senior first. If it does, mid-level hires add capacity at a lower cost.
Not always. Many strong engineers are self-taught or come from bootcamps. Evaluate through code samples, a technical interview and past projects. A degree helps with theory, but a record of shipped, maintained software is the stronger signal.
Related roles
Every role in the practice is recruited by the same specialist team.
