What is front-end development and what does a front-end developer do? We have all the answers in this front-end developer job description template.
Front-end web developer: roles and responsibilities
Front-end developers focus on the visual layout, user interface/interaction, and user experience. They create components and features that are directly accessed by a user through the front-end of a website. Front end developer responsibilities include everything on a website that users see, touch, click, and use including the UX and UI of the website or web application. In their work, they translate wireframes from designers into fully realized user interfaces by creating the buttons, images, links, and pages that all need to function efficiently, accurately, and quickly in order for the user to carry out a particular task.
Below you can find a front-end developer job description template. This template includes examples of the front end developer roles and responsibilities and skills which are typical for such a position. Of course, this template is just a basic starting-point – we strongly recommend that you customize the template so that it fits the exact job which you wish to fill. Please note that, in line with good practice, this front-end developer job description template shows you one way of describing the person you’re searching for, starting from more general requirements, leading up to more specific requirements, and finishing with any optional extra skills or experience.
Front-end Developer Job Description Template
Are you the one?
We are looking for an experienced front-end developer to join our product team. You probably have 3 to 5 years of relevant work experience as a web developer, UI developer, JavaScript expert or front-end engineer either in commercial projects or open-source projects.
You must be both technically proficient and have a keen eye for design and UI/UX. In this role, you’ll make a significant contribution to translating our customer needs and user expectations into interactive web apps. You are an exceptional problem solver with great communication skills and are able to optimize our application in terms of technology and in delivering the best user experience. Your responsibilities will include translating design wireframes into the code that will produce visual elements of the application.
At all times, you will be working with the UI/UX design team to bridge the gap between graphic design and technical implementation, taking an active role in defining how the application looks, as well as how it works. Ideally, you should be able to demonstrate hands-on experience in using current trends and best practices in front-end architecture, including performance optimization, accessibility, and usability.
You’re likely to have a self-driven, conscientious mentality with a commitment to creating innovations through high-quality work.
Front end developer responsibilities
In general, you’ll work closely with the design team, product management, and development teams to create elegant, usable, responsive and interactive interfaces across multiple devices. You will, therefore:
- gain feedback continuously from users, customers, and colleagues
- monitor app performance, watch for traffic drops related to site usability problems and rectify any issues
- write functional requirement documents and guides
- create quality mockups and prototypes, ensuring high-quality graphic standards and brand consistency
- turn UI/UX designs into prototypes, creating excellent interactions from designs
- write reusable code and libraries (with matching documentation) to a standard which makes it quick and easy to maintain the code in the future
- optimize applications for maximum speed
- optimize applications for maximum scalability
- design new features, or maintain old features
- collaborate with back-end developers and web designers to improve usability
- help back-end developers with coding and troubleshooting
- stay up-to-date with emerging technologies
- [Please add any other front end developer responsibilities that are relevant]
You’re perfect for this role if you:
- enjoy the challenge of taking part in complex technical projects, and delivering iterative solutions that provide value at each step of the way
- perform well in a fast-paced environment, and contribute to optimal flow in a rapidly changing design/technology environment
- enjoy working closely with partners across the business and within your team to solve problems
- are a great communicator who is focused on discovering and delivering solutions facilitating meaningful discussions, and building consensus
- genuinely enjoy sharing your knowledge with others
Skills and qualifications of front end developer
You will need to demonstrate:
- profound knowledge of HTML5 and CSS3
- expert proficiency in JavaScript or TypeScript
- a high level of proficiency with JavaScript frameworks such as jQuery, Angular 2+ [Please add any other framework, library, or any other technology related to your development stack]
- a high level of experience with UI layouts, SASS, LESS, Bootstrap, and the CSS GRID system
- solid experience in using a complex REST API from the client-side
- a solid understanding of cross-browser compatibility issues, and ways to work around them
- good knowledge and practical experience of client-side build/config management
- good knowledge and practical experience of testing tools like Webpack, Jasmine, Karma, etc.
- good understanding of code versioning tools, such as Git, Mercurial, or SVN
- good understanding of asynchronous request handling, partial page updates, and Ajax
- significant experience of debugging using JavaScript-based tools like Chrome Developer Console
- some exposure to Continuous Integration/Delivery pipeline for cloud, including Jenkins, SonarQube, Docker, etc.
- basic knowledge of graphical tools such as GIMP or Photoshop, so that you can make small changes to images
The following would also be a significant plus for a front end developer:
- knowledge of Ember.js and Ruby
- some exposure to full-stack development
- a good understanding of SEO principles, so that you can ensure that our application adheres to such principles
End of front end developer job template
Why is it important to get the front-end developer job description template right?
When writing the job description, try to make both the job itself and working for your company sound as attractive and interesting as possible. Above all, be as clear as you can about what you expect from a candidate.
Front-end developer skills
As a rule, front-end means that developers must be familiar with HTML code (probably HTML5), styling with CSS (probably CSS3), and make everything interactive with JavaScript. JS Frameworks like Angular, React, and Backbone are therefore highly in demand.
Front-end developer responsibilities
Front-end developers face some unique challenges and opportunities. Above all, they must work in partnership with everyone on the team, giving them a broader role in the development process than back-end developers. Front-end web developers can therefore not only code, but are also people who can sit down with visual and UX designers, and solve major challenges as part of a team.
I hope you find this roles and responsibilities of front end developer template useful!
We also have a number of developer hiring resources, including salary benchmarks:
