Agile developers are uniquely equipped to emerge on top of today’s ever-changing technological landscape because Agile is an approach to creating software solutions that focuses on adaptability.
However, sourcing the right developers for your project can present challenges, especially if you rely solely on local talent markets. This hiring guide shows you how to hire Agile developers and what are desirable skill sets, the value they add to organizations, and other crucial information for these professionals.
| Freelance Platform | Trustpilot score | Key point | Vetting | Guarantee | Fee to post projects | Talent status | Rate & Share | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toptal | 4.8 | High-profile clients | Top 3% Talent. Rigorous Vetting | Pay only if satisfied | $500 as a credit for the first project | Freelancers | Yes |
| 2 | Upwork | 3.9 | Large freelancer marketplace | Additional Expert-Vetted program | Payment protection | None, client pays commission | Freelancers | Yes |
| 3 | Arc.dev | 4.0 | All-in-One Remote Hiring Solution | Yes | Risk-free Guarantee | Fee per hire, Retainer or Hourly | Freelancers, Fill-time | Yes |
From 2023 to 2030, the global market for Agile software development should grow at a compound annual growth rate of at least 7%. Unlike other, more traditional software development methodologies that use linear steps, Agile projects typically utilize multiple development teams, with each working on a separate project stage simultaneously. Called iterations or sprints, these stages enable continuous adjustments and changes.
The Agile management style requires flexibility, collaboration, communication, and seamless adaptation to fluctuating project requirements. This approach promotes a faster time to market and allows for real-time revisions to address specific issues, feedback, and results.
“Agile is an attitude, not a technique with boundaries. An attitude has no boundaries, so we wouldn’t ask ‘can I use agile here’, but rather ‘how would I act in the agile way here?’ or ‘how agile can we be, here?'” — Alistair Cockburn , signatory of the Manifesto for Agile Software Development
Agile developers and other Agile experts have specialized areas of expertise, such as mobile apps, databases, websites, and AI. Whichever attribute you identify first, you will need a high-caliber team to produce a top-quality digital product.
| Agile Principle | Benefits |
|---|---|
| 1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software. | Programmers sometimes “get lost” in coding. By focusing on client goals, teams stay on track and are more productive. |
| 2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer’s competitive advantage. | Changes will happen regardless. A positive attitude toward them results in better handling and you will often find a “silver lining.” |
| 3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale. | Measurable progress is important to everyone. Customers see tangible results, and Agile teams check off goals, producing a sense of accomplishment and motivation. |
| 4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. | Product owners can provide real-time insights and feedback. In addition, they realize a real stake in projects. Developers can address issues promptly, and back-and-forth conversations may spark new ideas. |
| 5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. | When each person has a designated responsibility, do not micromanage. Instead, be available to assist if needed. |
| 6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation. | Written words and those spoken over the phone are easy to misinterpret. Face-to-face communication, even through video conferencing, provides access to the full scope of information available. |
| 7. Working software is the primary measure of progress. | Agile development does not award participation trophies; it only rewards wins. |
| 8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely. | “An object in motion stays in motion…” Traditional workflows often have significant lag times, making everyone lose their levels of interest and motivation. |
| 9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. | Because the Agile mentality is to identify, remedy, and test software issues in real-time, teams create better products and minimize potential roadblocks. |
| 10. Simplicity — the art of maximizing the amount of work not done — is essential. | Work smarter, not harder. Prevent larger problems from happening by addressing small ones as they emerge. |
| 11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. | When several great minds work toward a common goal, everyone contributes ideas that tend to feed off of each other to create optimal solutions. |
| 12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly. | Complacency and hubris have no place in Agile. With honest reflection, you can spot strengths and weaknesses. With an honest desire for improvement, you will implement necessary adjustments without objections. |
Hiring a Freelance Agile Developer
You can choose part-time, full-time, or remote and freelance Agile developers, but which hiring structure is best? When you hire a freelance Agile developer, you:
- Have more flexibility without the commitment of hiring employees
- Can source hard-to-find niche skills that are not readily available locally
- Do not have overhead, benefits, or payroll tax costs
Many freelance platforms offer risk-free trial periods to assess a developer’s fit.
What Does an Agile Developer Do?
“‘Take it to the team.’ Take any perceived problem to the team. They know what’s really happening and what to do about it. Everyone can rely on the cadence agile gives them to consider such problems. It’s called the retrospective.” — Lyssa Adkins in Coaching Agile Teams
The Agile methodology utilizes teamwork to outline and achieve goals, requiring regular participation by the product owner. Each team has a specific responsibility, which provides accountability and encourages optimum performance.
Agile development teams use four core concepts as outlined in the Agile Manifesto:
- Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
- Working software over comprehensive documentation.
- Customer collaboration over contract negotiations.
- Responding to change over following a plan.
Following these practices, your Agile team can design, build, test, and deploy various software products faster.
Scrum is an Agile framework that teams frequently use for project management and structuring. Combined with Agile’s core concepts and principles, Scrum enables teams to separate tasks into iterations with attached deadlines. Each sprint typically lasts for two weeks, although it may extend to one month. At the end of each sprint, the team has produced working software.
“If a bug was addressed on the day it was created, it would take an hour to fix; three weeks later, it would take twenty-four hours. It didn’t even matter if the bug was big or small, complicated or simple — it always took twenty-four times longer three weeks later.” — Jeff Sutherland in Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time
Why hire Agile developers?
The Agile software development method is particularly useful to businesses when:
- You expect project requirements to change often and unpredictably.
- You must provide frequent feedback to clients or stakeholders.
- Your project is complex or involves significant risk.
- You need to meet short deadlines.
- Your project must deliver value.
Hiring dedicated Agile developers provides measurable benefits, such as:
- Better-quality digital products
- Faster development and launch times
- Cost savings and increased returns on investment
- Project performance visibility and predictability
- Improved customer satisfaction
- Reduced risk
- Better reactions, adaptability, and solutions to inevitable project changes
Regardless of the nature of your software development project, Agile teams are an excellent option.
With an understanding of the Agile software development methodology and other vital information contained in this hiring guide, you can use these top 15 sites to source the best Agile developers available. Together, you can create successful digital products.
What Can An Agile Developer Do for Your Business
As the Agile methodology relies on constant feedback, developers are able to quickly make updates to the software code or program that in turn offer a quick time-to-market. Agile developers allow your business’s work to progress by providing “a tangible product more frequently,” writes number8 as well as “[allowing] you to adapt to changes swiftly.” This is only possible, though, through collaborative communication.
Better Products Through Stronger Developers
The Agile method not only benefits your business by creating faster and improved products but also enables Agile developers to improve their overall programming ability. Your Agile team can, according to Atlassian, “work up and down their product’s technology stack with greater ease than their waterfall counterparts because agile teams self-organize, giving members chances to pick up new skills.” In the long run, working with the same freelance Agile developers as your Agile team can be great news for your business’s productivity.
Implementing Behavior-Driven Development (BDD)
Even as functional and flexible as the Agile system is, thanks to the shared insights of product owners, clients, and stakeholders, testing must be performed. Agile developers apply Behavior Driven Development (BDD) in their testing. BDD is often compared to TDD (Test Driven Development).
With both procedures encouraging collaboration and testing, the difference between the two can get murky, but Katalon notes that “TDD is more developer-centric, revolving around code correctness, with programming language-specific frameworks. On the other hand, BDD is more user-centric, revolves around system behavior, and promotes collaboration between relevant stakeholders with a domain-specific language.”
Due to the heavy emphasis on collaborative efforts, it is no wonder that BDD caters to the Agile methodology. It is not enough to rely on program testing that is centered on code structure. To create well-functioning programs or apps that can adapt to real-life scenarios, BDD must be applied.
Tools for Better Collaboration
More and more businesses now have different channels in their companies to communicate across teams, and it is no different for Agile teams whose very principles center on collaborative communication. While Slack and Microsoft Teams are mainstream tools used across a variety of businesses, particular collaborative tools cater specifically to Agile teams’ efforts and tasks. Tools such as Jira and Trello are beneficial to Agile developers’ productivity.
| Collaborative Tools for Agile Teams | Intention for Agile Developers |
|---|---|
| GroupMap; Miro | Virtual roundtable discussions. These tools are excellent for your remote freelance Agile developers to share ideas for projects. |
| Retrium | Streamlining retrospectives. Certain tools (like Retrium) offer private rooms, which allow team members to share assessments in a trusted environment, thanks to anonymity. |
| Trello | These tools allow Agile teams to organize tasks into manageable steps. Tasks are assigned to team members and deadlines are set with these tools. |
| Zoom; Whatsapp | These collaborative tools allow for face-to-face exchanges, which builds camaraderie for remote Agile team members. |
Collaborate with Your Hired Freelance Agile Developers
Agile developers are not just excellent coders and programmers. They are skilled developers who prioritize teamwork. The most important aspect of any team is communication, and you as the client or business owner who has hired your Agile developer(s) must also collaborate with your freelance Agile developers if the Agile method is to truly work. As number8 puts it, “[clients] are integral to the development process…This close partnership ensures that the product aligns perfectly with your vision.”
How To Hire Agile Developers
As with any project, the first step in the hiring process is defining project parameters:
- Budget
- Nature
- Scope
- Preferred start and completion timeline
- Goals
You must also decide if you will hire employees or utilize freelancers. Because the Agile method focuses on teamwork, consider hiring teams who have worked well together on previous projects. Toptal, Gigster, and X-Team are examples of hiring platforms that offer teams.
Although Scrum is the most widely used Agile framework, it is not the only one. Kanban, Crystal, XP, Feature-Driven Development, and Dynamic Systems Development Method are other top choices. Your project’s nature helps a development team decide which framework to use. Look for developers with experience using one or more of these frameworks.
Other required technical skills will vary depending on the type of software product you want to develop. Skill levels range from junior to senior, with years of experience being the main differentiating factor. Senior-level developers may have management experience or more in-depth knowledge of a particular skill set, but they cost more to hire.
You do not necessarily need a team composed of only senior-level talent, though. Bright rising developers may produce similar quality work for less money.
It is often difficult to choose the best developers for your team. How do you identify the right candidates? Look for:
- Exceptional technical skills with experience working on projects like yours
- Passion for, and the ability to explain, Agile methods
- An active interest in keeping up with emerging trends and technologies
- Experience developing software for your industry
- Personable individuals with whom you can develop a good working rapport
No developer is the right fit for every job.You can source your team through sites like Toptal that offer risk-free trial periods that give you time to change your mind.
What Skills Should You Look For in an Agile Developer?
Agile development projects may require diverse technical skills, determined by the type of product you will produce. Look at the other hiring guides on this site to learn more about each specific skill set.
Many employers are not comfortable judging a candidate’s technical skills, and there is nothing wrong with that. Utilizing talent-matching services that vet developers is an excellent option if you would prefer to leave technical assessments to experts. Toptal is our top pick. Hired applicants take various role-based skills assessments and you can view their scores; you can even request that a particular candidate take custom skill assessments.
Impeccable technical credentials do not always identify the best candidates for your project. Soft skills are arguably as important as technical skills, particularly when teamwork is a vital element in your development process. Necessary soft skills include:
- Excellent written and verbal communication, including English (or your preferred language) proficiency
- Active listening
- Critical thinking and innovative problem-solving
- Time management, work ethic, and self-motivation
- Collaboration and a team mentality
- Performing well under pressure
- Positive attitude and confidence
- Flexibility
You should also consider cultural fit and personality. Other necessary Agile developer skills, such as leadership abilities, are role-specific.
How Much Does It Cost To Hire Agile Developers?
Agile developers in the U.S. earn average annual salaries of $105,659 or $51 per hour. Yearly wages range from $70,500 to $147,000. Factors like skill sets, years of experience, skill levels, and location impact these amounts.
Tips for Writing an Agile Developer Job Description
You will select and interview top applicants, but each candidate must also decide if they want to join your team. Attract top talent with friendly language, company achievements, cultural highlights, and exciting projects you have completed or that are in the works.
Your job description should include:
- Project description
- Role-based duties and responsibilities
- Required and desired qualifications
- Hiring method
- Project longevity (if you are hiring freelancers)
Companies need to consider diversity and inclusion to promote unbiased hiring. Create consistent interview questions, skill assessments, and scoring models for fair selections.
Common Interview Questions To Ask When You Are Looking To Hire an Agile Developer
The candidates you interview have qualifications that look great on paper (or screen). While you should require a real-time coding test to assess programming expertise, interviews let you evaluate soft skills and how well you expect each candidate to integrate into your team.
Pose open-ended situational questions, intentionally leaving out some critical details. This is an ideal way to:
- Learn about the developer’s thought processes
- Gauge communication skills
- Experience their problem-solving skills
The candidate should ask for the missing details because it is impossible to answer the question accurately without them.
Along with typical interview questions, include the following:
- Describe Agile development and why you prefer it. Candidates should demonstrate in-depth knowledge of this methodology and be able to communicate their knowledge clearly. You will also gain personal motivation insights.
- Tell me about instances when you worked well with a team and when you faced challenges. Hearing more about accomplishments is good, but learning how someone reacts to adverse situations is even more useful.
By using a consistent scoring scale, you can fairly tally each candidate’s interview results and select those with the best scores.
How To Find Freelance Agile Developers for Hire
Although you can leverage professional networks to find developers, freelance marketplaces, outsourcing agencies, and job boards often produce better results in less time. Compare the benefits of the top 15 sites to hire Agile developers in this guide and ask yourself:
- How quickly do I need to hire my team?
- Do I want to screen and vet applicants, or do I prefer to use talent-matching services?
- What is my hiring budget?
- Is a no-risk guarantee important?
You can find Agile developers on every site listed, but Toptal features 48-hour hiring, seamless scaling, vetted developers, a risk-free trial period, and world-class talent, with no sourcing effort required from you.
To ensure the best project outcomes, build your team using the strategic hiring practices outlined here. By using this information and utilizing these 15 sites, you will position your company for success.
Hiring Agile developers - FAQs
- How Much Does It Cost To Hire an Agile Developer?
Whether you are paying by the hour, using project-based pricing, or purchasing complete solutions, a few consistent factors impact how much it costs:
- Skill sets and levels
- Years of experience
- Location
- Project complexity and timeframe
You will typically pay less to hire freelancers without sacrificing quality.
- How To Hire Agile Developers?
There are a few vital steps in the hiring process:
- Define your project’s parameters.
- Decide if you will utilize part-time, full-time, or freelance Agile developers.
- Craft an enticing job post.
- Compare the benefits of using each top site to source qualified candidates.
- Choose the site(s) you will use and initiate your search.
- Interview shortlisted candidates using the tips in this guide.
- Make your selections and begin onboarding your new team members.
You can save time by using talent-matching services that only admit vetted developers to their platforms.
- Where Can I Hire Agile Developers?
- Toptal, Turing, Arc.dev, Upwork, and Gigster are excellent sourcing options if you need to hire Agile developers. Explore them or the other options provided in this guide, then choose the site that works best for you.
- Why Should You Hire an Agile Developer?
- While there are other development methodologies, Agile provides clear advantages. Hiring an Agile development team equips you to adapt easily, shorten development times, launch fully tested products faster, reduce costs and risks, and collaborate on high-quality finished products. Agile is a state of mind that produces a can-do attitude, an invaluable attribute that enhances performance, motivation, and teamwork.
- What Does Agile Mean in Software Development?
Agile refers to a specific methodology based on four core concepts, upholding 12 stated principles. Agile is about “uncovering better ways of developing software by doing it and helping others do it.”
- Are Agile Developers in Demand?
The Agile methodology is in high demand because of its effectiveness, its measurable benefits and the improvements it facilitates. During 2021, Agile development experienced an astronomical 232% growth rate, going from 37% to 86%. This demand should continue to increase.