How to Hire a Mobile App Developer

With over 2.7 billion smartphone users in the world, the app industry is booming. From food delivery services to keeping us productive during the day, apps do make our lives easier. If you are planning to jump on this bandwagon and build an app for your business, you will want to hire mobile developers to do it for you. 

Hiring an experienced and professional mobile developer can be challenging. There are plenty of options, from engaging a freelancer to establishing offshoring partnerships. We at NCube have pulled together this guide to help you find a mobile developer who would be a good fit for your company. 

First off, what do application developers do?

A mobile developer is responsible for writing and implementing custom code to build a functioning mobile application for the Android or iOS platform. They use Java or Kotlin for Android, Swift or Objective-C for iOS.

To get an idea of the profile, it’s best to look at common mobile application developer requirements:

• Proficient with Java, Kotlin, Swift or Objective-C;
• Familiarity with the OOP concept;
• A proven track record of apps on App Store or Google Play Store;
• Passion and ability to deliver the best user experience; 
• Experience with third-party integrations and APIs;
• Great problem-solving skills;
• Ability to work in an agile environment. 

How to hire a good mobile app developer?

So, you have decided to hire someone to build an app. It’s an important decision because you’ll need a professional who will breathe life into your idea. Fortunately, with a list of required skills, like the one above, the hiring process is a bit easier. 

As a mobile application development company, we always screen candidates for technical skills and people skills alike, making sure they are a good fit for the client’s requirements. Then we provide pre-approved candidates for the second round of interviews where a client decides whether or not they want to go with them. At this stage, hard skills and soft skills are in the spotlight as well as their portfolio. Most of the developers hired by our clients undergo these stages before joining a team:

• HR interview;
• Interview with a team leader;
• Live coding;
• Interview with a CTO; 
• Final interview, (in some cases onsite interview).

We’ve seen numerous cases where developers from NCube brought value to companies, so we are encouraged to recommend this screening path to you. 

What a mobile development team looks like, exactly?

Now, hiring just one mobile developer can be enough for a mere MVP. To create something bigger like a fully-functioning mobile app, you will need to involve up to a dozen specialists. This is because the users nowadays expect nothing short of an excellent user experience, which takes an enormous team effort. Also, mobile platforms are known for stringent requirements. Hiring just one mobile developer to work solely only makes sense when you already other expertise is backfilled by your internal staff. Otherwise, you will require a new team of developers to get your app up and running.  

To add more detail, here is what a team of mobile developers will bring to the table:

• Create a functional app, supporting its development from concept, design, test to release and post-launch maintenance;
• Develop features and backend that tie back to the business logic; 
• Test, debug and improve an application to ensure it meets the initial requirements and security standards;
• Create a user interface that provides the best user experience;
• Collaborate with and across teams to plan and implement new features. 

An outsourced team of mobile developers is a kind of request we at NCube get the most. As mentioned earlier, complex projects require more than one person to be involved. In fact, a full-cycle mobile development team consists of:

• Project manager
• Mobile developer 
• Backend developer 
• DevOps specialist
• UX/UI Designer 
• QA Specialist

Together with the customer, we hire specialists off the job market with customer’s requirements in mind. Among these roles, mobile developers, backend developers, and designers are the most outsourced roles. As for other competencies, you can use your in-house capacity if there is one. 

As far as the payment goes, our clients are on a flat rate, paying a monthly fee for one full-time employee. How do they benefit? In the USA, mobile developers charge up to $150 an hour, whereas in Eastern Europe, and in Ukraine in particular, the mobile app developer hourly rate can be between $35–$70. So, if you are looking for ways to save costs (among other benefits of outsourcing), consider hiring developers in this region. 

Read also: How much does it cost to make an app

Before you hire a mobile app developer

First off, decide what platform are you building for. If you plan to develop for both Android and iOS, you might need two separate teams. Each team will take over a project and build an application from the ground up, including the user experience and visual part, backend, API integrations, and a range of features. 

Do you need an entire team or just several competencies? It depends on your internal development capacity. One option is to add mobile developers, QAs, or a designer to your team on a remote basis. They will work jointly with your local software architect and a UX/UI designer. For projects where you don’t have your own in-house resources available, you may want to hand over an entire development project to an external company. We at NCube can help you with both, as we can hire just one (or several) mobile developers or build a full-cycle mobile development team, consisting of an architect, developers, UI/UX designer, DevOps, and QA engineers. The team will work under your management and follow your engineering practices.

An important step is to prepare a brief for app development. Putting in the hours and effort into developing an app, we need to make sure we will get the product we want. Well-written specifications will set your team on the right path. It will describe your idea and target audience, specify platforms, instruments, services, describe processes, features and user stories as well as indicate budget and timeframes.

Find an app developer with NCube

If you already have such a brief in place – great! Only one step is left – finding the right mobile developers for hire to realize your vision. Partnering with NCube, you will get a dedicated mobile development team that works from our office in Kyiv (Ukraine), acting as a seamless extension of your company. All development processes and practices will be controlled by managers from your side. Get in touch with us and we will be happy to tell you more about how it works.