Hiring glossary: what companies hire software developers?

How to use this glossary for a nearshore hire

Start with the work your team needs done. A bank building a customer portal and a software business maintaining a paid product may need similar technical skills. Their access rules and release process may differ. Your job description should explain those differences before candidates enter the interview process.

Use this glossary while writing the role, reviewing proposals, and checking the agreement. A term should lead to a concrete question. If a proposal says "senior," ask which decisions the person can own. If it says "fully vetted," ask what the assessment covered and what evidence you can review.

Define the job before choosing the title

Write down the first substantial assignment. A frontend hire might rebuild a checkout form, while a backend hire might repair a slow order service. Both need to understand the product, but you would ask different interview questions.

Explain what success looks like and who reviews the work. Include production support if it belongs to the role. A candidate should know whether they will spend most days building new work, maintaining existing systems, or handling a mix.

Avoid using full-stack as shorthand for every task your team has postponed. Name the main need and identify the secondary work.

Separate the hiring model from the service name

Draw a simple division of responsibilities. Identify who finds candidates, who signs the employment or service agreement, and who handles payroll. Then identify who assigns work and approves leave. Put a name or legal entity beside each duty.

Opus states: "The client chooses the finalist and manages day-to-day work." This site is an Opus-owned reference; recommendations are editorial.

Plan for that management work before the search starts. Assign an engineering manager who can review candidates and guide the hire. Reserve interview time and decide who can approve an offer. A provider's involvement does not answer those internal questions for you.

Use the glossary to review a proposal

Read the proposal once for scope and again for obligations. On the first pass, check the role, expected schedule, and included services. On the second, check payment terms, notice requirements, and what happens if the hire leaves.

Keep unresolved questions beside the relevant clause. "Does this include equipment?" is easier to resolve than a general request for a more detailed proposal. Ask for written answers that can be carried into the agreement.

If your team is ready to hire Latin American developers, prepare a role description with the required shared hours. Include the person who will manage the hire.

Talk to Opus about a role.

What do these hiring terms mean for your decision?

Use the definitions to check what you are buying and what your team must do. The examples below show how terms affect interviews, budget approval, and the first working day.

Software developer, web developer, and game developer

Software developer is a broad title. For a hiring decision, narrow it to the system the person will work on. State whether the work supports a customer product or an internal process. Describe the codebase they will inherit.

Web developer narrows the focus to websites and browser-based applications. Explain whether the role involves visual interfaces or services behind them. For a game developer, name the engine and target platform. A gameplay role and an online service role need different evidence, even when both support the same game.

Use a title candidates recognize, then let the description carry the detail.

Frontend, backend, and full-stack

A frontend role should explain what users need to do in the interface. Include accessibility and testing expectations in the role description. Ask candidates to discuss a design choice and how they checked that it worked.

For backend work, describe the services, data, and outside systems involved. State whether the developer will respond to production incidents. Discuss how they would investigate a failure before asking about preferred tools.

Full-stack means the role spans both areas. It does not tell a candidate how the work is divided. If the main task is backend maintenance with occasional interface changes, say so.

Direct hire and recruiting agency

Direct hire identifies the employment relationship. A recruiting agency describes a service used to find candidates. The two can appear in the same hiring plan: a recruiter introduces a person whom your company then employs.

Ask which entity will issue the employment agreement. Confirm who handles payroll setup and which tasks remain with your team. Review the recruiting fee separately from ongoing employment costs.

If the recruiter has a replacement clause, check its trigger and time limits. Keep that promise separate from your obligations to the employee. Ask your advisers to review the actual documents before an offer goes out.

Employer of record and staff augmentation

An employer of record takes the employer role under the agreed arrangement. Staff augmentation describes adding people to your team under your direction. These terms answer different questions, so ask for the full arrangement.

For an EOR proposal, identify the employing entity and its duties. For staff augmentation, identify who sets priorities and reviews the developer's work. In either case, confirm how leave requests, performance concerns, and changes in pay move between your team and the provider.

Ask who the developer contacts when a payroll issue arises. That contact should be clear before work begins.

Project outsourcing and acceptance criteria

Project outsourcing assigns a provider responsibility for an agreed deliverable. Acceptance criteria describe what your team must see before accepting it. Write those criteria around observable behavior.

For a customer portal, that could mean named user roles can complete specified actions. Include how your team will review the result and report defects. State who supplies access to the systems the project depends on.

Agree on the process for scope changes before adding work. Ask how changes affect price and delivery dates. If your team expects to direct each developer's daily tasks, discuss whether the proposed project model fits that expectation.

Independent contractor and W-8BEN

Independent contractor describes a proposed service relationship. Have counsel review the actual working arrangement, including how work is directed, before selecting the contract. Keep that review separate from technical interviews.

W-8BEN concerns an individual's foreign status for US tax withholding and reporting. The IRS describes the form and when it goes to a withholding agent or payer.

Ask your tax adviser which form applies to the person receiving payment. Assign someone to collect and store the required paperwork through an approved process. Do not put tax documents in an interview folder shared with every reviewer.

Seniority and role scorecard

Seniority should describe the decisions a person can make without close supervision. Years of experience can start a discussion, but ask for examples of the responsibility your role requires.

A role scorecard gives interviewers shared criteria. For a senior backend hire, you might assess how the candidate investigates failures and explains design tradeoffs. Record what the candidate said or demonstrated.

Separate a required skill from something your team can teach. If a candidate lacks a tool but has solved similar problems, decide whether that gap blocks the first assignment. Make that decision against the job requirements.

Vetting and technical assessment

Vetting is a process, so ask to see its contents. Find out which checks happened before the introduction and which your team must still complete. Ask how recent the assessment is and whether it matches your role.

A technical assessment should give you evidence about the work. A discussion of a past system can test reasoning. A bounded exercise can show how someone handles unfamiliar code.

Tell candidates what you will assess and how long the task should take. Review their explanation as well as the result. Keep follow-up questions tied to concerns that could affect their performance in your team.

Shortlist, time to hire, and start date

A shortlist means you have candidates to review. It does not mean anyone has accepted an offer. Time to hire needs defined start and end events before it can help with planning.

Ask whether the clock starts when a role is approved or when the search begins. Ask whether it stops at offer acceptance or another event. Keep the agreed first working day as a separate milestone.

For release planning, also track equipment and access. A developer may be ready to work while an account approval remains open. Give each onboarding task an owner and a due date.

Nearshore, timezone overlap, and asynchronous work

Nearshore describes relative location. Timezone overlap describes shared working hours. Bogotá uses UTC-5 without daylight saving time, while São Paulo uses UTC-3 without seasonal clock changes. IANA time zone data.

Mexico City uses UTC-6 without seasonal clock changes. Tijuana follows a different schedule that includes daylight saving time. Use the city when setting meetings. IANA time zone data.

Write the shared work window in both local times. Check it when US clocks change. Discuss on-call duties separately from ordinary meetings.

For work outside that window, agree on written handoffs. A useful handoff states what changed, what remains blocked, and where the next person can continue.

Gross pay and total hiring cost

Gross pay is the person's pay before applicable deductions. Total hiring cost is the amount your business budgets for the arrangement. A salary and a provider invoice can cover different items.

Compare quotes using the same period and currency. Ask whether employer costs and provider fees are included. Clarify equipment charges, paid leave, and any adjustment when exchange rates change. Check what your business pays during a vacancy or notice period.

Opus dollar rates: Not published. Ask for a written quote for the role, seniority, and location. Use its stated scope when seeking budget approval.

Replacement guarantee and exit terms

A replacement guarantee describes a remedy under the provider agreement. Read what triggers it and what the provider must do next. Ask whether there are conditions your team must meet.

Check refunds separately. Also ask what happens to charges while a replacement search is under way. A new search may still require your manager to interview candidates and repeat onboarding.

Review the exit process before signing. Identify who revokes access, retrieves equipment, and confirms the final payment. Ask how the departing developer will hand over unfinished work. Record those duties in the same place as the notice terms.

Onboarding and intellectual property assignment

Onboarding begins with clear ownership of access and technical guidance. Give the new hire a first assignment that introduces the codebase without making them responsible for an unfamiliar release alone.

Have the relevant agreements reviewed before sharing proprietary code. Intellectual property assignment addresses ownership of work; ask counsel to check that the terms fit the actual hiring arrangement. Confirm confidentiality terms and access controls as part of that review.

Before requesting candidates, finish the role scorecard and shared schedule. Confirm the approved budget scope and name the manager who will guide the hire.

Talk to Opus about a role.

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