Software engineer job description template

What a software engineer does

Software engineers design, build, and maintain the systems a modern business runs on. Engineers are among the most recruited people in the market, and they skim postings fast. They want the stack, the problem, the team, and the pay range, in that order. A description that lists twelve required technologies tells them you don't know what you need. Pick the few that matter and describe the work instead.

Software engineer job description template

Copy the description, replace everything in [brackets], and cut any line that isn't true for your job. The duties and requirements are a starting point written by HR practitioners, not a legal standard, so edit them to match the real work.

Software engineer

Details
- Department: [Department]
- Reports to: [Manager title]
- Location: [City, State, or remote]
- Employment type: [Full-time, part-time, or seasonal]
- FLSA status: Exempt
- Pay range: [$X to $Y per year]

About [Company]
[Two or three sentences about what your company does, who it serves, and why people like working here.]

Job summary
We're hiring a software engineer to design, build, and ship reliable software that solves real problems for our [customers or internal teams].

What you'll do
- Design, build, test, and deploy features in [languages and frameworks].
- Write clean, maintainable code and review teammates' code.
- Work with product managers and designers to shape requirements.
- Improve performance, reliability, and security of our systems.
- Write automated tests and maintain CI/CD pipelines.
- Investigate and fix production issues, including on-call rotation.
- Document designs and decisions.
- Mentor other engineers and share knowledge.

What you'll need
- [Three] or more years of professional software development experience.
- Strong skills in [primary language].
- Experience with [cloud platform, databases, or frameworks].
- Solid understanding of testing and version control.

Nice to have
- Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent experience.
- Experience in [domain].
- Open source contributions.

Skills
Software design, Coding, Testing, Debugging, Collaboration, System thinking.

Physical demands and work environment
Office, hybrid, or remote setting, with participation in an on-call rotation.

Pay and benefits
[$X to $Y per year], based on experience and location. [List benefits, such as health insurance, retirement plan match, paid time off, and training.]

Equal opportunity
[Company] is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by law. If you need a reasonable accommodation to apply or interview, contact [name] at [email or phone].

How to customize it for your job

• Lead with the problem the team solves.
• List only the technologies that truly matter.
• Describe the interview process and how long it takes.
• Include the pay range. In several states it's required.

Then check it against the HRTally job description standard, our 10-point checklist, and run it through the inclusive language swap list. Both take about five minutes.

How much to pay a software engineer

Half of US software developers earned more than $65.38 an hour in May 2025, and half earned less, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That national figure is a starting point, not a pay range. Pay for the same job can differ by 30 percent or more between metro areas, so check the BLS occupation profile for state and metro data before you set your range.

To convert between hourly and annual pay, use our salary to hourly calculator. If you hire in a state or city with a pay transparency law, the range must appear in the posting itself. Our pay transparency laws guide lists where, and our guide to salary bands explains how to set ranges you can defend.

Exempt status, licenses, and legal notes

FLSA status: Usually exempt. Job titles don't decide overtime eligibility. Duties and pay do. Our guide to exempt vs non-exempt employees walks through each test, and the overtime calculator shows what a nonexempt employee is owed.

Software engineers can be exempt under the computer employee exemption if their primary duty is systems analysis, design, or programming and they're paid at least $684 a week on salary, or at least $27.63 an hour if paid hourly. Many qualify under the learned professional exemption as well. Several states, including California, New York, Washington, and Colorado, require pay ranges in job postings, and some set higher exemption thresholds for computer professionals.

This is general information for US employers, not legal advice. Laws change and vary by state and city, so confirm the current rules or talk to employment counsel before you rely on them.

Interview questions to ask

Ask every candidate the same core questions and score answers against the same criteria. Structured interviews are fairer and predict job performance better than open conversation.

1. Tell me about a system you designed. What tradeoffs did you make?
2. Walk me through how you debugged a hard production issue.
3. How do you approach a code review?
4. How do you decide when code is good enough to ship?

When you're ready to schedule, use our interview invitation email template. For a full hiring process, read the recruitment process guide.

Frequently asked questions