What Does a Drupal Developer Do?
Drupal developers use their coding skills to create websites for companies and individuals, specifically within the Drupal content management system. They may either have expertise in backend or frontend development, or both, and each requires a different set of skills. Frontend Drupal developers design working themes that are effective, visually appealing, and intuitive. They work closely with backend developers and customers, so they must have strong communication and collaborative skills. Backend Drupal developers are responsible for the design and implementation of any new features and work to enhance the website’s performance and availability. They collaborate with front-end developers and customers as well, so solid interpersonal skills are needed.
Drupal developers should be fluent with HTML5/XHTML and CSS and have a strong working knowledge of Drupal, PHP, JavaScript, and jQuery. They must be technically sound and able to convert comprehensive layouts and wireframes into working pages. Drupal developers are expert coders, using various tools to make everything functional and clean for the client and user.
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National Average Salary
Drupal developer salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for a Drupal Developer is:
$104,075
Drupal Developer Job Descriptions
Crafting the perfect job description may be the key to finding an exceptional drupal developer. To help you with your recruiting search, our team has put together some examples from past openings.
Example 1
We’re dedicated to building top quality web applications, and complex and responsive marketing sites for our clients. If you believe in the power of an open and collaborative environment, and you value challenging conventions and answering questions, you’ll have a place on our team. We’re seeking someone who’s evidently passionate and attentive by looking at their clean, clearly documented code. You never forget the ultimate priority is the client, and the user experience of the websites you create. You should be interested in delivering meaningful, tangible results, and can clearly and concisely communicate your intentions and needs. If you feel like you’d fit right in with a strong, quick moving team of collaborators, and you have what it takes to provide significant value as a Drupal developer, we’d love to hear from you!
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Creating user interfaces for websites and web applications
- Designing and building responsive design websites
- Working with Firebug, Chrome Inspector, etc.
- Converting comprehensive layouts and wireframes into working HTML
- Building responsive websites using Drupal CMS, HTML, CSS, and JS
- Coordinate with peers, project managers, and clients to ensure project accuracy
- Work within deadlines to complete polished and finished projects
Education and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or related field
- 3 years experience as a Drupal developer
Required skills and qualifications
- Complete and thorough understanding of the Software Development Cycle
- Complete understanding of Drupal CMS
- Thorough understanding of PHP
- Working knowledge of testing environments
- Working knowledge of several programming languages, preferably HTML, CSS, JS, and others
- Strong collaborative spirit
- Strong time management
- Strong analytical skills and attention to detail
Preferred qualifications
- Exposure to Agile environment
- Experience with Acquia hosting
- 5 years experience in Drupal development
Example 2
Under direction from the Web Engineering Manager and the Associate Director of Web Communications, the Web Front-End Developer works collaboratively with a team of design and development professionals to design, develop, and enhance a continuously evolving web portfolio with a focus on the presentation layer of the stack and developing the end-user experience.
Job responsibilities
- Analyzes project requirements and proposes solutions utilizing standardized design methodologies. Creates design documents, mock-ups, and proof of concept systems as necessary
- Produces and maintains comprehensive, usable documentation per project
- Trains colleagues and end-users in aspects of application usage. Assists with the training and orientation of business users
- Contributes to the development of the team’s internal toolkit and software packages/modules
- Analyzes project requirements and proposes solutions utilizing standardized design methodologies. Creates mock-ups and proof of concept systems as necessary
- Provides input to the group on technical issues, concepts, and mockups to help advance the shared web vision for all clients. Undertakes critique and direction, takes part in relevant discussions and team client meetings
- Establishes and maintains a comprehensive understanding of the frontend architecture of the team’s portfolio
- Works with stakeholders to execute technical & business objectives for the WCM’s web properties. Collaborates with web designers, web developers & content editors to build high-quality, secure, standards-compliant web applications/sites & experiences
- Prioritizes, tracks, and documents feature requests, enhancements, and bugs. Communicates frequently with project teams to maintain situational awareness
- Conducts software testing and release activities
Education
- Bachelor’s Degree in related field
Experience
- BS in Computer Science or related area of study. Equivalent work experience may be substituted for degree
- 2+ years of experience implementing frontend web/mobile
- Experience implementing frontend integrations with backend services via RESTful web service APIs.experiences/components
- Experience implementing modular user interfaces on an application framework/platform (e.g. Drupal, Symfony, ExpressJS, React, Ionic)
- Experience developing and delivering a web/mobile application
- Experience in application development methodologies, including documenting data flows, user workflows, understanding backend APIs, and building functional prototypes
- Experience collaborating with colleagues at different levels and disciplines in an organization including backend developers, business analysts, project managers, system administrators, designers, marketing professionals, etc.
Knowledge, skills and abilities
- Expertise in a scripting language – Javascript or PHP
- Proficiency in object-oriented programming
- Proficiency in consuming RESTful web service APIs
- Expertise in a web application platform or framework (e.g. Drupal/Symfony/ExpressJS/React/Ionic)
- Expertise in a front-end Javascript framework (e.g. jQuery, Angular, React)
- Proficiency in version control using Git
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with individuals from any level in an organization
- Proven ability to work independently and under minimal direction but as an effective team player
- Capacity to work collaboratively in small teams
- Strong analytical and problem solving skills
- Ability to estimate work, organize, plan, and schedule multiple projects simultaneously
Example 3
We are looking for a passionate experienced Full Stack Drupal Developer to develop and maintain our Marketing website properties to support ongoing marketing initiatives. You’ll harness your back-end and front-end skills to build scalable solutions that will help bring in the highest quality leads to our marketing and sales pipelines.
Responsibilities
- Develop new web pages, web page templates, and modules for our marketing website within the Drupal CMS environment
- Integrate and customize third-party tools and services to support marketing initiatives
- Write clean, functional code on both the front-end and back-end
- Follow Drupal coding standards and best practices
- Collaborate with other teammates who are both remote and co-located in our San Francisco, Atlanta, and Edinburgh offices
- Work effectively within a team environment, to regularly solicit and act on feedback, focus on root causes, and continually strive to improve
- Advocate and lead-by-example best practices for code quality in architecture and design, maintainability, performance, and scalability
- Lead on promoting just-right solutions to build for the future while also avoiding costly premature optimizations
Required skills
- Experience developing modules and templates in Drupal 8/9
- Experience in Drupal 8/9 site building and configuration
- Experience building and consuming various APIs
- Strong working experience with version/source control, Git or equivalent
- Solid knowledge of web development best practices in relation to web security and accessibility to create high performance websites/pages
- Excellent collaboration, organization, and teamwork skills
- Strong analytical, debugging and problem-solving skills
- Keen attention to detail
- Crisp written and verbal communication skills
Education and experience
- Degree in Computer Science or relevant field, or equivalent experience
- Experience with SaaS product development, Tailwind CSS, Storybook and Acquia hosting environments
- Involved with the Drupal community and contributions
- Experience with rapid-prototyping and validating assumptions using qualitative and quantitative methods is preferred
Physical requirements
- Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
- Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times
Example 4
Our client is looking for a Drupal Developer responsible for front-end development and theming. This position requires a combination of programming skills and aesthetics (understanding element arrangements on the screen, the color and font choices, and so on). The ideal candidate will have hands on experience working with content management systems and experience with responsive and adaptive design is strongly preferred. In addition, an understanding of the entire web development process, including design, development, and deployment, with some back-end knowledge, is required.
Skills
- Strong experience building web applications in Drupal 7/8/9, PHP 7/8, HTML, CSS, JavaScript
- Hands on understanding of front-end frameworks such as React is preferred
- 5+ years of experience in hands on web application development, with experience creating custom Drupal modules
- Experience with Drupal backend development, including custom module development
- Proficiency in SQL and relational databases such as mySQL, Postgres, etc.
- Proficiency in using Version Control System such as Git or SVN
- Experience with Docker and CI/CD tools such as Travis, Jenkins, GitHub, etc.
- Familiarity with Scrum software development framework
Qualifications
- Experience w/ migrations from Drupal 7 to Drupal 8/9 is preferred but not required.
- Experience with cloud platforms, such as AW
- Through understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle (Requirements, Design, Development, Testing) and exposure to Agile or iterative SDLCs
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- Web Development: Apache, WordPress, and Drupal. This certification will provide candidates with a foundational understanding of setting up websites with HTML, CSS, and Javascript. This course is offered by Skillshare and will give them an entry-level understanding of the concepts and best practices of website development with great hands-on experience.
- Drupal 8 Module Development. This course will teach candidates the latest release of the Drupal CMS, and how to design and develop code with several practical examples.
- Drupal 8 For Beginners. This is another excellent entry-level course to learn the ins and outs of Drupal, taught by Packt Publishing via Udemy. Candidates will learn how to quickly and efficiently build and deploy customized Drupal sites, and how to maintain them.
- Drupal 7 for Beginners. Drupal 7 is currently the most popular framework in the catalog, and although it’s one generation behind the newest release, is still valuable to learn. Candidates will obtain the concepts and knowledge they need to get started with Udemy’s course for Drupal 7.
- Learning Path: Application Development With Drupal 8. Packt Publishing provides this course to create intermediate web applications within the Drupal 8 framework. Candidates will become acquainted with the concepts and best practices to take their coding to the next level with the newest generation of the powerful Drupal framework.
- Mastering Drupal 8. This course will provide the candidates with an advanced understanding of the framework. Upon completion, they’ll be able to confidently build a fully featured, multilingual, and highly responsive web application within Drupal 8. As the title of the course suggests, candidates should take this class after they have a solid familiarity with the framework.
Sample Interview Questions
- How does Drupal differ from other content management systems in terms of its key features?
- Are you able to explain the architecture of Drupal and how its modules interact?
- What measures do you take to prevent security breaches in Drupal?
- How would you go about creating a custom module in Drupal?
- What tools do you use for Drupal performance optimization?
- What is an example of a complex project you have worked on using Drupal?
- What are the best ways to stay on top of Drupal developments?
- What tools do you use for testing and debugging in Drupal?
- Why is Drupal 8 different from Drupal 9? How would you upgrade a site from Drupal 8 to Drupal 9?
- Do you use any specific tools for handling responsive design in Drupal?
- Would you mind sharing a time when you faced a difficult Drupal problem and how you resolved it?
- What tools do you use to manage version control in Drupal projects?
- How would you integrate a third-party API into a Drupal website?
