Toptal is a marketplace for top Django developers, engineers, programmers, coders, architects, and consultants. Top companies and startups can hire Toptal dedicated (full-time), hourly, or part-time Django freelancers for their mission-critical software projects.
Matthew has over 15 years of experience in database management and software development, with a strong focus on full-stack web applications. He specializes in Django and Vue.js with expertise deploying to both server and serverless environments on AWS. He also works with relational databases and large datasets.
Richard is a seasoned product engineer with over a decade of experience building innovative products in the AI/ML, payment, and eCommerce fields. He's an experienced team leader, driving 10x growth for a startup's AI Chatbot and successfully heading the engineering team of GO VIET. As the CTO of a fintech company he co-founded, Richard's passion for product engineering and driving results make him an invaluable asset to any tech team.
United KingdomToptal Member Since October 24, 2019
Fayaz is a DevOps engineer and architect with experience in designing end-to-end solutions. He has extensive cloud and infrastructure expertise with multiple AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud certifications. He specializes in monitoring tools (ELK, Zabbix, and Prometheus) and automation with Python, Ansible, Terraform, and Docker. Fayaz has implemented Jenkins CI/CD pipelines to build, test, and deploy large apps, including microservices, with zero downtime.
Sebastian is a seasoned software developer. He architected the "follow" feature of Influenster.com, which allows over five million users to follow each other in one of America's most extensive product review sites. He has worked on application development in a variety of industries and strives for speed and accuracy.
Gaurav is a passionate Python back-end engineer with expertise in Django, cloud setup, and deployments, with in-depth knowledge of AWS services. Gaurav has developed logistics, eCommerce, classified, and queuing systems and deployed applications using Docker. He is results-oriented, sharp, and enjoys delivering top products. Gaurav has experience with API integrations, API optimizations (reducing latencies), building scalable APIs, and migrating a ROR project to Python/Django.
Kai has over ten years of experience in programming from embedded systems engineering for motor engines to scalable web architectures handling TB of data. He is passionate about challenging problems that require researching in-depth math or complicated algorithms to create reliable solutions that create a wow factor for clients and users.
Srinivas is a senior full-stack developer and data engineer with over ten years of experience, including being part of the Google Maps team and CTO of his company. He's architected and built applications mainly on the back end: web stacks, data analytics, data pipelines, and microservices. Srinivas has also managed small engineering teams.
United KingdomToptal Member Since October 16, 2019
Andrew is a full-stack software engineer with eight years of experience in Python, Django, and JavaScript. Recently, he picked up static site generators such as Jekyll and GatsbyJS in combination with React. His expertise includes automation, migrations, architecture, deployments, and team management. Andrew is passionate about building out ideas, especially when they empower others to improve their quality of life.
Marko is a software engineer with a master's degree in computer science and professional experience in C++, Python, and JavaScript ranging from web development to optimization problems, machine learning, and data science. He's detail-oriented with excellent communication skills, focused on meeting the client's requirements and delivering clean and efficient software solution both as an individual developer and as a member of a team.
Andrey is a senior full-stack web developer with over 12 years of experience. Specializing in building back-end APIs for web applications, Andrey thoroughly understands the requirements for solid builds and always strives to provide the best infrastructures to safely and quickly facilitate growth and scaling.
Siddharth has about a decade of experience developing web applications that scale to millions of users at Silicon Valley startups. Having architected large scale platforms from the ground up, he specializes in Full Stack development with Python, Golang, Vue.js, MySQL, and MongoDB.
Django developers are Python specialists who use a popular open-source framework to build and maintain secure, dynamic websites. This guide to hiring Django developers will help you navigate the Django ecosystem and relevant skills, and features interview questions and answers to help you identify the best candidates for your company.
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Tripcents wouldn't exist without Toptal. Toptal Projects enabled us to rapidly develop our foundation with a product manager, lead developer, and senior designer. In just over 60 days we went from concept to Alpha. The speed, knowledge, expertise, and flexibility is second to none. The Toptal team were as part of tripcents as any in-house team member of tripcents. They contributed and took ownership of the development just like everyone else. We will continue to use Toptal. As a startup, they are our secret weapon.
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I am more than pleased with our experience with Toptal. The professional I got to work with was on the phone with me within a couple of hours. I knew after discussing my project with him that he was the candidate I wanted. I hired him immediately and he wasted no time in getting to my project, even going the extra mile by adding some great design elements that enhanced our overall look.
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The developers I was paired with were incredible -- smart, driven, and responsive. It used to be hard to find quality engineers and consultants. Now it isn't.
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Toptal understood our project needs immediately. We were matched with an exceptional freelancer from Argentina who, from Day 1, immersed himself in our industry, blended seamlessly with our team, understood our vision, and produced top-notch results. Toptal makes connecting with superior developers and programmers very easy.
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Django freelancers and full-time developers earn salaries that vary greatly based on factors such as skill set, experience level, and region. According to Glassdoor, a US-based Django developer’s average salary is $84,296 as of December 2023.
How do I hire a Django developer?
To hire the right Django developer, it’s important to evaluate a candidate’s experience, technical skills, and communication skills. You’ll also want to consider the fit with your particular industry, company, and project. Toptal’s rigorous screening process ensures that every member of our network has excellent experience and skills, and our team will match you with the perfect Django developers for your project.
How in demand is Django?
Since Django was built from the ground up with high-traffic websites in mind, it’s become one of the most popular frameworks, with deep industry adoption and integration. As a result, Django developers are in extreme demand, since their skills enable teams to build high-performance, scalable web back ends.
How quick is the hiring process with Toptal?
Typically, you can hire a Django developer with Toptal in about 48 hours. Our talent matchers are experts in the same fields they’re matching in—they’re not recruiters or HR reps. They’ll work with you to understand your goals, technical needs, and team dynamics, and match you with ideal candidates from our vetted global talent network.
Once you select your Django developer, you’ll have a no-risk trial period to ensure they’re the perfect fit. Our matching process has a 98% trial-to-hire rate, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the best fit every time.
Sean is an experienced full-stack web developer, system administrator, and data scientist who has used Python and Django to create everything from laboratory machinery interfaces to market intelligence software featuring cross-language information retrieval and analysis.
As Python continues to gain prominence, Django has climbed in popularity with it—among professionals, it’s the second-most-used Python framework by a thin margin. As of November 2023, there are nearly 1,300 open positions on Indeed that list Django as a desired or required skill. Contrast that with Ruby on Rails, perhaps its closest philosophical competitor and once the preferred web framework of startups and enterprises alike, which has about 900 such listings.
In this environment, hiring a Django programmer is more difficult than ever. All the more so because Django is suited for big projects, so you’re competing with not only major sites like The Washington Post and National Geographic, but also technology giants like Instagram, Disqus, Mozilla, and Pinterest. Finding candidates is difficult; interviewing and selecting them is more difficult.
This guide demystifies the world of Django, delineating expertise levels, defining umbrellas of Django-focused skills, and explaining the relevance of Django-adjacent technologies. With all that, as well as the job description and interview advice this guide offers, you’ll soon know how to hire the right Django expert for your business.
What attributes distinguish quality Django Developers from others?
If you want to find a talented developer among candidates, it makes sense for your hiring process to include evaluations from multiple angles. The first is the Python factor: Since Django is a Python framework, good Django developers are also Python programmers—so their Python code quality must be high, otherwise their work will result in technical debt that will multiply your project costs. Keep track of the non-Django Python libraries your project uses, and screen for knowledge in those libraries as well. You can accomplish this vetting in-house or outsource it to a tech screening company.
The second angle to consider has more to do with Django itself. As a “batteries included” web framework, Django seeks to provide a developer with all the tools needed to build scalable applications. Specifically, a quality Django developer should be proficient in:
Tools for rapid development – Django comes with tools that allow developers to rapidly scaffold and modify back-end APIs. This allows Django programmers to build back-end services and systems much faster than developers using leaner or less mature web frameworks.
Security best practices – Django comes with a suite of security applications that help with tasks such as encryption, user authentication, and data management. By making best practices the default, Django experts are able to avoid costly security mistakes while maintaining a quick development pace.
Data interfaces and computing – Being a Python framework, Django is able to leverage all of the powerful data manipulation and processing tools available through the Python ecosystem. A quality Django developer may well be strong in all of these areas, but the relative value to your company of each of these subskills depends on your project requirements.
Complementary Technology Skills for Django Development
Django is a powerful tool, but it relies on a wider ecosystem of technologies to function, depending on your project. You may look for experience in the following technologies complementary to Django:
SQL databases – Almost every application today requires data storage of some kind, and many of Django’s built-in features require a connection to an SQL database. A good Django developer should know how to create, maintain, and optimize SQL tables and queries, both using raw SQL and through the Django ORM.
JavaScript – Because Django is a web framework, and JavaScript is the de facto front-end programming language, most Django developers will interact with JavaScript at some point in their careers. But just how much JavaScript knowledge is required?
If you’re looking for a developer to build an application from end to end, you’ll want to hire a Django developer with significant experience in one of the major JavaScript frameworks, such as React or Angular.
If you are looking for someone to develop primarily the back end of a Django application, you won’t need to hire someone with substantial JavaScript experience. However, hiring someone with some knowledge of JavaScript best practices will be helpful in case they’re called upon for any front-end work.
If you are looking for someone to build only REST APIs and microservices, you will not need to hire a Django developer with much, if any, knowledge of JavaScript.
REST APIs – The vast majority of web APIs today follow some variation of REST, and chances are that a given Django application will have a REST API as part of its feature set—and that it will use Django REST framework (DRF) to accomplish this. DRF expertise might be needed for mid-level and senior Django REST API developers, as it requires familiarity with its limitations and essential performance optimization techniques. But even if your project eschews REST (in favor of GraphQL, for example), a Django developer candidate should be comfortable with REST APIs in terms of communicating with third-party services—a common (eventual) project requirement.
Machine learning – Many Django applications are the HTTP layer of a data-heavy application with a significant back end. As a result, many Django developers also take on the role of Python engineers with a nonweb specialization. One popular specialization is machine learning, which is used to identify patterns in complex data. If your application has a significant data component, look for a Django engineer who has knowledge of machine learning or a related statistical discipline.
Docker – Docker lets developers deploy applications in containers, simplifying their environments and making them easily replicable. Web applications are increasingly deployed in containerized environments, the vast majority of which use Docker. Knowing Docker will help your Django developer take advantage of the latest advancements in containerization, cloud technologies, and Kubernetes, enabling scalability benefits for your project.
How can you identify the ideal Django Developer for you?
When it comes to finding the ideal Django developer, it is important to first understand your project and your team. Are you starting a new project? Are you hiring a Django freelancer to join an existing team of developers? Is your project deeply integrated with an unusual technology that will require specific experience? Does it use custom technologies that a more skilled and experienced developer would take less time to acclimate to? Do you have existing infrastructure that you need to work with, for better or for worse? Do you expect new team members to be well versed in agile methodologies?
These questions will inform the kind of Django developer you’ll want to hire, but the first step is to consider the level of Django expertise that will make sense for your team and project:
Junior Developer
A junior Django developer may have built a couple small Django projects and may be somewhat familiar with the Python ecosystem. The least experienced junior developers will require coaching by a more experienced team member before contributing to the codebase. More experienced junior developers will be able to take ownership over a small portion of the Django codebase, e.g., an endpoint or a set of related endpoints. In any case, the junior developer is unlikely to contribute to the broader discussion about project architecture or deployment infrastructure.
You should hire a junior developer if you have an established codebase and a strong team of developers who will be able to guide new team members. After a short period of acclimation, the junior developer will likely begin contributing meaningfully to your codebase but will require additional development time for more complex feature requests and bug fixes.
Mid-level Developer
A mid-level Django developer is familiar with the most popular Django and Python packages and their associated use cases. They may have worked on large-scale Django projects, and their familiarity with the Django and Python ecosystems will enable them to suggest new ways to solve any problems at hand. They may be able to contribute meaningfully to discussions about project architecture and will be able to mentor junior developers to some extent—but may also need mentoring themselves.
You should hire a mid-level Django developer if you have a relatively simple project or are looking to expand an existing project supported by an established team. They should be able to work independently quickly and seek out growth opportunities and additional responsibilities.
Senior Developer
A senior Django developer is an expert in both the Python language and the Django framework, and has at least three years of full-time software development, with at least two of them focused on Django. They have a deep understanding of both Django and Python, their best practices, and their ecosystems. They’ve taken multiple Django projects from concept to production.
This level of responsibility has also given them experience architecting databases—or at least parts of them—in ways that reduce storage costs and improve back-end responsiveness. Just as importantly, they know how to support and manage Django deployments, either in the cloud or with on-premise infrastructure, and they can anticipate problems before they cause issues.
What really sets apart senior Django developers, though, is their understanding of how the pieces fit together. They may know that the Django ORM doesn’t play well with a certain database configuration or that the messaging system has unexpected behavior under certain conditions. This knowledge is often gained only through experience and can save businesses significant time and money by avoiding common pitfalls.
You should look for a senior Django developer if you need someone to take the lead in building or refactoring a complex Django application and are ready to give this person a fair amount of freedom in technical decision-making. In a pinch, such a developer can even single-handedly drive the project to execution, but that would depend on your business goals and timeline requirements.
Common Django Use Cases
Also, consider the specific skill sets required for your project’s use cases and the role you have in mind for your candidate. These skill sets generally (but not exclusively) fall into four broad categories:
Full-stack development – Django can handle everything on the server side of a web application and has a powerful template engine for creating web pages. However, your project may need advanced front-end features, such as enhanced UI interactivity or cross-site scripting mitigation. In such a case, you’ll need a full-stack Django developer—one who is adept at both front- and back-end development. (Below, we provide more specifics about how this relates to JavaScript expertise.)
Data management – Django, built on top of Python, lends itself readily to data-heavy applications. In such applications, Django is only part of a larger data processing system. In these situations, in order to work seamlessly with the data team, the project’s Django developer should have some familiarity with data management best practices.
System administration – Django applications run on servers, which require system administration—unless your team outsources this responsibility by leveraging a serverless architecture. Some organizations have a systems administrator or a cloud engineer to manage their infrastructure, but in smaller organizations, this responsibility often falls on the back-end (Django) developer. Such scenarios necessitate the need for skills in additional scripting and programming languages, like Bash or Perl, as well as familiarity with cloud computing services like AWS, Azure, or GCP; these requirements will depend on your existing infrastructure.
Platform migration – If you’ve decided to use Django but your current project uses a competing Python framework (e.g., Flask or CherryPy), a generalist Python developer will be helpful. But your app migration will be smoother if your team has specific knowledge of both Django and whichever framework you’re planning to leave behind. If you’re rebuilding a team, this may mean looking for a single developer with experience in both. Alternatively, hire both a Django expert and, for the duration of the migration, an expert in your prior framework.
How to Write a Django Developer Job Description for Your Project
Now that you have determined the seniority and skill set of the Django developer you seek, it’s time to write the job description. Since a Django developer is also a Python developer, it’s worth starting with a relevant job description template and focusing it further on Django. Additionally, be sure to include information that answers these questions:
Is the project a web application with millions of users that needs to focus on scalability?
Is it a data-heavy application where the Django developer will have to do database optimizations?
Is there a front-end component involved?
Candidates will find this information useful to self-filter.
What are the most important Django Developer interview questions?
When it comes to interviewing, whether you’re trying to hire remote Django developers or on-site Django experts, the process will give you a chance to evaluate crucial soft skills alongside technical specifics.
As with any large framework, there is almost an endless series of questions a hiring manager can ask during the interview process. However, the emphasis should be on understanding how the candidate thinks about web development and how they use Django to solve problems, rather than their knowledge of specific packages or functions.
At least half of your themes should focus on general Python questions since a good Django developer needs to be a good Python developer first and foremost. But some Django-specific questions are also important to include; here’s a sample of helpful conversation starters:
What are some use cases where Django excels, and what are some use cases where alternative web frameworks should be used?
Django is a general-purpose web framework and can be used for almost every situation where a web framework is appropriate. However, there are a few Django use cases where the framework particularly excels:
When it’s known that the project will evolve into a full-fledged web application with multiple endpoints, authentication, and content management features. Django comes with packages for many of these features, making it easy to add them as the project grows.
When the underlying storage technology uses SQL. Django comes packaged with a powerful ORM that integrates well with the rest of the framework. However, the Django ORM only works with SQL-based technologies, so a project using NoSQL will need to use another library for its data layer.
When multiple team members will collaborate on the back end. Django has a very organized system for separating different subapplications and makes it easy for multiple developers to collaborate on the same Django project.
Strong candidates with clear knowledge of these use cases will be better prepared to advise you on project architecture and brainstorm how Django can best serve projects that are being started from scratch.
What packages would you use to test a Django application?
There are a few helpful Django test tools:
Django Test Tool
Context
Notes
The unittest library
Standard Python library for unit testing
Tests most of the Python logic used in a Django application unless pytest is preferred.
The pytest package
A third-party testing framework
Scales to complex cases and has a rich plugin ecosystem of its own.
The django.test package
Comes with Django
Lets a developer simulate browser interactions, create requests, and simulate application state, covering functionality beyond that of the unittest library.
Simulates app interaction by launching a real browser instance and controlling it instead of mocking a browser environment.
Familiarity with these standard testing tools indicates that a developer follows best practices and understands the benefits of automated and unit testing.
Why do companies hire Django Developers?
Companies hire Django developers because they can build applications quickly, scale them to support a large user base, and grow and maintain them as business needs change. Plus, Django developers can leverage a rich ecosystem of state-of-the-art Python libraries for a variety of tasks, making them well worth the salary or hourly rate they earn.
With Django skills being so valuable, it’s no surprise that good Django developers are in high demand. But you’ll find success in hiring when you’re savvy about which Django-adjacent skills you need for your projects and understand a Django developer’s role within them. With the guidance shared here, you’re ready to craft an accurate and attractive job description and conduct interviews with professional effectiveness to land the ideal Django engineer for your company’s needs.
The technical content presented in this article was reviewed by Temesgen Tiruneh.