Demand for Ember.js Developers Continues to Expand
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics expects the demand for web developers to grow faster than usual through 2033, and Ember.js has carved out a stable position as one of the most scalable web frameworks. Enterprises like Microsoft, Apple, LinkedIn, and Netflix have all used the open-source Ember.js thanks to its maturity, stability, and comprehensiveness. But its status as a niche framework makes Ember.js experts harder to find compared to specialists in trendier technologies like Svelte and React.
The Ember.js project itself is actively maintained, so training or hiring Ember.js developers remains a sensible choice for the maintenance or even greenfield production of ambitious web applications. Its advanced tooling integration and opinionated approach mean that, in the right hands, Ember.js lets companies rapidly build large-scale, high-traffic sites without accruing the technical debt that a “move fast and break things” approach can often bring.
This guide will help hiring managers prioritize characteristics for Ember.js teams and roles, assemble accurate job descriptions, and assess candidates with insightful interview questions to find the talent they need to sustain and grow their businesses.
What Attributes Distinguish Quality Ember.js Developers From Others?
Ember.js developers are web application development specialists, and the best among them are not only aware of its ecosystem and capabilities but also in the habit of following its particular conventions and idioms. A skilled Ember.js developer favors consistency over improvisation. They don’t reinvent the wheel when they can use Ember CLI to simplify their workflow and project lifecycle. Likewise, they leverage Ember Data for data binding and enjoy the reduced maintenance of its “single source of truth” approach. In other words, they lean into Ember.js conventions instead of fighting them, letting fellow and future Ember.js specialists read and understand their code and its intentions more easily.
This idiomatic approach — alongside years of experience working on the large, long-lived codebases typical of enterprise software development — gives an Ember.js developer the architectural judgment needed to produce efficient, maintainable component hierarchies and contribute to add-ons or even the core framework itself if a project’s special needs happen to warrant it.
Since Ember.js projects use the JavaScript programming language, standout or at least respectable JavaScript skills are something every quality Ember.js engineer will have. For example, they’ll know best practices around asynchronous JavaScript techniques and how to identify and modernize any code that falls short of them. Similarly, quality Ember.js developers have notable and current HTML and CSS skills — they don’t let outdated habits bloat codebases with shims and workarounds when newer built-ins can deliver the same features better, faster, and more consistently.
How Can You Identify the Ideal Ember.js Developers for You?
To identify the ideal Ember.js developers for you, start with your project business needs. Are you looking for someone accustomed to some pre-2019 version of Ember.js so they can make minor maintenance tweaks to an internal tool? They wouldn’t need to know about the framework’s more recent features like @tracked annotation support and Glimmer components. And they wouldn’t need as much (recent) experience as someone you’re seeking to avoid downtime in a high-traffic, customer-facing Ember.js app while migrating its codebase to leverage Liquid Fire page transitions. That’s yet again separate from an appropriate skill set for migrating several minor functionalities from other frameworks into your primary single-page application.
From a broader business perspective, it’s worth considering whether the role you have in mind will include onboarding JavaScript programmers or front-end generalists and training them as Ember.js specialists. Conversely, perhaps you have the necessary talent and mentorship capacity on your team and just need more of it to remain sustainable. In this case, strongly consider shifting your hiring process toward selecting appropriately experienced, open-minded, team-oriented jacks-of-all-trades who can quickly acquire Ember.js-specific skills and habits.
Junior developers are those with one or two years of experience developing web apps and perhaps no direct Ember.js experience. They should be strong in JavaScript, HTML, and CSS but will likely need frequent assistance with Ember.js idioms, API integrations, and routing. They pair well with strong leads when your training timeline has some flexibility.
Mid-level developers are more autonomous. They have three to five years of experience in web development, including at least one with Ember.js. They should be comfortable with the Ember CLI workflow or capable of quickly becoming so. They understand component-based architecture and the advantages of using services and add-ons.
Senior or expert developers are appropriate for short-term training, long-term leadership, and (often) hands-on or hybrid project management roles. They’re a must for high-stakes projects like e-commerce platforms, enterprise dashboards, and real-time web apps. They’re skilled with the Ember Inspector and can handle performance optimization, complex and unusual use cases, and scalability issues.
Regardless of seniority, many Ember.js roles are partly or wholly responsible for additional areas like DevOps. Often enough, Ember.js roles are full stack, in which case it may be easier to find a specialist in your project’s back end — which may be based on Node.js or on firmly non-JavaScript technology like Java, Python, or Ruby on Rails — who is willing to be mentored by an in-house Ember.js expert.
How to Write an Ember.js Developer Job Description for Your Project
The best approach is to start with a front-end developer job description template and tailor it toward Ember.js and other project specifics unless your role is full stack (and perhaps has even stronger needs when it comes to some specific back-end technology like PHP), in which case another template is even more appropriate. It will lower your resume-sifting workload to specify up to three applicable major technologies in the job posting title, along with whether the role is full-time, remote (including time zone overlap), contract-based, etc. — anything that could be a major blocker but is short to convey.
In the description, explicitly highlight the Ember.js framework (including versions and oft-used tooling) while detailing the role’s technical requirements and to what extent your company is ready to provide mentorship and training versus expecting preexisting skills and experience. Call out mobile app development familiarity if the project involves cross-platform work with iOS or Android.
Lastly, describe your company and team environment along with the roles this role will be connected to and in what capacity. Details like the use of agile methodologies will help applicants self-select based on compatibility.
What Are the Most Important Ember.js Developer Interview Questions?
Shorter Ember.js interview questions can be a good starting point for assessment. So can those on key adjacent technologies and services; for example, if the role involves a particular Git workflow or CI/CD integration with GitHub, it can be worth some extra aptitude checks. Depending on the version of Ember.js they’ll need to know for the role, the following wider questions and/or a sampling of common mistakes can spark informative discussions.
How do you manage state in Ember.js, and what’s the role of Ember Data?
Candidates with modern Ember.js experience should be able to explain how Ember Data acts as the model layer. They should know that the data store and adapters help insulate app code from direct API use and that this idiomatic approach promotes maintainable data-binding, consistent state, and reduced fetching. Bonus points if they reference specific store methods like push or findRecord. Consider it a red flag if candidates describe making XHR (AJAX) calls directly from app code rather than relying on the store to interact with a data source via adapters since this can quickly result in a buggy and unscalable codebase that’s difficult to maintain.
Describe how Ember CLI improves the workflow of an Ember.js development team.
Candidates with hands-on Ember.js experience should know how to leverage Ember CLI as a central part of the development process. Solid answers refer to how Ember CLI standardizes project structures, manages add-ons (complemented by Ember Observer), and integrates testing. They should be able to discuss how it automates boilerplate code creation and how they’ve used ember g (or ember generate) to scaffold routes, components, and services.
How do you handle routing and nested routes in Ember.js?
The ideal answer should reference the framework’s use of a URL-driven state machine, dynamic segments, query parameters, and the route-handler hierarchy. A seasoned candidate can describe the differences between the roles of route handlers, templates, and controllers. Even candidates with limited Ember.js experience should be able to explain loading and error substates and the implications of nested routes for component hierarchy and data loading. It’s a red flag if they can’t explain how routing affects the user experience in single-page applications.
Describe a challenging Ember.js project you completed and what you learned from it.
Strong answers should reference examples like managing complex user interfaces, maintainability, or scalability. Look for project management insights like timeline adjustments or user experience lessons. Mentions of helping with onboarding or collaboration are a plus, especially if that will apply to their new role. Red flags include unclear project goals and the inability to describe problems concretely.
Why Do Companies Hire Ember.js Developers?
Companies hire Ember.js developers because of the framework’s uniquely stable and opinionated approach. Its conventions reduce team cognitive overhead, its tooling automates development lifecycle tedium, and its ecosystem provides mature solutions for routing, data management, and templating. Forward-thinking enterprise teams stick with Ember.js developers thanks to the high value of their rapid yet maintainable workflow.
With this guide, hiring managers are equipped to identify, attract, and hire the right Ember.js developers (or Ember.js-developers-to-be) to continue building high-quality single-page applications that are performant and maintainable—a smart and sustainable choice for businesses seeking long-term success.
