JavaScript and TypeScript (React and Node)
One language across the stack: React or Next.js on the front, Node with Express or NestJS on the back, usually with PostgreSQL.
Roles · Software Development
Hire full-stack developers for React, Node, Laravel, Django and Rails
Engineers who take a feature from database to interface on their own, inside your codebase and your review process. Fewer handoffs, and fewer half-finished tickets waiting on someone else.
One engineer, a whole feature
Most product work cuts across the stack: a new screen needs an endpoint, which needs a table, which needs a migration. When frontend and backend sit with different people, each feature waits on a handoff. A full-stack developer owns the whole slice, from schema to screen, and ships it.
What they do for you
- Build features end to end: data model, API, interface and tests
- Design and change database schemas with safe migrations
- Write and document REST or GraphQL APIs, and connect third-party services such as Stripe or Twilio
- Fix bugs across the stack, starting from logs and error tracking
- Review pull requests and keep the codebase consistent
- Keep dependencies and framework versions current, and pay down tech debt in small steps
How we judge a full-stack engineer
Tools they work in
TypeScriptReactNext.jsNode.jsExpressNestJSPythonDjangoFastAPIPHPLaravelRuby on Rails.NETPostgreSQLMySQLRedisDockerGitHub ActionsAWSVercelSentryMany more
A good fit if:
- You have a product in production and a roadmap longer than your team can ship
- Features keep stalling between frontend and backend
- You need one more engineer who can work anywhere in the codebase
Not the right fit if:
- You need a specialist for complex interfaces and design systems; see Frontend Developer
- You need someone to own infrastructure and deployment pipelines; that's DevOps, a page added after launch
- You need features built on large language models; see AI Engineer
Questions for your full-stack shortlist
01
"Walk us through a feature you built end to end. What did you decide at each layer?"
Strong answer: concrete choices about schema, API shape, state handling and tests, including one they'd now do differently.
02
"A page that used to be fast now takes four seconds to load. How do you investigate?"
Strong answer: measure first, then check the network waterfall, slow queries and missing indexes, N+1 queries and caching, before changing any code.
03
"How would you add a column to a large table in production without downtime?"
Strong answer: a backward-compatible migration, then a backfill in batches and code deployed in the right order, with a way back.
04
"Here's a pull request from a teammate (sample). Review it."
Strong answer: comments on correctness, security and readability, sorted into must-fix and nice-to-have.
05
"How do you handle secrets and user data in an app?"
Strong answer: environment variables or a secrets manager, never in the repo; least-privilege access; validated input; and they know which data is sensitive.
Signs of a strong full-stack developer:
- Ships small pull requests often, with tests
- Writes a short plan before touching a large feature
- Explains technical trade-offs in plain language to non-engineers
- Leaves the code a little cleaner than they found it
Signs of a weak full-stack developer:
- Strong on one side of the stack, guessing on the other
- Opens huge pull requests that are hard to review
- Skips tests "to save time"
- Can't explain the code they've submitted
- Changes the production database by hand
Python (Django and FastAPI)
Django for admin-heavy products and FastAPI for lean, quick APIs. A common choice when your product sits close to data or machine learning work.
PHP (Laravel)
Laravel applications with Blade, Livewire or a React or Vue frontend, plus queues, jobs and package upkeep.
Ruby on Rails
Rails apps with Hotwire or a JavaScript frontend, background jobs, and careful upgrades across Rails versions.
.NET
ASP.NET Core web apps and APIs in C#, with Entity Framework and SQL Server or PostgreSQL, for companies built on Microsoft.
Hiring a full-stack developer with us
- 1
Talk it through
We agree the work, the tools, the hours you share and who they report to. For this role: your stack and versions, how your team reviews and deploys code, and the first feature you'd hand over.
- 2
Meet a shortlist and choose
We screen a wide pool for every role and introduce only the few who fit your brief. We source, screen and test candidates against your brief, and run background and reference checks. You interview and decide.
- 3
Start with support in place
They start on the work in the brief, and we stay in contact once they've begun.
For a common stack, a full-stack hire usually takes one to three weeks. A rarer mix of frameworks or a lead-level role can take longer, since we may need to search further afield, and we tell you early if that happens.
How pricing works for a full-stack developer
You can bring on a full-stack developer under any of our ways to hire. Choose what fits your team, and we'll go over the details with you on the call.
Who does what
Swipe to see more →
| Task | You | JiveTalent |
|---|---|---|
| Product priorities, code review standards and what ships | Own | – |
| Features, pull requests and tests | Review and merge | Your developer builds them, and our regular check-ins cover pace and team fit |
Full-stack hiring FAQ
Which stacks can you hire for?
The common ones: React and Node, Next.js, Python with Django or FastAPI, Laravel, Ruby on Rails and .NET, with PostgreSQL or MySQL. If yours is less common, name it at the start and we'll say honestly whether we can find it.
Will they work during our business hours?
The brief sets the hours and the overlap with your team before the search starts, so every candidate is hired for them.
Will they follow our code review and deployment process?
Yes. They work in your repositories, branches and CI, and nothing reaches production without passing your review.
What if it isn't working out?
Talk to your account lead. We go through it with you and agree a way forward.
Can they work on an old or legacy codebase?
Yes. Mention the framework versions and any planned upgrade on the call, and we look for people who've done that kind of upgrade before.
Who owns the code they write?
You do. They commit to your repositories and deploy through your accounts, so you keep the history, the infrastructure and the credentials.
How do we see what our full-stack developer is working on?
Their hours are tracked in the client app and reported there for you to see.
Ready to ship the roadmap faster?
Book a call. We'll agree the brief for your full-stack developer and talk you through the ways to hire.