Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
Browse all 229 roles Brief us on a seatFlat 15% of first-year base · shortlist in 10 working days
A front end developer owns the code visitors touch: components, templates, speed and accessibility on your marketing site and landing pages. Portfolios of polished builds are easy to show, so we screen for pages that stayed fast after launch, accessibility they can demonstrate, and how they work with the marketers who need changes.
The first quarter decides whether the site becomes faster and easier to change, or heavier and more fragile. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
Core Web Vitals on the pages that earn the most traffic, an accessibility check, the build setup, third-party scripts and the component structure, with a list of what is slow, broken or duplicated.
On track looks like a short written audit with measured numbers and the first low-risk fixes live.
How we test for it before you meet them
A review exercise in our screen: a page's markup, styles and a performance report with real problems in it. We score what they find and the order they fix it in.
Weeks 3 to 6
Image handling, render-blocking scripts, layout shifts and the mobile breakpoints that break most often, fixed and released through staging with before and after numbers.
On track looks like key pages measurably faster and no longer breaking on common phone widths.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask about a page they made faster and by how much, and check it with a former manager or teammate.
Weeks 7 to 10
The sections that keep coming back, built once as components with documented options, so marketing can assemble pages without a ticket and without breaking the design.
On track looks like new landing pages built from components in days, not weeks, with no copy-pasted code.
How we test for it before you meet them
We look at a component set they built and ask who used it after they left, and how they kept it from drifting.
Weeks 11 to 13
Keyboard use, focus states, contrast and screen reader labels checked as routine, and analytics and tag events tested end to end so data reaches the CRM intact.
On track looks like accessibility issues fixed on key pages and form and tracking events verified.
How we test for it before you meet them
A reference call about a site they looked after for a year or more: speed, accessibility complaints and what happened when something broke.
After day 90
Strong developers start shaping the roadmap: fewer dependencies, a smaller build, a plan for the next redesign and a view on what should stay on the page builder.
On track looks like a front-end roadmap the website manager can take to marketing leadership.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask what they would remove from the last site they ran. Developers who cut weight and dependencies tend to keep sites healthy.
Five responsibilities. If the seat also owns content, the CMS and hosting, it is a website manager or a WordPress or Webflow developer.
Reusable sections and page templates built so marketing can change pages safely.
Core Web Vitals, images, fonts and scripts on the pages that earn traffic and leads.
Keyboard use, contrast, focus and labels that work, checked as routine rather than at the end.
Layouts that hold on real phones and common browsers, not only in a design tool.
Clean event tracking that reaches analytics and the CRM, without slowing the page.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a front end hire ends up designing pages or running the CMS.
That seat ownsBuilding and running a WordPress site: theme, page builder, plugins, speed and security.
Hire it instead whenthe site is on WordPress and the work is the theme, plugins and releases.
That seat ownsBuilding and running a Webflow site: styles, CMS collections, interactions and integrations.
Hire it instead whenthe site is on Webflow and marketing wants to publish pages without developers.
That seat ownsPage layouts, visual hierarchy and the components the developer builds from.
Hire it instead whenthe code is fine but nobody owns how new pages should look.
The title stays the same; the stack does not. Pick the one that matches how your site is built.
Builds and maintains the marketing site in a framework or a headless CMS setup, close to marketing.
Builds the component library that product and marketing sites share, with documentation.
Brings Core Web Vitals and accessibility up on an existing site that has grown heavy.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Measured speed gains | Describes techniques with no numbers. | Names pages they sped up, with the metric before and after. |
| Accessibility | Relies on an automated score. | Checks keyboard, focus, contrast and labels as routine, with examples. |
| Reusable components | Copies code from page to page. | A component set others used, with a way to keep it consistent. |
| Working with marketers | Treats page requests as interruptions. | Builds so marketers publish on their own, and ships requests on agreed dates. |
| Fit with your stack | Experience in a different framework or only on product apps. | Has built a marketing site like yours: your stack, your editors, your traffic. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Built In’s self-reported median base for front-end developers is $101,000, well above Salary.com’s employer-reported band. A developer who also owns components, performance and accessibility on a marketing site sits toward Built In’s figure, one who maintains templates nearer Salary.com’s.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Median base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
Front-End Developer
Salary.com base benchmark
$74,064 to $93,728 base
Front-End Developer, self-reported
Built In, self-reported
$101,000 median base$121,493 average total
WordPress Developer
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$96,516 to $113,312 base
Web developers
BLS, all industries
$64,230 to $126,230
Front-End Developer and WordPress Developer bars: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Front-End Developer dot and ring: Built In median base salary and average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 15, 2026. Web developers: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 15-1254), all industries. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A front end developer builds the part of a site that visitors see and use: components, page templates, layouts that hold on phones, speed, accessibility and the tracking events behind it. On a marketing site that means pages that load fast, work for everyone and can be changed by marketers without breaking the design.
Salary.com puts a front-end developer at $74,064 to $93,728 base, with a median of $81,591 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures are higher: a $101,000 median base and $121,493 average total pay. The BLS band for web developers runs from $64,230 to $126,230. Scope explains the spread, so price the seat on what it owns.
A front end developer for hire is usually an agency or freelancer, which suits a rebuild with a fixed scope and date. An in-house front-end developer pays off when marketing ships pages every week, speed and accessibility need steady attention and nobody else can change the code safely. They learn the site and the people who use it. We recruit the in-house seat.
A WordPress or Webflow developer builds and runs a site on one platform, including its content system and plugins or collections. A front-end developer works at the code level: components, performance and accessibility, often across several platforms or a custom stack. If your site is on a page builder, hire the platform developer first.
HTML, CSS and JavaScript at depth, one modern framework, performance and accessibility practice, version control and testing. For a marketing site, add analytics and tag management, and a feel for what editors need. Ask for a live page they made faster and the numbers that show it. Frameworks change; those habits do not.
Give them a page’s markup and a performance report with real problems and ask what they would fix first and why. An hour is enough. It shows judgment and measurement habits, which a polished portfolio hides. Avoid long unpaid builds: they reward free time, and strong developers decline them. A short paid exercise is fairer if you need more.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated developers, each with our review exercise scored and a live site checked. Interview speed decides the rest: good front-end developers rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within two weeks of the first interview keeps them.
Tell us how the site is built, which pages matter most and who edits them. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for web roles, or send your CV and a link to a site you built and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The front-end developer is one of nine seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.