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Hire Umbraco Developers
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The Ultimate Guide for Hiring Umbraco Developers
A poorly executed Umbraco site can underperform, lacking essential features and functionality that support business growth. Umbraco stands out among CMS platforms for its flexibility and powerful capabilities, but its complexity requires developers with specialized skills in its tools and integrations.
We provide access to the top 1% of LATAM tech talent, connecting businesses with vetted Umbraco developers who deliver tailored, impactful solutions. With experience in over 100 industries and 1,200+ completed projects, we’ve helped more than 500 companies achieve their goals.
This guide outlines the essential skills and technical expertise needed to hire Umbraco developers to build a functional, future-ready website to meet your business’s unique needs.
Before You Start Hiring
Team or Project Requirements
Before you decide to hire an Umbraco developer, you'll need a clear outline of your project scope and technical needs. Consider whether your business software requires expertise in features like Umbraco Cloud, Headless CMS capabilities, or custom module development.
Portfolio and References/Testimonials
Evaluate candidates' previous Umbraco CMS development work, focusing on innovative solutions and projects similar to what you need. Look for skilled developers with experience in relevant versions, custom package development, and integration work. References should verify their ability to deliver comprehensive solutions and work effectively within an expert team.
Niche Experience in Umbraco
Seek certified and dedicated Umbraco developers with specific expertise in your version of Umbraco and its specific features. Top Umbraco developers often have experience in commerce integration, mobile app development, or full-stack capabilities, enhancing the web development process.
Culture Fit
Evaluate how well candidates align with your team's working style and values. Umbraco CMS development often requires close collaboration with content editors, designers, and business stakeholders. Look for dedicated developers who can bridge technical and non-technical communication effectively.
Communication Skills
Strong documentation and the ability to communicate effectively are crucial for Umbraco projects. The best Umbraco developers should be able to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders, document their work effectively, and collaborate with your content team. This skill becomes particularly important during content modeling and user training phases.
18 Skills Every Umbraco Developer Should Have
Top-notch Umbraco developers stand out by mastering three core areas: .NET software development, front-end implementation, and content management architecture. While many skilled developers know the basics of content management systems, Umbraco's flexibility demands a deeper technical understanding paired with strong problem-solving abilities.
Creating a valuable and scalable Umbraco CMS development requires more than just coding skills. Developers must understand content workflows, build intuitive interfaces, and develop systems that grow with organizations. Dedicated Umbraco developers anticipate common CMS platform issues and prevent them through smart architecture decisions. So, when you hire Umbraco programmers, look for these specific abilities:
18 Technical Skills to Look for in Your Ideal Umbraco Developer
1. C# and .NET Core Mastery
Professional Umbraco developers write clean and easily maintainable C# code. Their grasp of object-oriented programming, LINQ, and dependency injection helps them build robust custom features that extend Umbraco's capabilities. They should excel at creating custom property editors, surface controllers, and managing dependencies in Umbraco's DI container.
2. Umbraco Architecture Expertise
Nothing reveals an Umbraco developer's experience faster than how they approach architecture decisions. The best ones don't just follow patterns; they know why those patterns exist. Watch how they handle different content-type structures. Pay attention to their experience with Umbraco's event system. Competent developers will talk about past projects where architecture choices made a real difference.
3. Database Skills
Any software engineer can write basic SQL queries. But Umbraco databases need more nuanced handling. Look for someone who's dealt with large digital content migrations and knows when and how to optimize queries. The best candidates often share stories about saving projects by fixing database bottlenecks. Have they worked with NPocoSql? Do they understand when to use Examine indexes instead of direct queries?
4. Front-end Web Development Proficiency
Programming languages like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript are just the beginning. Modern Umbraco interfaces need experienced Umbraco developers who think about the user experience. Some excel at crafting clean templates; others shine at building interactive features. The key? Finding someone who bridges both worlds. Ask about their experience with Vue or Angular, especially for custom back-office work. Great candidates will bring up accessibility without prompting.
5. Version Control Management
Strong Git workflows prevent code conflicts and keep projects organized. Developers should demonstrate experience with branching strategies and know how to manage changes in team environments. Understanding Git hooks helps automate quality checks and deployment processes. Experience with merge conflict resolution and feature branch workflows creates smooth collaboration on large projects.
6. Package Development Expertise
Creating Umbraco packages tests a developer's true understanding of the platform. Some have published their own; others might have modified existing ones. Both experiences count. The best developers think about installation processes, dependency management, and upgrade paths. They've learned, sometimes the hard way, how package choices affect long-term maintenance.
7. API Development
APIs connect Umbraco to the wider world. Good developers build them thoughtfully, while great ones make them bulletproof. Previous experience integrating external services tells you a lot about a candidate's capabilities. Details about security, rate limiting, and error handling reveal their expertise. Ask about REST versus GraphQL decisions they've made.
8. Content Structure Design
A developer's approach to content modeling shows their CMS maturity. Smart ones start by understanding how editors work. They build structures that make sense for daily use, not just for developers. The best candidates share examples of content models they've refined over time. A good Umbraco developer understands that flexibility matters in software development and knows how to achieve it without overcomplicating things.
9. Performance Tuning
Fast-loading Umbraco sites and mobile app development requires you to hire Umbraco developers who are familiar with caching strategies, optimizing images automatically, and writing database queries that scale. Experience with Umbraco's built-in caching mechanisms helps prevent common performance bottlenecks. Understanding advanced techniques like output caching, dynamic image resizing, and CDN integration also keeps sites running even under heavy loads.
10. Security Planning
Safe and secure websites start with developers who understand web security fundamentals. They should implement proper authentication, set up sensible permissions, and protect sensitive data effectively. Experience with Umbraco's security features, including member groups and custom section access, prevents unauthorized access. Look for an Umbraco developer who makes security part of their daily coding habits, not just an afterthought.
11. Cloud Platform Knowledge
Modern Umbraco sites often run in the cloud. Developers should show experience with Umbraco Cloud, Azure services, and cloud deployment patterns. Understanding cloud-specific features like auto-scaling, load balancing, and content replication ensures reliable hosting. Experience with Azure DevOps and deployment slots helps when pushing zero-downtime updates.
12. Testing Methods
Reliable sites need thorough testing. Look for developers who write unit tests, know how to debug Umbraco-specific issues, and catch problems before they reach production. Experience with testing frameworks like NUnit and integration testing approaches will mean the Umbraco developer can create high quality code. Knowledge of automated testing tools and continuous integration practices helps maintain reliable codebases.
13. Deployment Automation
Moving code between environments sounds simple but rarely is. Smart developers automate everything they can. They've learned from failed deployments and built better processes. Ask about their preferred tools – Octopus Deploy, Azure DevOps, etc. More importantly, discuss how they handle database changes and content migrations during updates.
14. Multilingual Site Building
Global websites need proper language handling. Developers should demonstrate experience with Umbraco's translation features and multilingual content workflows. Understanding URL handling for different languages and fallback content strategies ensures consistent user experiences. Knowledge of translation tools and integration patterns helps content teams manage multilingual content effectively.
Soft Skills to Look for in Your Ideal Umbraco Developer
15. Problem-Solving Approach
Technical skills matter, but the approach to problems often matters more. The best developers share stories about tackling unusual challenges. They explain their thinking process, not just their solutions. Watch how they handle questions about past difficulties. Do they blame tools and platforms or focus on finding answers?
16. Detail Oriented
Minor oversights can cause significant problems in Umbraco projects. Detail-oriented developers catch issues during planning, not after launch. They document their work naturally, not because someone told them to. Ask about their code review process. Strong candidates often point out potential issues you hadn't considered.
17. Team Collaboration
Umbraco projects bring together many different roles. Strong developers communicate clearly with designers, content editors, and business teams to keep projects moving forward. They actively participate in code reviews and share knowledge with existing team members. Experience working with non-technical stakeholders helps them explain complex concepts clearly.
18. Innovation Drive
Look for developers who push boundaries thoughtfully. Not through reckless innovation but by finding better ways to solve everyday problems. They follow Umbraco's evolution and contribute where they can. Some build tools for the community. Others share knowledge through blogs or events. The best candidates never stop learning and know when to stick with proven solutions.
7 Questions to Identify Top Umbraco Developers
When interviewing Umbraco developers, it's important to ask questions that first assess the candidates' technical skills and knowledge. Employers will also usually conduct a coding test to further assess specific on-the-job knowledge.
The following set of questions aims to uncover not only the developer's technical knowledge but also their problem-solving abilities, teamwork, communication skills, and adaptability—all crucial traits for success in a collaborative environment.
Here are a few examples of technical interview questions:
1. Explain how you'd structure content types for a large corporate website with multiple departments and content authors.
I start with a content audit to understand the organization's structure and content needs. For corporate sites, I typically create base document types for shared properties like SEO metadata and social sharing. Then, I use compositions for department-specific features. This approach keeps content consistent while giving departments flexibility. I also set up explicit permissions based on department roles.
2. How would you optimize a sluggish Umbraco site after accumulating thousands of media items?
First, I'd analyze the media structure and current usage patterns. Common fixes include:
- Setting up Azure Blob storage for media files
- Implementing image optimization on upload
- Creating a custom image cropper with predefined sizes
- Adding lazy loading for image galleries
- I'd then review the database indexes and add caching for frequently accessed media items.
3. When would you build a custom property editor instead of using Umbraco's built-in ones?
I build custom property editors when standard ones don't fit the content team's needs. For example, I recently built one for a publishing company that needed a specialized image cropping tool with specific aspect ratios and metadata fields. The built-in image cropper couldn't handle their workflow, so we created something that matched their exact process.
4. How do you make the Umbraco backend more user-friendly for content editors?
Content editors are my priority. I noticed editors struggling with a complex events section in a recent project. I simplified it by creating a custom dashboard that showed upcoming events needing review, added inline preview capabilities, and built a bulk editor for recurring events. The editors went from spending hours on updates to finishing in minutes.
5. Tell me about a time when you had to push back against a client's technical request in an Umbraco project. How did you handle it?
This question shows how the Umbraco developer balances client relationships with technical integrity. Strong candidates will describe how they educated clients about better alternatives while maintaining professional relationships. Listen for their ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders and their approach to finding compromises.
6. What's the most innovative solution you've implemented using Umbraco? What made you choose that approach?
This explores the developer's creative thinking and problem-solving process. Good answers show they can think beyond standard implementations while considering maintenance and scalability. Pay attention to how they weigh different options and justify their decisions.
7. Describe a time when you had to mentor a junior developer or content editor on an Umbraco project. What was your approach?
This question helps uncover leadership abilities and mentoring skills. Strong candidates will demonstrate patience, teaching ability, and understanding of different learning styles. Look for examples of documentation they created or systematic approaches to knowledge sharing.
FAQ
What makes Umbraco different from other CMS platforms?
Unlike WordPress or Drupal, Umbraco gives developers complete control while keeping things simple for content editors. It's particularly good for businesses that need custom features but want an easy-to-use admin panel. The platform is free to use, has no licensing fees for its core version, and doesn't force you to use specific themes or templates.
Why do we need a specialized Umbraco developer instead of a general web developer?
The right Umbraco developer brings specific knowledge that general web developers might lack. They understand how to structure content properly, create custom editing interfaces that make sense for your team, and build features that work smoothly with Umbraco's core. They can spot potential issues before they become problems and know how to create sites and mobile apps that are easy to maintain and update.
How can I tell if Umbraco is the right choice for my website?
Umbraco CMS works best for businesses that:
- Need custom features beyond basic content management
- Want their content team to update the site easily
- Plan to grow and adapt their website over time
- Use Microsoft technologies in their business
- Need to integrate their website with other systems
- Want complete control over their site's design and functionality
How can I facilitate collaboration between certified Umbraco developers and other team members, such as designers and content editors?
Establish clear communication protocols and encourage regular check-ins among team members. Use tools that make project management and documentation easier to make sure that everyone’s aligned on project goals and progress. Consider involving designers and content editors in the web development process from the start to provide input on user experience and content structure.
What metrics should I track to measure the success of my Umbraco project post-launch?
Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with your specific business needs. Consider metrics such as user engagement (e.g., time on page, bounce rates), conversion rates (e.g., leads generated, sales), and content management efficiency (e.g., time taken for content updates). Site performance metrics like load times and uptime should also be measured. Regularly reviewing these metrics will help you identify areas for improvement and make sure the entire project meets its intended objectives.
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