Ruby on Rails Developer Job Description: Guide, Sample Template & More

One of the most challenging tasks for a job recruiter is writing an accurate job description. HR reps are not only responsible for finding, recruiting, and onboarding new employees. Their duties include the communication of the company’s values and objectives in a way that attracts specialists to hop on board. Today we’re focusing on Ruby on Rails developers and how to attract them to your interviews.

To write a winning job description for Ruby on Rails developer job openings, you must know exactly what such programmers are looking for. In this article, you will learn all the necessary tips and tricks.

Finding a seasoned Ruby on Rails developer can be challenging for one key reason: this framework is not as popular as it used to be. Released in 2004, it became one of the top technologies. But in the world of IT, the scene evolves extremely quickly.

Many devs decided to pursue other possibilities and grow their skills using other languages and frameworks. Now, RoR has fewer current practitioners, even though it’s still updated and has a faithful community.

However, it’s definitely not dead yet and Rails developers are still sought after by companies that want to develop online stores, social networks, MVPs, fintech apps, and other types of robust digital products. According to Stack Overflow’s yearly report, RoR is among the top 20 most popular web frameworks. Basically, it’s still in demand, and we are not surprised that some enterprises might want to use the same technology as Stripe, Netflix, Etsy, Hulu, Airbnb, or Twitch.

Now the question is: how to create a job description for a Ruby on Rails developer that will become a magnet for the right candidates? We’ve got your back. This is the ultimate guide to writing attractive Rails JDs and the only article you will need to finish this task with success. When you’re done reading, you will:

• Have an example template for a Ruby on Rails developer job description that will help you to form your own, unique offer.
• Know every principle for preparing a JD that will make your company stand out from the competition.
• Become a master of tweaking job descriptions, so they include all the crucial information and catch the eye of the potential candidate.
• Know the answers to all the burning questions regarding writing JDs in general.

Interested? Read on!

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Sample Ruby on Rails Developer Job Description Template

Before we share all the secrets of writing compelling job descriptions, we want to give you a template that can be edited and adjusted to your recruitment needs. It’s perfect for all companies that are looking for a Ruby on Rails developer but don’t know where to start.

You can copy and paste this example Rails job description over into a separate document and then add, delete, and rewrite parts so that they match your requirements. Customization matters, so don’t just copy and paste!

Mid-Level Ruby on Rails Developer, Remote (With React)

Who are we?
Hi! We are ABC and our passion is software development. We build robust, high-quality web apps for our clients in the fintech, healthcare, and automotive industries. If you like to work in a diverse environment with creative, talented people, you should consider working with us. You will have a chance to participate in exciting projects and develop your skills and knowledge along the way.

ABC is looking for…
Skilled mid-level Ruby on Rails developer. This person will be expected to design, develop and deploy web applications using the RoR framework. They should also be able to maintain existing web apps and fix bugs. In addition to using Ruby, they may be required to work with JavaScript, HTML5, and CSS3.

To be successful in this role, you should have extensive knowledge of object-oriented programming and experience working with server-side logic and MVC frameworks. Ultimately, you will build a functional and stable web application that is tailored to our business needs.

Ruby on Rails Developer Responsibilities
• Designing and building advanced, scalable applications for the Ruby on Rails platform
• Integrating user-facing elements developed by front-end developers with server-side logic
• Writing clean, maintainable code and tests to ensure the product is of the highest quality
• Fixing bugs quickly and optimizing code
• Improving the functionality of existing systems
• Gathering and addressing technical and design requirements

Ruby on Rails Developer Requirements
• Proven software development experience in Ruby on Rails (3+ years)
• Experience working with other programming languages is a plus
• Hands-on experience with both SQL and NoSQL databases (PostgreSQL, MongoDB)
• Knowledge of front-end technologies (JavaScript, HTML5, CSS3) as well as developing APIs and RESTful services
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills

What do we offer?
• Competitive salary - $115-$135K (depending on experience)
• Medical, dental & vision insurance
• Unlimited paid vacation
• Remote work & flexible hours
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Paid parental leave
• Paid gym membership
• Training budget
• Access to a library of courses and ebooks

Are you the developer we're looking for?
To apply, use the form on our website: www.abc.com/rordeveloper. Provide your CV, any relevant certifications, and examples of your previous work as a Ruby on Rails developer. We can’t wait to talk with you!

The interview process is as easy as ABC!
• Send your application - we’ll get back to you in 48 hours — and if we like it, it’s an invitation to chat!
• We meet up for a 60-minute video call, where we test your knowledge and get to know you better.
• If everything clicks, you get an offer.

Good luck, and we look forward to getting your application!

Don’t feel obliged to use all of these sections. The example above is generic, but it can be tailored to suit your needs.

On to the details. Keep reading for more about writing JDs that will land you your ideal Ruby on Rails developer.

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Check out our entire set of tech job descriptions and choose the one which fits your hiring needs best:

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How to Write a Ruby on Rails Developer Job Description

Your Ruby on Rails developer job description is one of the most critical components of your hiring process. After all, it’s the first impression you give potential candidates.

It will tell candidates what to expect from the position, and it will help you attract and filter the best talent for your team. That’s why you should display the most crucial information at the top of your job offer.

Also, remember to be accurate — you need to use appropriate tech terms, so the candidates feel that the JD is professional and posted by a company that knows their business.

For example, a Ruby on Rails developer that sees a description like: “Ruby on Rails back-end developer” will assume that you are looking for someone like them, which might lead to them applying for a job. However, if they see a job description that says: “Ruby on Rails front-end developer”, they would skip it, as RoR is used for back-end, and not front-end. So making sense and using terms correctly is important.

Next: what elements should you work on to create an excellent job description?

1. Job title

A job title is often one of the first things a candidate sees when searching for a new job. Many people will ignore roles with titles that don’t match their skill set or interest — which means it’s important to get this right.

There are many ways to write a job title, but some are more effective than others. A good job title will include the role and level while being searchable and easy to understand.

Bad examples:

• Ruby on Rails Developer
• Ruby on Rails Engineer
• Ruby Developer
• Rails Developer

Good examples:

• Senior React + Ruby on Rails Developer - Remote - USA
• Associate, Disputes & Economics, Ruby on Rails Developer (Remote)
• Entry-Level Ruby on Rails Full Stack Developer

As you can see, these job titles are more detailed. When it comes to Ruby on Rails developer, the main things you can indicate are:

• Seniority level: junior, mid/intermediate, senior
• Location (remote, on-site, hybrid)
• Industry your company operates within (e.g., blockchain)
• Additional skills (for RoR developers, usually it’s additional knowledge of React)

Aim to provide your developer with enough information to be able to identify themselves at matching the job opening. And consider how the job title will compare to rival positions on the job board. Does yours make sense? Does it stand out?

2. About the company

Some companies want to include information about their organization in the job description — we totally understand that. It’s the perfect opportunity to showcase the internal culture, style of communication, and values of your business. If you have interesting facts about your enterprise (rewards, media coverage, funding), this is also the best place to talk about them. They can be interesting for candidates, as everyone wants to work in an exciting environment that allows them to grow.

Keep it short and sweet: between 50-200 words. While you want to tell the world what makes your company such a great place to work, too much information can be overwhelming and lose the attention of your future in-house Ruby on Rails developer.

Check out this solid sample job description for a Ruby on Rails developer (crypto and digital assets) at The TIE via LinkedIn:

Description

The TIE is the leading provider of information services for digital assets. Their core offering, the Crypto SigDev™ Terminal, is the fastest and most comprehensive workstation for institutional digital asset investors. SigDev brings together real-time news from thousands of primary sources (updates directly from cryptocurrency issuers and exchanges, SEC filings, regulatory rulings, etc.), with sentiment analytics, market, and on-chain data in a powerful and intuitive platform.

The TIE’s clients include the leading traditional and crypto-native hedge funds, OTC desks, market makers, trading venues, banks, sell-side firms, and other institutional market participants.

We’re backed by top-tier investors and retain the capital, customers, and team required to scale. We love crypto and we’re excited about our role in its global proliferation.

If there’s lots of information to share and not enough space in your JD to do so, add a link to a relevant subpage on your website (e.g. “About” or “Meet the team”). This way, you will give the applicant a chance to visit your website and learn even more about your company.

3. Role summary

A short paragraph about the main duties of your Ruby on Rails developer will help the candidate understand if they are qualified to apply. Even though they might know the framework, your company can still have some specific requirements they won’t be able to meet — or they simply don’t want to do.

This overview (called “Job summary”, “About the job”, etc.) should also be concise and include the most important tasks the future developer will have to take care of. Here’s a Ruby on Rails developer job description example from CubeSmart via LinkedIn:

Overview

CubeSmart is currently seeking a Ruby on Rails Developer to join the Information Technology team at our corporate office in Malvern, PA. The Ruby on Rails Developer will be responsible for the technical innovation and leadership of CubeSmart’s enterprise store operating platform. The Ruby on Rails Developer is expected to have a strong technical background with proven experience in building and delivering highly complex platforms. This individual is also expected to have experience with modern technologies, leveraging best practices in the areas of open source tech solutions, managing software development and agile methodologies. Working with the Manager of Software Engineering, this individual will be a part of a highly technical team of developers and engineers.

This role is expected to apply leading edge practices to solve business challenges and develop a culture of high performance, urgency, and productivity.

4. Duties and responsibilities

This section is dedicated to presenting the role and its most crucial tasks. Here, you should list the main, day-to-day duties your future Ruby on Rails developer will have to do. To make it easy to read, write these as a bullet point list. And underline the tools and processes that will be implemented within the position.

Another Ruby on Rails developer job description example might help you to understand the purpose of this part better. Here’s a fun and solid one from Aha! via Linkedin:

Your work at Aha!

We work on a broad range of features across the full stack. As Ruby on Rails Engineer, your work will include:

• Implementing new features for our users, touching each layer of the MVC as needed
• Building deeply interactive reporting interfaces using React
• Working proactively with product and UX to refine and iterate on specifications as the feature takes shape
• Investigating slow performance and optimizing queries to ensure Aha! is snappy and satisfying to use
• Interfacing directly with users to quickly squash bugs as part of our regular customer support rotation
• Documenting components in our style guide to help drive consistency

If the Ruby on Rails Engineer role sounds appealing, we would love to hear from you. (A real human reviews every application.)

5. Must-haves and nice-to-haves

Diving deeper into the details of a role can be a great way to get new candidates to apply. It gives them a chance to compare their skills and knowledge with your requirements and assess if they match the description. Use bulleted lists for better reception.

When it comes to must-haves, put as few requirements as possible in there. If your demands are too broad, you won’t be able to find any RoR specialists. Do you know people who know 10 programming languages, have +10 years of experience, and are familiar with all industries out there? Probably not. Be specific and mention only the necessities that are most important to get the job done.

Nice-to-haves, if you’re listing them, can be less strict. You can even add a fun accent at the end that will correspond with your company’s culture. For example, your Ruby on Rail developer could know other frameworks to support their work and be a BBQ enthusiast (as your team likes to organize integration events with grilled foods.)

Have a look at this sample Ruby on Rails job description from CyberCoders via LinkedIn:

What You Need for this Position

Required
• 3+ years of experience implementing and maintaining 100,000 lines of code web applications using Ruby on Rails
• MySQL
• ElasticSearch
• TDD Experience 
• B.S. in Computer Science preferred, MS Degree in Computer Science is a +
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• A passion for writing and developing high quality clean code

NICE TO HAVE
• 5+ years of professional Ruby on Rails Development experience
• M.S. in Computer Science
• Moden JavaScript (React or Node)
• 1+ year performing DevOps using AWS: EC2, RDS, Redis, ELB, SSL, S3
• Containerization (Ideally Dockers)
• Java knowledge

6. Education and certificates

While tech companies and startups are full of self-taught programmers, there are some skills you simply can’t learn on your own. If your organization requires specific education or skills for the role, here’s the place to talk about that.

There are no official certifications for a Ruby on Rails developer, which means most candidates will either have self-taught or have completed various online courses. Also, a Rails developer doesn’t need a degree to be successful at their job. What matters is the knowledge, abilities, and skills they can bring to the table.

You can require a degree in computer science or other related fields in your JD. However, we don’t recommend focusing on that section. Instead, refine the list of must-haves and the role summary.

7. Working time and location

Do you offer an on-site, fully remote, or hybrid work model? Are your employees allowed to pick their work hours, or is your schedule not flexible at all? In the modern world, it’s crucial to inform candidates about these conditions. Many developers won’t be eager to apply if they are aware that the job will require them to drive to the office every day. However, even if you offer a possibility to work 100% from home, you should be open about any particular requirements.

If a candidate needs to be within driving distance for important meetings and events, you need to say so in the job description. Usually, for Ruby on Rails developers, that’s not the case. Their main duties include coding, and that’s done better without too many distractions.

Remember to note if the remote candidate must overlap their work schedule with your on-site team’s. Also, explain any work authorization regulations in your particular country if they are required.

8. Salary and benefits

Compensation is the main factor for candidates when choosing a job. It is typically a combination of salary, benefits, and perks. Every job candidate should have an understanding of what they can expect when it comes to salary and additional benefits. You can put numerous things on the list — mention them all in your job description.

Examples:

• Annual salary range (for a full-time position or adjusted to the job offer)
• Paid time off policy
• Parental leave policy
• Sick leave policy
• Health coverage: medical, dental, vision, mental, etc.
• Referral bonuses
• Growth budget (personal and professional)
• Re-location budget
• Software and hardware
• 401(k) and other retirement programs
• Performance bonuses
• Equity and stock options
• Company integrations
• Gym membership
• Education budget

9. What else can you include in a job description?

We’ve discussed the most important parts of a JD above. However, there are many other elements you can include. It all depends on your company’s requirements, style of communication, and internal culture. Check out these other sections you can consider including:

Looking ahead — this section outlines the future candidate’s performance within 1 month, 3 months, and 6 months from their start date. It showcases company expectations and what progress they should make while working. Outlining this information can be pretty useful if you have a specific image of what your Ruby on Rails developer should do and/or learn at the beginning of your collaboration.

Ideal candidate profile — this can be used instead of the must-haves and nice-to-haves section. You describe the skills, knowledge, and duties of your perfect RoR developer in a paragraph. This way, applicants know what you want from them, and — before they send their resume — can decide if they are able to meet these needs.

Hiring process — looking for a job can be frustrating, especially if multiple companies don’t get back to the candidate. Having a transparent and quick recruitment process is an advantage. So describe it in your job description and let the developers know in advance what stages they will have to go through to get hired.

How to apply — if you post your job offer in multiple places, make it clear how exactly candidates should apply. For example, if you want to measure traffic and interest, tell them to go to your website and provide an adequate link. If someone still applies via a job board, they probably didn’t read the JD carefully.

Point of contact — add a bit of a human touch to your listing. It does not only make it more friendly, but you also give the candidates a chance to reach out if they have any questions.

Legal matters — each country has different policies, so remember to adjust this to your local law. Usually, you have to add a clause about data processing (GDPR). If you perform screening (e.g., drug tests), you also should inform the applicant why you do it and how it works.

Employment type — we assume you are looking for a full-time Ruby on Rails developer, but if not, be upfront about what type of employment you offer (contract, part-time, etc.)

Key dates — are you pragmatic and want to begin your recruitment process early on? Maybe your developer will be needed in a month or three? Don’t forget to put this in your job description, so candidates are aware of when they can start their new job.

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Tips for Writing an Excellent Job Description for Ruby on Rails Developers

Here are additional things you should take into consideration when writing ideal job descriptions.

1. Inclusive language

To avoid unintentional discrimination, make sure your job titles and descriptions aren’t biased. In the tech industry, there are several potentially harmful words and phrases in job postings. These phrases can deter many qualified applicants — because they will feel like the job offer is not crafted for them. Make sure to review your company’s job descriptions for potentially exclusionary language.

Gender-neutral language in your job description is the best choice. Don’t use specific pronouns (like he/his), but rather stick to they/them — or even better, “you” — as these don’t imply if the potential candidate should be a specific gender. Also, stay away from words and phrases that could be against any race, sexual orientation, religion, etc.

2. Speak directly and personally

Because your job description is so important for attracting the right candidate and providing a welcoming workplace, make sure you speak to the candidates personally. Second-person singular language (using “you”) is particularly powerful and accessible.

So instead of saying:

The candidate should have +3 years of experience as a Ruby on Rails developer…

Go for…

You are a perfect candidate if you have +3 years of experience as a Ruby on Rails developer…

3. Formatting a JD the right way

You should make sure your job description is easy to read and scan. If a candidate has to work hard to understand what your company can offer them, then they’re not going to bother applying. Respect potential applicants’ time:

• Bold the most important parts,
• Use italics for quotes (e.g., testimonials from your ex-partners or employees),
• Separate paragraphs from each other,
• Use lists, and
• Divide big chunks of text with H2 and H3 headers.

The goal here is to make your JD stand out, expose the most essential info, and avoid posting huge blocks of text. Believe us, no one will want to read that.

4. Application instructions

It’s crucial to include application instructions at the end of your job descriptions because it tells candidates what they should do next. Moreover, it helps to filter out candidates who didn’t bother to read your JD properly.

5. A CTA is the key!

Make sure to include a call to action at the end of your job description. This call to action could be something like “submit your application today”, “email your resume”, or “click here to apply.”

You should be clear about what you want the applicants to do next, whether it’s submitting an application form, a resume, or a cover letter.

Good luck in hiring your next Ruby on Rails developer!

You can also try Arc, your shortcut to the world’s best remote talent:

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⚡️ Vetted and ready to interview
⚡️ Freelance or full-time

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