What Is a Full-Stack Engineer? Job Description

Full-stack engineers are highly skilled in both front-end and back-end development, meaning they are in demand for their range of skills. Skills are important for this role and it’s essential that you are able to demonstrate that you have the relevant workplace and technical skills, as well as formal learning such as a degree or certifications. 

If you are technically inclined, a career as a full-stack engineer could be a fulfilling path for your future. Discover what the role of full-stack engineer entails,  the duties and responsibilities, salary expectations, and how to go about getting started in this exciting career. 

What is a full-stack engineer?

A full-stack engineer is a high-level software engineer who works to design, test, and implement various software applications. They create software, applications, and scalable web services, whilst also providing leadership for coding teams. Full-stack engineers usually possess prodigious skills and are involved in each stage of software development. This can include data structure completion, architecture design, code review, performance evaluation, internal tool management, and updates. The term “full-stack” refers to the engineer’s ability to work on both the front-end and back-end development of an application

What does a full-stack engineer do?

At the beginning of a project, full-stack engineers may meet with members of the software development team in order to lay out the scale and scope of the software project. After that, they will begin designing and building the software. Full-stack engineers write various high-level and low-level code. They troubleshoot errors, help design the user experience (UX), resolve bugs, and improve the overall efficiency of the software. Full-stack engineers need excellent collaboration skills because they work with front- and back-end development team members.

Full-stack engineer tools and skills

Full-stack engineers possess advanced coding skills. They are typically familiar with both front-end and back-end  programming languages such as:

• Python

• JavaScript

• C

• Node

• HTML/CSS

• SQL

• PHP 

Often, full-stack engineers obtain a degree in computer science or a related field. However, many employers may accept professional certifications or relevant work experience instead of a degree.

Work environment

A wide variety of companies hire full-stack developers. For example, software companies commonly hire them, as well as social media companies, cybersecurity companies, and others. Considering the fact that companies in a wide variety of niches have software applications, there are jobs available in many different industries. However, it is most common for full-stack developers to work in the tech industry.

Full-stack engineer salary and job outlook

Because they have the skills to work on front-end and back-end development, full stack engineers are in high demand. Smaller companies often prefer hiring a full-stack engineer rather than hiring someone for back-end development and another for front-end work. Because full-stack engineers are extremely skilled software developers, the pay for this position tends to be higher than average.

The average yearly base pay for a full-stack developer is £53,305 [1]. The exact salary that you can earn will depend on your experience, your skills, and the company that you are working for.

How to become a full-stack engineer

The first step toward a career in full-stack engineering is typically a degree  in computer science or a related field which serves as a way to gain the skills you need to handle the responsibilities of a full-stack engineer.

However, this is not the only route. you can also gain practical experience, establish your coding skills, and gain professional qualifications through Professional Certificates in full-stack engineering, attending a bootcamp or taking an apprenticeship. For example, you can earn a certificate in Full Stack Software Development with IBM's online course:

Build a portfolio.

Another way to demonstrate your abilities is to build a portfolio. A portfolio is a collection of work that highlights your expertise. Full-stack engineers can use open-source or free development tools to independently create projects, applications, and websites. A few examples of open-source development tools include GitHub and React. With a portfolio, you have a tangible demonstration of your skills along with your CV.

Take the next step with Coursera

A career as a full-stack engineer comes with excellent job opportunities and higher than average salaries, if you excel at coding and have the appropriate technical skills. With various routes to this career, you can study for a degree, or build your experience and focus on technical certifications. 

Start building your portfolio and gain the skills you need to become a full-stack engineer with an industry leader like Meta, who offers a Full Stack course on Coursera.