Software development team structure: key roles and responsibilities

Open your LinkedIn feed, and you’ll see an abundance of managers, specialists, and developers. It can be challenging to discern who does what with so many roles floating around.

This article will guide you through a typical team structure in a software development company.

Whether you are looking to restructure your current team or expand it with additional roles, we’ll teach you the difference between different types of positions within a software development team.

Product manager

A product manager is the center of a software development team. They ensure the product has well-performing features that bring profit and communicate the development plan to the team.

Their job is to bring the product to life by coordinating the visual elements with the technology, all while taking care that the product is financially viable. In other words, a product manager stands at the intersection of design, tech, and business.

For instance, a client that ordered a barcode scanner app for their store may suggest adding 3D object scanning as a feature.

However, such a feature would only rack up costs and wouldn’t contribute to the product’s functionality, so it’s the product manager’s responsibility to identify the features the product needs for the best performance.

Depending on the product, this role is greatly adaptable—you won’t see two product managers with the same schedule, not even within the same company.

Note that, as opposed to project managers, each product manager only oversees one product at a time.

Business analyst

As the product manager’s right-hand person, a business analyst plays a crucial role in the software development team.

Business analysts use their advanced business knowledge to determine how the product or its elements will perform on the market.

Let’s kick this section off with a common example.

A client asks you whether they should charge $10 for the app or make it free with optional in-app purchases.

Getting that answer wrong could ruin the product’s chances of success, which is why you need to make that decision based on data and facts. Here’s where your business analyst enters the picture.

The analyst then gathers the relevant data, studies it, compares it, and finally presents it in a way understandable to the product manager.

Still, the analyst’s opinion is highly valuable, and product managers often rely on it in the decision-making process.

The in-app purchase dilemma is just one example of the issues that require the expertise of a business analyst. Their other activities include:

• Creating a business analysis
• Outlining problems and solutions
• Budgeting
• Forecasting
• Reporting to stakeholders

Still, their job isn’t done when the product is launched. During the maintenance stage, business analysts also process the feedback from the client and end-users.

Project manager

While the primary task of project managers is overseeing how all ongoing projects are coming along, they are also the link that connects developments with the management.

When clients have any grievances, the information is passed down to developers through the project manager.

Developers are focused on individual tasks from their to-do lists, so it makes sense to direct questions to the role that has the bigger picture in mind.

Similarly, when developers have suggestions, they approach the project manager, who considers the input and takes it up with the management if appropriate.

Considering that as much as 39% of job satisfaction stems from interpersonal relationships—86% of which is related to management—it’s important that developers communicate openly with the project manager.

After all, the project managers facilitate communication with senior management.

One is a crucial feature of a shopping app, while the other is a nice-to-have function that can wait.

Software development is an expensive feat, and clients want to know their money is used well.

It’s again the project manager’s task to track hours and the budget so that the project is completed with the allocated resources, as well as to ask for approval for additional funds.

Here’s how one of the project managers at Willowtree, a mobile app development agency, breaks down her workday.

Software team lead

A software team lead has the most extensive technical knowledge, yet their primary function isn’t to code; they help other developers on the team when they are stuck, and make sure they create the highest quality code.

This role shares some similarities with that of a project manager, such as monitoring the progress and developing a timeline. However, the position of a software team lead usually requires vast technical expertise.

The responsibilities of a team lead vary from company to company, and here is how Miles Tjandrawidjaja of ApplyBoard, a Canadian educational company, spends a typical day as a software team lead.

He first syncs up with the development team: all members give updates on their progress. If any obstacles arise, Tjandrawidjaja helps the team find a path forward.

Next, he communicates with the product management team to ensure a clear plan of tasks is ahead. After all communicative activities are done, he dedicates some time to reviewing the code of other developers.

His software development team has a weekly tradition that helps them learn more and wrap up the week at the same time:

UI/UX designer

User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) are two roles that are often bundled together, despite the differences in their scope.

Try to think about the most beautifully designed ketchup bottle you’ve ever seen. Is the tomato illustration full of intricate details, or does the label have a crisp, modern design?

Either way, a UI designer created the elements you see on the bottle.

However, a UX designer thought of turning the bottle upside down to make it more efficient.

Of course, the terms UI/UX designers are used for digital products only, but hopefully, this analogy made their roles clearer.

In other words, a UI designer creates visual elements of a product, while UX designers are tasked with ensuring that the users have a smooth experience using it.

UI/UX encompasses much more than churning out pleasant visual elements. After UI and UX designers research and plan the user’s journey through the product, they pick out the best ideas and create prototypes.

The next step in the process is testing, where QA specialists, or testers after launch, show whether the ideas were successful. After testing, the cycle begins again.

Software developer

An indispensable element of any software development company, software developers turn all product managers’ and designers’ ideas into reality.

A software developer is rarely a Jack of all trades; they usually specialize in one programming language or technology and hone it over the years.

Yet, software developers aren’t only categorized by their experience or used languages. They are also grouped by their specialization:

• Front-end developers
• Back-end developers
• Full-stack developers
• Mobile developers

Front-end developers are the ones who implement all elements that the user sees. They make sure the product is functional from the user’s perspective.

On the other hand, back-end developers build the technology that drives what the user sees.

Full-stack developers are proficient in both. However, note that when somebody is a full-stack developer, this almost always means they are a web developer. Mobile developers, on the other hand, write code for apps running on mobile devices, such as smartphones or tablets.

QA specialist

Quality assurance (QA) specialists find, report, and document product bugs. The unsung heroes of every successful software, they pore over the product until each bug is identified.

In theory, the final step before releasing a product is testing, the process that ensures that it is polished and ready for the market. However, QA specialists get busy way before the final phase.

As soon as developers push the first version, QA specialists start the hunt for bugs.

Writing down found a bug in the user registration screen hardly helps developers fix the problem, which is why a QA specialist has to create thorough notes on how and where exactly they found the bug.

They have to keep note of what operating system was used, which build version, steps they took to get to the problematic element, and provide any additional context that could help the developers pinpoint the source of the issue.

So, there’s much more to bug squashing than it may seem.

To make their jobs easier, QA specialists often use automated bug tests or bug and crash reporting tools.

One of such tools is our own product Shake, a solution designed for app developers, app agencies, and QA teams.

Shake reduces time spent reporting and documenting bugs from hours to seconds. It notes all the parameters that a specialist would otherwise have to enter manually.

Conclusion 

It takes a village to build a software product. To make a successful one, your team needs strong leaders and dedicated workers.

Hopefully, this article has shined some light on typical roles included in a software development team. 

None of these roles work individually, so it’s essential to promote a communicative culture within the company. From seniors to juniors, everybody should know what and why they are doing and how they are contributing to the final product.

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Article source: https://article-realm.com/article/Computers/Software/52945-Software-development-team-structure-key-roles-and-responsibilities.html