Gigantic corporations, medium-sized enterprises, and entry-level startups often hire overseas software engineers. This is because of their unique talent, skills, and, most notably, the lower labor cost. There has been a significant increase in the demand for offshore engineers in the global market over the past few years. This is one of the most lucrative career options today. Choosing this as a career option means developing an understanding of modern programming languages, mathematic calculations, and collaborative skills.
If you want to know more about the roles and responsibilities of offshore software engineers, then read this post. This comprehensive guide discusses the roles and responsibilities of offshore software engineers in detail. So, without any delay, let’s get started…
Who is an Offshore Software Engineer?
An Offshore Software Engineer is a professional who works remotely for a company. They provide software development services to companies, individuals, and third-party vendors. They are based in different countries and are often part of outsourced teams. Offshore software engineers offer specialized software skills to companies directly or to third-party vendors located in faraway countries.
Typically, foreign companies hire them because they provide them with their specialized services at a lower labor cost than domestic employees. Offshore engineers handle projects from the ground. Also, they assist with deadlines, team members, and tech peculiarities of the project, just like in-house employees do.
Usually, foreign companies hire them to create custom websites, mobile applications, or more. An offshore engineer must possess strong technical skills, good communication abilities, and an understanding of cultural differences to work effectively with clients from different regions.
Let’s now take a look at their roles and responsibilities…
Offshore Software Engineer Roles and Responsibilities
Employers often expect offshore software engineers to go the extra mile and integrate with the client’s processes. The experienced engineers, in turn, remotely provide excellent project accomplishment. Go over their roles and responsibilities in detail here:
1. Align with Company Goals
An offshore software engineer must be able to employ his specialized skills and services according to the company’s well-defined objectives. This increases productivity and reduces the project’s risk.
As a result of this, the company’s earnings increase, and the offshore engineer gets more opportunities to work on the next projects.
2. Use Technical Skills
Next, the offshore software engineer should possess strong technical skills to accomplish the project within determined deadlines.
As an offshore engineer, you will be expected to do the coding, debugging, testing, and maintenance with the utmost precision and excellence. Aside from that, you will need to use your expertise in chosen programming languages.
3. Understand the Agile Development Methodology
An offshore engineer must understand the agile development methodology of the third-party software vendor. It involves a set of techniques that are vital to apply to the parts of the software to bring about major improvements throughout the process.
Essentially, it focuses on the clean delivery of individual pieces of the software, not on the entire application. Hence, as an offshore engineer, you should have an understanding of agile development methodology as it is a vital aspect of software development services.
4. Testing and Debugging the Code
As a software developer, you must ensure software integrity and functionality. Therefore, as an offshore engineer you should be able to perform code testing and debugging. You should know how to use the best debuggers to identify and fix the code’s errors. Plus, you should also be able to create and execute test cases (i.e. functional tests, unit tests, and integration tests) to ensure software functions in the same manner as it intends to.
5. Write well–documented Code
The third-party company that hires offshore software engineers has many expectations from them. One of the significant expectations is to have precise and well-documented codes with clear comments. As an offshore engineer, you should be careful when naming codes, as unclear codes can mess up the whole thing.
6. Customized Software or Applications Development
Another significant role that an offshore software engineer has is the ability to develop customized software or applications. First off, you should be able to understand your clients’ customers, their unique needs, and preferences.
Once you have understood the end-user and your client’s goals, you can kickstart things with software designing, modeling, and developing.
7. Analyze Source Codes and Features
Another significant role and responsibility of an offshore engineer is analyzing the developed software source codes and features.
Only after assessing each Code can they identify errors or shortcomings and plan how to improve the software for the best results. They must also take charge of running a risk and reliability analysis along with object-oriented analysis to analyze the software’s efficiency.
8. Update and Improve Software
An offshore software engineer should understand the responsibility of developing software. They should ensure that the software they develop complies with industry standards to ensure its integrity. They should perform performance surveillance tests and make essential improvements and updates to make applications function seamlessly and smoothly.
The main purpose of hiring offshore software engineers is to bring innovation and uniqueness to the system. They come from different cultural backgrounds and regions. Hence, the company expects offshore engineers to introduce innovative solutions and uniqueness during the software development cycle or update.
10. Ensure Data Security
Data security is the topmost priority of an IT outsourcing company, and each offshore software engineer MUST be aware of it. In order to prevent the risk of cybercrime, they should implement stringent safety protocols to protect sensitive information.
The data should be secured with end-to-end encrypted protocols like HTTPS, SSH, and SFTP. Furthermore, they should secure access points and monitor them securely to offer enhanced data protection.
11. Set Up Clear Communication
An offshore software engineer should follow the offshore IT provider’s communication channels (e.g. video conferencing, project management tools, and email). They should ensure a clear and consistent flow of information throughout the system.
This mitigates the issues of misunderstandings and project failure risk to a great extent. In addition, well-structured communication is a must for the success of the project as it fosters engineers’ communication with in-house employees.
12. Highly Scalable
Moving forward in the list, the next responsibility of an offshore software engineer is to ensure scalability in their work. It’s important for the offshore engineer to be flexible and adapt their remote work methods to meet the changing needs of the company. Due to this, the company experiences a high level of efficiency and fluidity in its business operations.
It’s now time to learn about different types of offshore software engineer profiles. Take a look…
Different types of Offshore Software Engineer
Recruiting offshore software engineers is an easy procedure. However, they can be divided into two broad categories in following ways:
1. Farshoring Engineers
Farshoring engineers are typically hired by companies located offshore, often from a different continent. These engineers offer remote services in completely different regions. Even their time zones and geographical boundaries differ from that of their clients.
However, they work beyond their cultural differences and language barriers. The best example of this kind of offshore software development services is any US-based company hiring software developer from India.
Such recruitment is often beneficial for international companies located in the US, UK, and other parts of the world. More often than not, these companies prefer candidates from Asian continents.
The most significant reason behind this is the lower labor cost in Asian continents compared to the US or European continents. In order to hire a talented candidate, it is essential to confirm their acquired skills and specifications for successful project accomplishments.
Generally, they work at their flexible working hours and collaborate with the team through the company’s advanced communication channels. Moreover, they take care of the safety and security of the database from their place.
2. Nearshoring Engineers
Nearshoring engineers are those engineers that a company hires from nearby countries. They are often from neighboring countries. Countries that share a border with the recruiting company. Nearshoring is usually done as it makes the hiring process simple. Moreover, there is a slight difference in time zones.
In addition, companies hire nearshoring engineers because they believe that offshore engineers from neighboring countries understand their language, culture, etc., pretty well. Moreover, nearshoring engineers also eliminate the problem of different time zones completely. This makes managing projects and having communication a breeze for both parties.
However, they may not be suitable for every company and every country. Their recruitment has a limited impact on reducing labor costs. As a result, companies do not see any added value in hiring more employees to boost their revenue.
Qualifications
The demand for outsourcing software engineers has escalated in this ever-evolving business landscape. Often, employers require applicants who have basic to advanced software knowledge and experience, necessary to develop complex software systems or applications. Take a look at the following eligibility criteria for overseas engineering jobs:
The candidate should possess a bachelor’s degree in computer science, software engineering, or any related domain. Having a master’s degree can give you a competitive advantage in this role
The job applicant should have a good understanding of at least one of the programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, C++
The engineer should be able to deal with project management, time management, organization needs, collaboration, written and verbal communication, and problem-solving tasks
Building a diverse portfolio increases your chances of recruitment in foreign companies. Showcase your past experience or past projects to demonstrate your more than average-level skills
For an entry-level offshore software engineer job, you should have an understanding of the basics, such as algorithms, system design, data structures, and database management.
Skills
The skills that an offshore software engineer should possess are as follows:
Specialized knowledge or experience working with version repositories and source code
Ability to debug, test, and analyze complex codes
Ability to write clear codes with well-documented information
Knowledge of UI toolkits and frameworks
Familiarity with Linux, Perl, Shell, Ruby, Python, Microsoft ASP.NET MVC, Web API, PHP, and more
Ability to design and model software or applications
Good understanding of written and verbal communication
Time management according to the company’s country time zone
Project management and team collaboration
Understanding of business goals
Good communication skills
Good in innovative problem-solving approaches.
Salary
This is one of the most important parts of any job. If you want offer offshore software development services, then having idea of the remuneration is crucial. Offshore software engineer salaries vary based on their educational qualification, knowledge, skills, experience, past projects, geographical location, and cultural differences. On average, the salary of an offshore engineer ranges between $30-$250 per hour.
One crucial factor to consider is the high demand for offshore engineers and the limited supply. As a result, they often receive higher salaries in foreign IT companies compared to domestic ones. In addition, companies often choose to hire employees from different continents, including Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Eastern Europe, due to the lower labor costs.
Working hours
Since offshore software engineers provide development services globally, their working hours are often flexible. Overall, they work between 40 and 44 hours a week. However, at times, they may need to work when their clients’ or their clients’ onshore staff is available. This helps them to collaborate and be on the same page. In addition, they are able to complete projects within the company’s tight deadlines.
The Bottom Line
So, here we end our post with the hope that this article has been informative for you and helped you understand the roles and responsibilities of offshore software engineers. Undoubtedly, offshore engineers play a crucial role in this digital era. However, the matter of fact is that overseas software engineers are omnipresent these days. Hence, it is crucial for a company to be very careful when choosing a candidate for their software development.
Before hiring efficient remote engineers, companies should evaluate their experience, expertise, knowledge, cultural values, work habits, and communication skills to eliminate potential differences and accelerate work productivity. On the other hand, if you are a candidate aspiring to work as an offshore software engineer, then it is crucial to equip yourself with everything that is needed to STAND OUT in this field.
