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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Sales Force Developer

💰 $100,000 ‑ $130,000 / year

TechnologyCRM DevelopmentSalesforce

🎯 Role Definition

The Sales Force Developer (commonly referred to as Salesforce Developer) is a technical specialist responsible for designing, building, customizing, integrating and maintaining applications on the Salesforce platform. This role works closely with business stakeholders, administrators, architects and other IT teams to translate functional requirements into scalable, secure, high‑performance solutions using Apex, Visualforce, Lightning Web Components (LWC), integrations, data migrations and configurations. The Developer also ensures system quality through testing, deployment, version control and ongoing support—helping maximise the value of the Salesforce investment for the organisation.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Salesforce Administrator transitioning into development
  • Junior CRM or Application Developer working with Salesforce
  • Integration Developer with Salesforce modules

Advancement To:

  • Senior Salesforce Developer / Technical Lead
  • Salesforce Solution Architect or Principal Developer
  • Director of CRM / Head of Salesforce Practice

Lateral Moves:

  • Integration Architect (Salesforce & external systems)
  • Business Systems Analyst specializing in Salesforce
  • DevOps/Release Engineer for Salesforce delivery pipelines

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  1. Develop and customise Salesforce applications using Apex classes, triggers, Visualforce pages and Lightning Web Components (LWC) to meet business requirements.
  2. Gather, analyse and translate business and technical requirements into Salesforce architecture, design specifications and system enhancements.
  3. Design and configure Salesforce data model objects, fields, relationships, sharing rules, profile/permission sets and security access consistent with best practices.
  4. Integrate Salesforce with external systems via REST, SOAP, Bulk APIs, Platform Events, middleware and ETL tools to ensure seamless data flow across systems.
  5. Create and maintain automated tests, test classes, triggers and deploy via continuous integration pipelines, ensuring code meets release readiness criteria and maintains platform integrity.
  6. Perform data migrations from legacy systems into Salesforce using Data Loader, Import Wizard, custom ETL or other integration patterns and validate data integrity.
  7. Develop queues, batch Apex, schedulable classes and bulk processing patterns to support large volume data operations and maintain governor‑limit compliance.
  8. Assist in deployment, release management and sandbox refresh workflows, including version control (Git, Jenkins, ANT) and environment coordination.
  9. Collaborate with Salesforce administrators, business stakeholders, product owners and QA teams in agile ceremonies to plan deliverables, review progress and refine backlog items.
  10. Troubleshoot, debug and resolve production issues: performance bottlenecks, governor‑limit exceptions, integration failures and user support escalations.
  11. Ensure system scalability, performance optimisation, efficient query design (SOQL/SOSL), index usage and resource management on the Salesforce platform.
  12. Maintain documentation of design decisions, code changes, release notes, user guides, training materials and support hand‑over artifacts.
  13. Stay current with Salesforce releases, new features, Lightning updates, AppExchange tools and industry best practices, recommending adoption within the team.
  14. Lead code reviews, enforce development standards, mentor junior Salesforce developers and help maintain a productive and high‑quality development culture.
  15. Design and implement UI/UX enhancements using Lightning Experience, custom components and styling (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) to improve user adoption and system usability.
  16. Manage Salesforce security architecture including sharing rules, role hierarchies, permission sets, OWD (organisation‑wide defaults), OAuth and SSO integration.
  17. Support dashboards, reports, analytics, custom objects and fields development that align to business KPIs and user requirements.
  18. Evaluate and design solutions to reduce technical debt: refactor triggers, optimise code, consolidate custom objects, streamline workflows and enhance maintainability.
  19. Assist in architecture discussions, help define best practices for data model, integration patterns and platform governance to align with enterprise strategy.
  20. Provide user training, knowledge transfer sessions and support cross‑functional user adoption initiatives to drive system usage.
  21. Assist in change management, configuration governance, sandbox environment planning, rollback strategies and managing system SOX or regulatory compliance if required.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad‑hoc data extraction, analytical queries or special projects leveraging the Salesforce APIs or data model.
  • Contribute to the organisation’s CRM strategy and roadmap: propose system improvements, third‑party tools and AppExchange components.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate non‑functional requirements (security, scalability, reliability) into engineering deliverables.
  • Participate actively in sprint planning, demos, back‑log grooming and agile delivery of Salesforce enhancements.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert proficiency in Salesforce Apex, Triggers, Visualforce, Lightning Web Components (LWC) and Aura components.
  • Strong knowledge of SOQL (Salesforce Object Query Language), SOSL (Salesforce Object Search Language) and database design within Salesforce.
  • Experience integrating Salesforce with external systems using REST, SOAP, Bulk APIs, Platform Events and Middleware (e.g., Mulesoft).
  • Skilled in using Salesforce DX, Git, version control systems, CI/CD tools (Jenkins, ANT, GitLab) and sandbox management.
  • Proficiency in front‑end technologies (JavaScript, HTML, CSS) and Salesforce Lightning UX development.
  • Data migration, data loader, ETL experience and ability to manage large data volumes and system performance.
  • Knowledge of Salesforce security model, sharing rules, profiles, permission sets, SSO and governance.
  • Ability to perform code reviews, unit tests, bulk tests and automations and ensure high coverage of test classes in Salesforce.
  • Understanding of system performance optimisation on Salesforce: governor limits, queues, batch Apex, asynchronous processing.
  • Excellent documentation, stakeholder management, requirement‑analysis and end‑user training skills specific to the Salesforce ecosystem.

Soft Skills

  • Strong analytical and problem‑solving mindset, able to understand business processes and translate them into technical solutions.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills: able to interact with business users, product owners, technical teams and deliver training.
  • Team‑oriented and mentoring mindset: able to guide junior developers, share knowledge and promote best‑practice Salesforce development.
  • Business acumen and user‑focus: able to connect Salesforce solutions to business goals, user experience and process optimisation.
  • Adaptability and continuous learning: capable of staying current with Salesforce updates, new features and ecosystem changes.
  • Time‑management and prioritisation skills: handling multiple features, bug‑fixes, integrations and releases in agile sprints.
  • Ownership and accountability: takes responsibility for end‑to‑end Salesforce delivery from concept through production support.
  • Attention to detail and quality‑orientation: ensures solutions are robust, maintainable and aligned with enterprise standards.
  • Decision‑making under pressure: able to respond to production incidents, releases and complex Salesforce challenges.
  • Stakeholder management: collaborating with administrators, business analysts, QA, product teams and other developers to ensure alignment and delivery.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s degree or professional certification in Salesforce (Platform Developer I/II, Technical Architect) or related fields.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Software Engineering
  • Information Systems
  • Cloud/CRM Technology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2‑4 years of Salesforce development experience including Apex, LWC, integrations and configuration.

Preferred:

  • 4+ years of experience in enterprise Salesforce development with demonstrated expertise in custom applications, integrations, complex data volume handling and mentoring others.
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