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The Truth About NFT Developer Jobs in 2023

Are you looking for NFT developer jobs to apply for?

Maybe you’ve grown tired of your current engineering job and have seen some of the crazy salaries that many NFT coding jobs are paying.

A lot of web developers are unsure whether they should take the plunge at jump into something as new as Blockchain development, simply because many of the concepts behind Web3 are so different.

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about the role and responsibilities, as well as the average salary of typical NFT developer jobs.

Let’s get right to it!

Key Points (tl;dr)

For a detailed overview of popular NFT developer jobs and their requirements, PLEASE READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

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What does an NFT Developer do?

NFT Developers are usually all-rounders in web development who have acquired specialized skills in the area of smart contract engineering. They support NFT projects with the Blockchain infrastructure required to fulfill their vision.

Infographic explaining what an NFT developer does.
Infographic explaining what an NFT developer does.

The term “NFT Developer” is actually a relatively new addition to most of our vocabularies.

Just until last year, we probably would have simply spoken about Blockchain developers or smart contract engineers.

But with the recent explosion of the NFT industry, things have changed quite a bit.

NFTs are set to become one of the fastest-growing industries by a wide margin and therefore many businesses are specifically looking for talent with experience in NFTs.

But what exactly does an NFT developer do?

Well, for the most part, an NFT engineer deals with a lot of the same programming languages and infrastructure that other Blockchain developers do.

The primary difference is in the type of products and services they are building.

So while someone who is working on a DeFi platform is primarily concerned with currency-like tokens, NFT developer jobs revolve around non-fungible tokens that are commonly represented by an image.

Or in other words: NFT developers deal with the tokenization of objects, both digital and physical.

Under the hood, a lot of the work required by NFT coding jobs is similar to that of other Blockchain projects.

However, NFTs are considerably closer to the average end consumer and therefore an NFT developer will most likely need to empathize with the user a lot more.

Typical Requirements & Responsibilities of NFT Developer Jobs

Applicants for NFT developer jobs must have extensive knowledge of how Blockchains and smart contracts work. They also must be familiar with popular token standards. NFT developers commonly handle a wide array of responsibilities within projects.

Infographic explaining what the typical requirements and responsibilities of NFT developer jobs are.
Infographic explaining what the typical requirements and responsibilities of NFT developer jobs are.

If you’re thinking of getting into the Web3 space or already have Blockchain experience but want to move into NFTs, there are a few things you’ll need to know.

As specialized as smart contract development may be, NFT developer jobs will most likely require candidates with a broad understanding of web development and Blockchains.

It is not uncommon for startups and other types of NFT projects to hire generalists rather than specialists, simply because they need to get a lot of work done with a lean team.

In other words, if you are a full-stack developer with a decent amount of DevOps experience and also have extensive smart contract expertise, then you should be good to go.

That being said, given how much money is at stake with many NFT projects, there is a case to be made for hiring a highly specialized expert for smart contract development.

Common Requirements & Skills:

Common Responsibilities:

  • Design, development, and deployment of NFT-related smart contracts (usually with Solidity on EVM chains)
  • Testing and security auditing
  • On-chain data analysis and processing
  • Developing Blockchain applications, including backend services and databases interacting with the Blockchain
  • Ensuring security, scalability, and stability of the system infrastructure

What is the Average Salary of NFT Developer Jobs?

NFT developer salaries are amongst the highest in the industry due to a significant imbalance in supply and demand. Smart contract developers earn $120,000 on average but some positions even pay as much as $400,000 per year.

Infographic showing the average salaries for NFT developer jobs in Web3, by skill, location, and seniority.
Infographic showing the average salaries for NFT developer jobs in Web3, by skill, location, and seniority.

One of the main reasons why so many talented developers are flocking to Blockchain is because the compensation is so attractive.

The developed world is already facing a major shortage of skilled professionals and it’s even worse in industries that are at the cutting edge of technology.

Since a lot of these new business models stand to make unbelievable amounts of money if they manage to establish themselves as market leaders, they are willing to pay a lot of money for top talent.

That’s why the most seasoned smart contract developers are currently making fortunes in a market that is short in supply.

If you’re a smart contract engineer, then you’re in luck because the current salary range is between $80,000 and $400,000 per year.

$400,000 is obviously just the upper end and the average is closer to $120,000 but that’s still quite a bit.

Work experience and seniority play a big role in the Web3 space because the stakes a considerably higher than elsewhere.

That’s why Lead NFT Developer jobs obviously pay considerably better than a junior position.

And in terms of location, North America is still the hottest market in the world, closely followed by remote jobs.

Just bear in mind that many “remote” jobs actually require you to be based in the United States and are considered remote simply because you can work from anywhere within the country.

Are NFT Jobs for Developers Remote OK?

As a general rule, the crypto and NFT industries are among the most flexible working environments in the world. The vast majority of Web3 jobs are available for remote work, although that does not necessarily mean they are available worldwide.

Generally, the NFT industry, and the crypto space as a whole, are used to working remotely.

The crypto ethos is all about decentralization so why should the work environment be any different?

As our daily lives move more and more towards the digital world, where we work is becoming less and less relevant.

The pandemic made this fact abundantly clear to the world and we don’t think this will change.

For the most part, NFT coding jobs are all “Remote OK” (a common term to indicate that you may work remotely).

However, if you are applying for an NFT developer job in a large corporation, there may be limitations to this rule, so be on the lookout for that.

6 Job Descriptions of NFT Coding Jobs

Infographic showing a page overview of the Job Descriptions collection for NFT developer jobs.
Infographic showing a page overview of the Job Descriptions collection for NFT developer jobs.

If you’re a startup founder or work in human resources and are trying to hire talented engineers, you’re going to need to attract them with a good job description.

We’ve listed some of the typical roles and responsibilities of NFT and smart contract developers earlier in this article.

However, we totally understand that sometimes concrete examples of real-life job descriptions are a lot more helpful.

We put together a collection of NFT developer job descriptions into a little PDF report that you can download for FREE.

  • NFT Smart Contract Developer
  • Blockchain Engineer
  • Senior Smart Contract Developer
  • Solidity Developer
  • Senior Developer

Where Can I Find NFT Engineer Jobs?

Niche job boards such as “Natives” are an important part of every cost-effective hiring strategy. Recruiters will have to increasingly focus on sourcing talent from these specialized communities in order to reduce their talent acquisition costs.

Screenshot of the "Natives" Web3 and NFT job platform.
Screenshot of the “Natives” Web3 and NFT job platform.

The Web3 space is still very young and many of the most sought-after skills are incredibly hard to find.

The larger a company becomes, the more likely they are to focus its hiring efforts on major job platforms such as Indeed, TopTal, or even LinkedIn.

Unfortunately, this is not a very cost-effective strategy because you end up advertising your job positions to a lot of irrelevant candidates.

You’re leaving A LOT of money on the table.

Although they may have a much smaller reach than the big incumbents, their audiences tend to be laser-focused.

Your success rates will be higher and so will your ROI.

Conclusion

Web3 is the next once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for many talented developers and engineers throughout the world.

Those who are quick to jump into the action and expand their skill set will thrive with the growth of the entire industry.

NFTs currently look like they may become a great enabler for Blockchains and therefore we strongly advise you to consider starting a career in Web3.

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