Based on my continuous experience recruiting highly skilled .NET engineers in a software development company, Belitsoft, I explain the current requirements and expectations facing specialists in this technology today.
.NET Developer (Generalist)
This is the most common form of the .NET role - typically backend-heavy, sometimes extending into full-stack. It centers on building and maintaining application logic, APIs, and data access layers using C# and the broader .NET platform.
Some developers focus entirely on the backend - writing services, working with relational databases, and integrating with external systems. Others are expected to touch the UI, especially in smaller teams, handling Razor views or light JavaScript when needed. Either way, the work is anchored in .NET fundamentals: application structure, business logic, database access, and testability.
ASP.NET Core Web Developer
This role centers on web application development using ASP.NET Core. The focus is either backend - building APIs, services, and microservices - or full-stack, combining server-side logic with Razor Pages, MVC, or a modern frontend framework.
The backend core stays the same: C#, ASP.NET Core, RESTful API design, Entity Framework Core, SQL. Strong understanding of the MVC pattern and layered architecture is expected. Developers working full-stack are also responsible for the view layer - either with Blazor, or with client-side frameworks like Angular, React, or Vue - depending on the stack.
Full-stack ASP.NET roles often expect state management, routing, and integration with APIs in whatever JS framework is in place. Senior roles go further - designing service architecture, balancing load, applying caching strategies, and defining deployment pipelines. Domain-specific projects (like e-commerce or finance) often introduce integration points - payment gateways, audit trails, multi-tenant authentication, etc.
.NET Cloud Developer (Azure Focus)
This role is built around designing and running .NET applications in the Azure ecosystem - either starting cloud-native or lifting existing systems into the cloud with the expectation they'll evolve once there. It's a backend-heavy role, usually tied to distributed architecture, cost management, and deployment reliability.
The day-to-day covers a wide range: writing C# services, configuring Azure resources, managing environments through IaC, setting up pipelines, and responding to performance or availability issues. It's equal parts application logic and cloud fluency. Developers in this space are expected to know how Azure behaves - not just how to deploy to it.
Some developers specialize further - in Azure IoT, in integrating with Azure ML pipelines, or in cloud data infrastructure using Synapse, Data Factory, and storage tiers. Others stay closer to the API layer - writing function-based logic and wiring up message-based systems.
.NET Desktop Developer (WPF / WinForms)
This role is focused on building Windows desktop applications - either maintaining legacy systems built with WinForms or developing newer solutions in WPF. It's a niche, but still common in industries where desktop apps remain core to internal tooling, system control, or regulated environments.
WPF roles are more likely to involve UI design, advanced data binding, and MVVM architecture. WinForms is more procedural - still heavily used in finance, manufacturing, and other sectors with large internal platforms that haven't shifted to the web. In either case, the developer owns the UI, the state management, and the client-side behavior - often with direct access to backend APIs or databases.
WinForms is still everywhere in legacy environments. It's fast to build with, but hard to scale or modernize. WPF is better structured, especially when MVVM is enforced - and often gets picked for greenfield desktop projects. Some teams also move toward hybrid desktop models (with web-hosted services under a desktop shell), but that's usually a rewrite.
.NET Mobile Developer (MAUI / Xamarin)
This role is focused on building cross-platform mobile apps using .NET MAUI not older stacks like Xamarin.Forms or Xamarin.Native. The goal is a shared codebase for iOS and Android. That doesn't mean write-once - platform-specific differences still matter, and handling them cleanly is part of the job.
MAUI is the current direction, but plenty of teams are still maintaining or migrating from Xamarin. Developers in this space need to understand mobile UI/UX patterns, how native APIs work under the hood, and what it takes to ship production apps across app stores.
Some roles focus on new MAUI builds with cloud-native backends. Others are maintenance-heavy, working on older Xamarin codebases still in production. Migration experience is increasingly valuable. Full-stack mobile roles sometimes expect developers to also handle the backend API layer in ASP.NET Core - especially in smaller teams.
.NET DevOps Engineer
This role combines .NET engineering fundamentals with DevOps tooling and practices. It's usually filled by someone who still writes C#, but spends just as much time automating builds, deployments, and environment setup as they do working on application logic.
The goal is to make delivery repeatable, scalable, and observable. That means owning CI/CD pipelines, writing deployment scripts, managing infrastructure via code, etc.. It's not a pure DevOps or SRE role - system-level automation still happens through the lens of application needs.
.NET Developer with Strong Database Focus (Developer/DBA Hybrid)
These developers go deeper into SQL than most application engineers. They handle schema design, indexing strategy, stored procedure development, and often step into areas usually reserved for DBAs - monitoring slow queries, debugging deadlocks, or rewriting inefficient joins that block scaling.
This role tends to show up in systems that are query-heavy, batch-processing-driven, or architected around long-lived transactional data - finance, healthcare, logistics, internal operations platforms. In smaller teams, this hybrid is the default: one person owns the app and the database.
.NET Game Developer (Unity Focus)
Developers in this role write code that drives everything from player controls and physics to menu navigation and enemy AI. Unity handles the rendering pipeline and asset management, but the gameplay logic is all .NET - written in C#.
This role is Unity-specific but not always game-exclusive - Unity is also used in training sims, interactive experiences, and XR applications. Multiplayer features often require developers to also touch backend systems - matchmaking, player data, cloud saves - frequently built with ASP.NET Core. Some game teams split front-end Unity and backend service work, others expect one developer to handle both ends.
Originally published here
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