AEM Developer Roles, Responsibilities and Skills: A Hiring Guide

Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) runs the websites of many of the world's largest brands, and it's one of the hardest platforms to hire for. The reason is simple: "AEM developer" is not one job. A developer who builds React apps with the AEM SPA Editor, a developer who writes OSGi services in Java, and a developer who builds blocks for Edge Delivery Services may never touch the same code.

This guide breaks AEM work down into the roles that actually exist on real projects. For each one, it covers what they are responsible for, the skills that matter, and how to tell which one your platform needs. It's also how we structure our own AEM team at Being Idea.

A quick map of the AEM platform

Before matching people to work, it helps to know which version of AEM you're running, because it changes the skills you need:

• AEM as a Cloud Service: Adobe's current cloud platform. It auto-updates, deploys only through Cloud Manager pipelines, and has strict rules about what code can do.
• AEM 6.5: the on-premise and Adobe Managed Services version. Many enterprises still run it, and moving off it to Cloud Service is a common project.
• Edge Delivery Services (EDS): Adobe's newer way to deliver sites, previously known as Franklin or Helix. Pages are built from lightweight blocks in plain JavaScript and CSS and served from the edge, so they're very fast. Content can be written in Google Docs, Microsoft Word / SharePoint, or the Universal Editor.
• Headless AEM: content is stored as Content Fragments and delivered through GraphQL APIs to React apps, mobile apps, and other channels.

Most enterprise platforms use a mix of these, which is why AEM teams almost always need more than one kind of developer.

1. AEM front-end developer (React and the SPA Editor)

This developer builds the part of the site that visitors and authors see. On single-page application (SPA) projects, they use React with the AEM SPA Editor, which lets content authors edit a React app in place, the same way they would edit a traditional AEM page.

Responsibilities

• Building React components and mapping them to AEM components so authors can drag, drop, and edit them
• Keeping in-context editing working as the app grows: placeholders, editable containers, and component configuration
• Consuming Content Fragments and AEM GraphQL for headless parts of the experience
• Owning front-end performance, accessibility (WCAG), and cross-browser behaviour
• Working with backend developers on Sling Model exporters that feed JSON to the front-end

Skills to look for

• Strong React and TypeScript, with real experience of the AEM SPA Editor SDK
• Understanding of the AEM model JSON and how React components map to it
• Content Fragments, Content Fragment Models, and persisted GraphQL queries
• Experience with the Universal Editor, which Adobe now recommends for new headless and hybrid projects

A note on that last point: Adobe has moved its focus for new projects from the SPA Editor to the Universal Editor. SPA Editor experience still matters a lot, because many live platforms are built on it and someone has to maintain, extend, and eventually migrate them. The best front-end hires today know both.

2. AEM vanilla JavaScript and Edge Delivery Services developer

Not every AEM front-end uses a framework. Classic AEM Sites projects are often built with plain JavaScript and CSS in AEM clientlibs, and Edge Delivery Services is built entirely on vanilla JavaScript with no framework at all. Doing this well takes different skills from React work.

Responsibilities

• Building EDS blocks: small, self-contained units of JavaScript and CSS that turn authored content into page sections
• Setting up content authoring in Google Docs, SharePoint, or the Universal Editor, and designing content models authors can understand
• Keeping Lighthouse and Core Web Vitals scores high, which is the main reason teams choose EDS
• Moving key templates or whole sites from classic AEM to Edge Delivery Services
• On classic AEM, building lightweight, accessible components in clientlibs without pulling in heavy libraries

Skills to look for

• Excellent vanilla JavaScript, semantic HTML, and modern CSS, without relying on a framework to do the hard parts
• Hands-on EDS experience: the project boilerplate, block decoration, and the three-phase loading model (eager, lazy, delayed)
• A deep understanding of web performance: Largest Contentful Paint, layout shift, and how third-party scripts hurt both
• Experience with AEM clientlib structure and HTL for classic Sites work

3. AEM Java backend developer

The backend developer works on the parts of AEM that visitors never see but everything depends on. AEM is a Java platform built on OSGi, Apache Sling, and a content repository (JCR, implemented by Apache Jackrabbit Oak), and this developer works directly with all three.

Responsibilities

• Writing Sling Models that turn stored content into data for HTL templates and SPA front-ends
• Building OSGi services, Sling servlets, and scheduled jobs
• Creating custom workflows for content approval, asset processing, and publishing
• Connecting AEM to other systems: commerce platforms, CRMs, search engines, identity providers, and internal APIs
• Keeping the codebase compatible with AEM as a Cloud Service, and fixing issues flagged by Adobe's Best Practices Analyzer during migrations
• Writing unit tests and keeping Cloud Manager quality gates passing

Skills to look for

• Strong core Java, plus OSGi Declarative Services and Apache Sling concepts such as resource resolution and adapters
• Comfort with JCR / Oak: node structures, queries, and index definitions
• Maven, the AEM Project Archetype, and Cloud Manager pipelines
• Unit testing with JUnit 5 and AEM Mocks
• Dispatcher configuration and caching, since many performance problems start there

4. AEM full-stack developer

On smaller teams, or for steady ongoing work, a full-stack AEM developer covers both sides: HTL templates and Core Components on the front-end, and Sling Models and OSGi services on the backend. They are often the most cost-effective hire for a platform that needs steady enhancements rather than a big build.

Responsibilities

• Building complete components end to end: dialog, Sling Model, HTL markup, styling, and tests
• Extending AEM Core Components instead of rebuilding them from scratch
• Setting up editable templates and policies so authors stay in control of layout
• Handling day-to-day support: bug fixes, author requests, and small features

Skills to look for

• HTL, Sling Models, editable templates, and Core Components
• Enough front-end skill to build clean, accessible markup and styles
• Working knowledge of Dispatcher, Cloud Manager, and the AEM authoring experience

5. Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO) developer

AEM manages content; Adobe Journey Optimizer (AJO) decides who sees what, and when. Many AEM customers also use AJO on Adobe Experience Platform to run personalised journeys across email, push, SMS, and in-app messages. It's a different skill set from AEM development, but the two teams work closely together.

Responsibilities

• Designing XDM schemas and datasets, and getting customer data into Adobe Experience Platform
• Building audiences, and the events that trigger journeys
• Building journeys and campaigns, with message templates and offer decisioning
• Connecting AJO to external systems through APIs and custom actions

Skills to look for

• Hands-on AJO experience, plus a solid grounding in Adobe Experience Platform and Real-Time CDP
• XDM data modelling and identity resolution
• Comfort with REST APIs, JSON, and debugging data flowing through the platform

Which AEM developer does your project need?

How to check an AEM developer's experience

AEM CVs tend to look alike, so ask questions that only real project experience can answer:

1. "Walk me through a component you built, from dialog to markup." A strong candidate talks about the Sling Model, the HTL template, policies, and how authors used it.
2. "What broke when you moved code to AEM as a Cloud Service?" Anyone who has done a migration has stories about immutable paths, replication changes, and Best Practices Analyzer findings.
3. "How do you debug a page that's slow on publish but fast on author?" Look for Dispatcher caching, cache invalidation, and client-side performance, not just "add more servers".
4. For EDS: "How does block loading work, and how do you protect LCP?" Real EDS developers can explain the eager, lazy, and delayed phases right away.
5. For SPA Editor: "How do you keep in-context editing working in a large React app?" Look for an understanding of component mapping and the model JSON, not just React knowledge.

How Being Idea provides AEM resources

Our AEM developers cover every role in this guide: React SPA Editor and vanilla JavaScript on the front-end, Edge Delivery Services, Java backend work with OSGi and Sling, and Adobe Journey Optimizer. We match each developer to the way your platform is actually built, rather than sending whoever is available.

• Flexible engagement: full-time dedicated, part-time, or a fixed-scope sprint for a migration or EDS pilot
• You interview first: we share profiles, and you run your own technical interview
• A low-risk start: every engagement begins with a 2-week paid trial sprint
• Real timezone overlap: India-based hours overlap with US mornings, the full UK/EU working day, and APAC afternoons

If you're planning an AEM build, a move to Cloud Service, or an Edge Delivery Services pilot, see our AEM developer roles or tell us about your platform, and we'll come back within one business day with matched profiles.

Further reading: building banking and insurance websites with AEM and how AEM authoring works for content teams.

And if you're an AEM developer yourself, we're hiring. See our open AEM, EDS, AJO, and Java backend roles.