Who leads? Who builds? Who tests? And who owns delivery? These are the questions that come up when you're planning to hire a dedicated software development team, and they should. Without a clear structure, it's easy to hire developers without aligning roles, responsibilities, or outcomes to your business goals.
In this blog, we’ll break down what a dedicated team structure includes and how to design one that’s flexible, scalable, and aligned with your growth. You’ll also learn how to choose the right team model based on your product goals and operational needs.
The 6 core components of a dedicated software development team structure
In our article on why you should hire a dedicated software development team, we outlined the roles that form the core of your team. These include:
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Tech lead
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Architects
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Developers
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QA
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PMs
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Designers
1. Tech Lead
Who they are:
The tech lead is a senior software developer with broad technical experience and a clear understanding of the entire software development process.
What they do:
They translate business goals into technical execution. This team member oversees day-to-day development tasks, enforces coding standards, manages technical risks, and ensures that the team delivers scalable, maintainable code.
How they relate to other team members:
The tech lead works closely with software architects to align on the system design, supports software engineers during implementation, and acts as the technical counterpart to the project manager. In a dedicated software development team structure, they’re the anchor. They guide the technical team toward consistent delivery across all phases of a software project.
2. Architects
Who they are:
Software architects are senior-level specialists responsible for the overall system design and long-term technical direction.
What they do:
They define the structural foundations of the software solution, including data flow, integrations, scalability, and security. If you're on the path to developing custom software enterprise-grade software products, a skilled software architect must be included in the structure of your dedicated development team.
How they relate to other team members:
Architects collaborate with tech leads and developers to ensure the implementation aligns with architectural decisions. In a dedicated development team structure, they connect the business strategy with the technical execution. By doing so, they actively bridge long-term vision and short-term delivery across the dedicated team of developers, or, in simpler terms, they make sure today’s coding decisions won’t cause tomorrow’s problems.
3. Developers
Who they are:
Developers are often referred to as software engineers. They’re the backbone of any dedicated software development team.
What they do:
They write the code that brings the product to life. Developers build features, fix bugs, integrate APIs, and ensure functionality across the front and back end. Their technical range depends on the team size and product complexity. The technology stack, product maturity, and development methodology also play a role in determining the technical range of developers hired.
If, for instance, you're trying out agile software development, you may need to hire dedicated developers with cross-functional flexibility. On the other hand, if you’re adopting more rigid processes when developing software, you may need developers that highly specialize in different areas.
How they relate to other team members:
Developers take direction from the tech lead, follow the architectural blueprint, and collaborate closely with QA and designers. In software development teams using the dedicated team engagement model, developers are more than coders. They’re core contributors to a high-quality software product. When you hire a dedicated team, these are the professionals doing the heavy lifting.
4. QA (Quality Assurance)
Who they are:
QA specialists are quality gatekeepers within the dedicated software development team.
What they do:
They create and execute testing plans, find defects, and ensure the software product meets functional and non-functional requirements. Their role directly impacts software quality and end-user experience.
How they relate to other team members:
QA works in parallel with developers and collaborates closely with product managers to ensure test coverage matches requirements. In a well-structured software development team, QA is integrated, not siloed, which leads to faster feedback loops and fewer surprises in production. Having QA specialists is non-negotiable, whether you're hiring an in-house team or outsourcing to a dedicated team.
5. PMs (Project Managers)
Who they are:
PMs are the organizational drivers in the dedicated development team model.
What they do:
They lead the product discovery process. That includes defining the problem, aligning with business goals, gathering input from users and stakeholders, and validating what’s worth building. They also manage scope, timelines, and deliverables. A strong project manager ensures that the team stays aligned with the client’s goals and that resources are deployed efficiently across the project lifecycle.
How they relate to other team members:
PMs coordinate between the client, tech lead, and the entire software team. In a remote team or hybrid team setting, they’re especially important for keeping the team focused and synchronized. Like QA specialists, PMs must be present in the structure of a software development team, regardless of whether you choose to hire a dedicated software development team or scale your in-house development team.
6. Designers
Who they are:
UI/UX designers are creative team members focused on how users experience the software product.
What they do:
They design interfaces, user journeys, and interactive prototypes. Their work guides the look and feel of the software and ensures that the final consumers can conveniently use it.
How they relate to other team members:
Designers collaborate with PMs to understand requirements and work closely with developers to translate wireframes into working features. In a dedicated team structure, they continuously iterate and refine designs as the software evolves.
Of course, when building a dedicated team for your project, you may opt to broaden the structure to include more roles, e.g. a scrum master, DevOps engineer, security specialist, business analyst, etc. That's fine as long as the broadening of the structure is situationally essential.
But is it absolutely necessary to pencil in the first five in the initial structure of a software development team? It depends on how you intend to bring those roles to life. For example, in recent times, businesses have been moving away from making QA specialists responsible for their traditional duties of writing and executing programming tests for the software because of the time that takes and how much that slows down the software development process.
Instead, we see companies looking at designating QA specialists to be responsible for the user-end side of things, such as beta testing the software and offering feedback on its performance and such, while developers are responsible for testing their own code.
Case in point: Microsoft eliminated pure software testing roles while merging testing and developing roles into software engineering roles.
That being said, to deliver a successful software project, it's important to understand how each team member functions and how they collaborate.
Three dedicated development team models and their use cases
You can't attempt outsourcing software development or even building your dream team without considering the question: which structural model do I want to adopt? That's a question that'll you'll still have to answer even if you intend to hire dedicated software development team recruiters to build your dedicated team.
What are structural models, though? Structural software development team models refer to the different ways software development teams are organized to deliver a project effectively. Each model defines how team members are grouped, how they collaborate, and how responsibilities are distributed across the software development process.
When building a dedicated software development team, you have three main structural models to select from:
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Functional (by specialty)
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Cross-functional (agile pods or squads)
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Hybrid models
Let's take a look at what each is, when and why it's effective, and the best use cases for it.
1. Functional (by specialty)
What it is:
A functional team model is built around roles. Designers work with designers. Front-end devs stick together. QA has its own unit. It mirrors the traditional structure of many software development companies, especially when the developer team is large or spread across multiple software development projects.
When and why it’s effective:
This structure makes sense when your team size and composition allows you to specialize without bottlenecks. It’s efficient for project development that needs depth in one domain, like complex mobile app development where you want your iOS and Android teams to each stay in their lane.
Best use cases:
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Large organizations with multiple ongoing projects
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Work that requires deep domain expertise per function
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Projects where handoffs between roles are clearly defined
One disadvantage of this model is that team work can become siloed. If you hire a dedicated development team following this model, make sure you have strong management software in place to avoid blockers between teams.
2. Cross-functional (agile pods or squads)
What it is:
Cross-functional teams combine different roles into a self-sufficient pod. One team might include a back-end developer, designer, QA, and product owner, all collaborating tightly from idea to delivery. It’s the Agile way of doing things, and it mirrors the structure of a dedicated project team or dedicated developers team.
When and why it’s effective:
This model is great for building fast, learning fast, and iterating constantly. If you're trying to launch a new software product, this is often the right development team setup. It fosters better team work, because everyone is working towards the same goal, not just their role’s contribution.
Best use cases:
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Startups and scale-ups
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Rapid product development cycles
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Projects where close collaboration is important
Cross-functional pods feel like an in-house team, even if you hire a dedicated development team externally. You get the focus of a small group and the diversity of multiple skill sets. It’s ideal when you need a dedicated team for short sprints, MVPs, or testing new features.
Amazon often ties this model to the “two-pizza team” rule, or the idea that when building a dedicated team, it should be small, self-sufficient, and able to deliver independently.
Spotify has implemented the cross-functional model on a large scale by organizing work around small, cross-functional teams called Squads. Each Squad focuses on a specific feature area, is autonomous in how it works, and includes roles like developers, product owners, and agile coaches. Multiple Squads working in related areas form a Tribe to maintain alignment. Chapters connect specialists across Squads to share best practices, while Guilds offer a space for anyone across the company to collaborate around shared interests.
3. The hybrid model
What it is:
Hybrid teams blend functional and cross-functional approaches. You might have core cross-functional pods for delivery, with functional groups (like DevOps or QA) supporting them across projects. It’s flexible and it lets you build a team that adapts to both the project and the people.
When and why it’s effective:
This is a good option when you’re managing multiple timelines or shifting priorities. For example, a dedicated team can save time by embedding key specialists in Agile squads while still keeping oversight at a functional level. It’s how many highly skilled software teams operate at scale.
Best use cases:
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Enterprises with multiple software development roles
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Businesses transitioning from legacy systems to Agile
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Any team juggling both maintenance and innovation
If you’re evaluating types of dedicated team models, hybrid gives you flexibility. You can adjust the number of team members as needed, and combine dedicated team services with internal resources.
How should a dedicated software development team be structured so it functions at a high level over time?
Structure isn't just a starting point. It’s what determines whether a team can deliver consistently over time. For software development dedicated teams, this means more than matching roles to a backlog. It means creating a framework that supports growth, clarifies responsibility, facilitates coordination, reflects how the team operates, and retains the people doing the work.
Here are five structural elements that contribute directly to the long-term team health and delivery strength of your dedicated software development team.
1. Structural scalability
The structure should make it easy to adjust team size, introduce new roles, or reassign responsibilities as the product evolves. This depends on how work is grouped and how responsibilities are contained. Teams organized into pods, vertical slices, or modular units are better positioned to absorb new scope or shift focus without disrupting parallel work.
This is the principle behind Amazon’s “two-pizza” teams: each team owns a narrowly defined service and operates independently. As new priorities emerge, new teams are created, rather than expanding existing ones. ING applies similar thinking: it creates squads focused on specific products. More squads can be added and existing squads can be reconfigured with minimal cross-team friction. In both cases, growth is built into the structure.
2. Role clarity and decision ownership
Every team member should know what they’re accountable for and how decisions are made. That includes clarity around leadership roles, reporting lines, and who owns delivery, direction, and technical implementation. When a team is cross-functional, this often means clearly separating product and engineering leadership, typically through a product manager or owner on one side, and a tech lead on the other.
Spotify’s squad structure reflects this. Each squad includes the necessary roles to deliver a product area and is supported by a product owner and chapter leads who define scope and technical direction. Similarly, Amazon assigns a single-threaded owner to every initiative. That person has the full accountability for that initiative and is responsible to the higher-ups for all decisions made in that area.
3. Communication frameworks (built into structure)
Communication loops must be designed into the structure. This includes predictable routines, daily standups, sprint planning, regular cross-role check-ins, that keep work visible and aligned. In cross-functional teams, these loops ensure that product, design, and engineering are coordinated as decisions are made and requirements change.
For example, at Spotify, agile ceremonies like daily stand-ups, tribe-level planning, and chapter syncs are built into the operating model.
4. Cultural integration (by design, not accident)
If a team is expected to operate with autonomy, accountability, or ownership, the structure must enable that from the start. You don’t add values like those later. They either exist in the way responsibilities are assigned and decisions are made, or they don’t exist at all. This is especially important for remote or hybrid teams, or for dedicated teams that integrate closely with an in-house team.
Amazon’s “you build it, you run it” model reflects this clearly. Developers are responsible not just for writing code, but for maintaining and supporting it in production. There’s no separate QA or ops department. The structure reinforces ownership by giving it directly to the people doing the work.
5. Continuity and retention through structural stability
A team performs at a high level over time only if its structure makes it possible for people to stay. That means creating paths for growth, allowing responsibilities to evolve, and embedding leadership opportunities inside the team rather than requiring people to leave it to advance. For instance, Google offers temporary role rotations which let developers gain new experiences without leaving their teams.
Final thoughts: Hire a dedicated software development team with the right structure
A dedicated development team offers exclusive alignment with your product goals, stable long-term collaboration, and clear ownership of delivery from start to finish. As you've already realized, it's not enough to choose the right software development partner or create a team of dedicated developers and call it a day. You must also structure your team in the right way if you want it to succeed, because even the best people can’t deliver their best work inside the wrong structure.
