Do you need to be a developer to work in DevRel?

Look at the CV/resume of many developer relations professionals, and you'll often find at least one coding job. But do you really need to have worked as a software developer to become a developer advocate, community manager, or technical educator?

The answer depends on two things:

• The specific role you're going for.
• The other skills that you bring to the job.

Developer advocate is not the only DevRel job

Developer relations has always had a naming problem. We've moved from Technical Evangelist to Developer Evangelist to Developer Advocate. But they were catch-all terms at first. Now, the field has expanded and many team have specialized roles, including:

• Developer Advocate: Engages with developers through content, events, and community discussions.
• Developer Educator: Focuses on documentation, tutorials, and structured learning materials.
• DX Engineer: Works on improving developer experience through tooling, SDKs, and feedback loops.
• Community Manager: Builds and nurtures developer communities, both online and in-person.
• Technical Content Creator: Produces written and video content to help developers engage with a product.

While each of these roles requires at least some familiarity with developer tools and developer needs, they don't all need you to be a hands-on developer.

How DevRel roles vary by company

There's another layer of nuance, too. While there are different DevRel roles, the skills required for can vary depending on where you work and what your team looks like. Consider these factors:

• Company size: A startup with a single-person DevRel team will require a generalist who can handle content, events, and community. A large enterprise, on the other hand, may have separate teams for advocacy, education, and community management.
• Product type: If you're advocating for a low-code tool or API-first platform, you may not need deep coding experience. But if your product is a complex infrastructure tool, cloud service, or framework, technical credibility becomes more important.
• Audience expectations: Some developer audiences expect a DevRel professional to write code and contribute to OSS projects. Others value strong communication and education skills over technical depth.
• Company goals: Is DevRel expected to drive adoption and retention, support sales and partnerships, or focus on community growth? Your skill set should align with these objectives.

Do you need to be a developer to work in DevRel?

The short answer is no, but it helps. The reality is more nuanced.

If you're working on a highly technical product and your day to day work is directly with developers, then you do need some coding skills. That's because understanding the product both as a developer using it and within the context of the broader landscape is essential for credibility and for executing your day-to-day responsibilities. If you've never written code, you may struggle to relate to developers' frustrations, understand their workflows, and provide the help they need.

That doesn’t mean you need to have been a professional software engineer. Many successful DevRel professionals come from adjacent fields like technical writing, product management, customer success, or education. What matters most is:

• Can you understand developers' pain points and workflows?
• Can you communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences?
• Can you learn and experiment with the product enough to explain it authentically?

However, that doesn’t mean every DevRel role requires deep coding experience. For example, roles in community management, developer education, and content creation may require varying levels of programming experience.

Ultimately, DevRel should be open to those who can serve developer audiences effectively. If you're stepping into a coding-heavy DevRel role without prior programming experience, learning to code—even at a basic level—will make you far more effective in the job. And the good news? It’s never too late to learn.

Breaking into DevRel

If you don’t have a software engineering background, how can you break into DevRel?

• Build your portfolio: Write blog posts, create tutorials, answer questions on forums, and share what you're learning.
• Engage with developer communities: Join Discord servers, GitHub discussions, or local meetups.
• Learn enough coding to be dangerous: Even if you're not an expert, build small projects and get comfortable working with APIs and other tools.
• Build on your existing skills: If you come from a technical writing or marketing background, start with DevRel content. If you're an educator, explore developer education roles. Find the entry point that let's you get started with what you know already.

The bottom line

Developer relations should be open to anyone who can build and serve developer audiences. But that doesn't necessarily mean being a developer advocate. Coding experience is probably necessary to work in that role but there's much more to DevRel.