I'm keen to hire someone to develop a wordpress plugin. How much would it typically cost & where should I start my search? I'm planning to give away the plugin to the wordpress community.
that is hard to say... depends on the plugin. The cheapest I guess will be to outsource the development to India or Indonesia guys. Go for a freelancers - they charge less... however, English language may be the barrier, and make sure you pay after the job is done