How to hire a database architect

How to hire a database architect, step by step

Here's a step-by-step database architect hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a database architect job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new database architect
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a database architect do?

Post a database architect job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The database architect hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a database architect to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a database architect that fits the bill.

   This list presents database architect salaries for various positions.

   Type of Database Architect	Description	Hourly rate
   Database Architect	Database administrators (DBAs) use specialized software to store and organize data, such as financial information and customer shipping records. They make sure that data are available to users and are secure from unauthorized access.	$33-60
   Database Developer/Database Administrator	A database developer/database administrator specializes in designing and developing database programs and systems, maintaining and updating them regularly. They are in charge of understanding project needs and guidelines, establishing and implementing test systems to identify potential risks and issues, fixing and upgrading components, and storing data according to protocols... Show more	$29-58
   Architect And Developer	An Architect And Developer is focused on the technical design, architecture, and development of products. They generally work as a part of the development team.	$40-69

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cloud
   • Infrastructure
   • Java
   • Database Design
   • Database Administration
   • ETL
   • Provisioning
   • Data Architecture
   • Data Warehouse
   • Debugging
   • Microsoft SQL Server
   • Linux
   • Cloud Computing
   • Azure

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Develop and manage SSRS projects for financial and informational reporting, along with accompanying store procedures.
   • Tune many custom SQL queries and PL/SQL code for complicate business processes to achieve sub-second response time.
   • Work with all technical leads in the organization to understand the existing system and work on the new ETL extract.
   • Create PHP page for loan officers to add to their contact list for leads which interact with the MySQL database.
   • Migrate data from RDBMS to Hadoop infrastructure using Sqoop.
   • Create and edit SSIS packages for movement of data to reporting servers and ETL of client files from other systems.

   More database architect duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your database architect job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. A database architect salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, database architects' average salary in south dakota is 34% less than in rhode island.
   • Seniority. Entry-level database architects earn 45% less than senior-level database architects.
   • Certifications. A database architect with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in a database architect's salary.

   Average database architect salary

   $93,654yearly

   $45.03 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level database architect salary

   $69,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 14, 2025

   Average database architect salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$106,852	$51
   2	Connecticut	$97,107	$47
   3	District of Columbia	$96,972	$47
   4	Washington	$94,763	$46
   5	Massachusetts	$94,002	$45
   6	Virginia	$91,993	$44
   7	Delaware	$91,790	$44
   8	New York	$89,326	$43
   9	Pennsylvania	$88,134	$42
   10	Illinois	$85,393	$41
   11	Texas	$84,743	$41
   12	Arizona	$84,627	$41
   13	North Carolina	$83,799	$40
   14	Georgia	$83,787	$40
   15	New Jersey	$83,281	$40
   16	Florida	$81,549	$39
   17	Nevada	$80,883	$39
   18	Ohio	$80,702	$39
   19	Missouri	$78,659	$38
   20	Michigan	$78,615	$38

   Average database architect salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Chewy	$135,798	$65.29	1
   2	Avid	$125,752	$60.46	8
   3	Barclays	$121,325	$58.33
   4	Amazon	$120,929	$58.14	290
   5	AbbVie	$120,567	$57.96	2
   6	National Grid plc	$118,320	$56.88	4
   7	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$117,555	$56.52	156
   8	CoreLogic	$117,152	$56.32	1
   9	Lands' End	$115,118	$55.35
   10	Nutanix	$114,478	$55.04	110
   11	Autodesk	$113,061	$54.36	3
   12	C&S Wholesale Grocers	$112,332	$54.01
   13	Kaiser Permanente	$107,658	$51.76	2
   14	Sears Holdings	$106,827	$51.36
   15	United States Steel	$106,709	$51.30	1
   16	DataStax	$106,023	$50.97
   17	iTech US	$105,872	$50.90
   18	American Society Radiologic	$105,772	$50.85
   19	Citrix	$104,630	$50.30
   20	Xerox	$104,219	$50.11

4. Writing a database architect job description

   A good database architect job description should include a few things:

   • Summary of the role
   • List of responsibilities
   • Required skills and experience

   Including a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager is also appreciated by candidates. Here's an example of a database architect job description:

   Database architect job description example

   Adaptive Solutions Group is a premier provider of information technology personnel. We provide a variety of technical professionals available for contract, contract to hire, or direct placement positions to companies in and around the Kansas City, St. Louis, and Denver Areas.
   We are currently looking for a Database Architect to join our team.
   
   Responsibilities
   Works closely with business and IT stakeholders to optimize information assets by defining business requirements and delivering appropriately structured information and analytical solutions. Builds an inventory of information assets needed for solution architecture and creates a vision for how information will flow through the organization leveraging existing platforms and processes where applicable. Responsible for the design, security, compliance, reliability, and performance of the solution architecture. Designs complex data models, develops capacity planning, and implements systems. Designs, develops, and maintains business intelligence solutions. Produces and enforces standards, processes, and procedures for the solution architecture. Works in an agile environment and continuously reviews business needs, refines priorities, outlines milestones and deliverables, and identifies opportunities and risks. Seeks continuous performance improvement and ensures the security of information. Acts as a resource and impacts the quality of work for colleagues with less experience. Builds an understanding of source application databases by analyzing data models and leveraging data profiling techniques. Performs other duties as assigned.
   
   Required Qualifications
   10+ years information management, data warehouse or other relevant experience 5+ years database, data modelling, data transformation and data analysis experience.
   Prior experience as an Information Architect, Lead Data Engineer or Data Warehouse Architect Proven history of designing and building Data Hubs or Operational Data Stores to collect and facilitate access to data assets. Demonstrated ability to quickly learn new technologies.
   Demonstrated ability to lead small teams and projects. Advanced ability to solve complex problems, drawing upon creativity, experience, and multiple sources of information. Advanced interpersonal skills, including the ability to build consensus and influence decisions. Advanced communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex or difficult information in straightforward manner.
   
   Preferred Qualifications
   Experience with iterative development methodologies. Experience working with global teams in global organizations. Insurance and/or reinsurance industry knowledge or certification
   
   Adaptive Solutions Group offers a competitive compensation and benefits package that includes medical, dental, STD/LTD, life insurance coverage, 401k, paid vacation and holidays.
   
   Adaptive Solutions Group is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, and veteran or disability status.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right database architect for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   To find database architect candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit database architects, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   While interviews are great, you will only sometimes learn enough from a conversation with a database architect applicant. In those cases, having candidates complete a test project can go a long way in figuring out who's the most likely to succeed in the role. If you aren't a technical person and don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new database architect

   Once you've decided on a perfect database architect candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

   Sign up to download full list

   Sign up

How much does it cost to hire a database architect?