How to hire a head architect

How to hire a head architect, step by step

Here's a step-by-step head 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 head architect job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new head architect
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The head 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

   A head architect's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, head architects from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

   Here's a comparison of head architect salaries for various roles:

   Type of Head Architect	Description	Hourly rate
   Head Architect	Architects plan and design houses, factories, office buildings, and other structures.	$22-76
   Job Captain	A Job Captain is responsible for overseeing the drafting process of a project and completing outstanding items or tasks that remain to be accomplished. They take direction from the Project Manager, the Project Architect, and/or the Architect of Record.	$24-46
   Architectural Consultant	An architectural consultant is a professional who owns or works for an independent architecture or multidisciplinary design firm to develop innovative building design solutions. The essential skills that an architectural consultant should possess to accomplish his/her or her responsibilities include good creative ability and strong organizational, technical, and visualization skills... Show more	$19-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • AWS
   • API
   • Design Development
   • CAD

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage complex implementations for medium to large healthcare organizations that directly impact patient care, revenue stream and regulatory compliance.
   • Deliver thorough construction documentation, focuse detailing, and contract administration for a firm engage in private educational and healthcare work.
   • Upgrade and migrate SAN systems from XP10000 to EMC.
   • Provide customer onsite training of EMC's Navisphere manager and disk array layer applications.
   • Work as consultant in designing and prototyping an industrial commodity hauler.
   • Analyze local and IBC codes for application to residential unit design and public and commercial spaces.

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your head architect job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A head architect can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, head architects' average salary in arkansas is 44% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level head architects 71% less than senior-level head architects.
   • Certifications. A head architect with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a head architect's salary.

   Average head architect salary

   $85,753yearly

   $41.23 hourly rate

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   Entry-level head architect salary

   $46,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 22, 2026

4. Writing a head architect job description

   A good head 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 head architect job description:

   Head architect job description example

   Waymo is an autonomous driving technology company with a mission to make it safe and easy for people and things to get where they're going. Since our start as the Google Self-Driving Car Project in 2009, Waymo has been focused on building the Waymo Driver-The World's Most Experienced Driver™-to improve everyone's access to mobility while saving thousands of lives now lost to traffic crashes. Our Waymo Driver powers Waymo One, our fully autonomous ride-hailing service, as well as Waymo Via, our trucking and local delivery service. To date, Waymo has driven over 20 million miles autonomously on public roads across 25 U.S. cities and conducted over 20 billion miles of simulation testing.
   
   Waymo's Compute Team is tasked with a critical and exciting mission: We deliver the compute platform responsible for running the fully autonomous vehicle's software stack. To achieve our mission, we architect and create high-performance custom silicon; we develop system-level compute architectures that push the boundaries of performance, power, and latency; and we collaborate closely with many other teammates to ensure we design and optimize hardware and software for maximum performance. We are a multidisciplinary team seeking curious and talented teammates to work on one of the world's highest performance automotive compute platforms.
   In this hands-on lead role, you'll:
   
   + Drive silicon architecture from concept through bring-up and drive hardware/software co-design to ensure optimal performance and quality
   
   + Write architecture specifications for use by hardware and software developers
   
   + Develop performance models to ensure efficient design
   
   + Evaluate 3rd party IP for key metrics and automotive quality
   
   + Identify opportunities for future innovation in our self-driving cars
   
   + Manage a team of architects
   
   At the minimum, we'd like you to have:
   
   + MS or PhD in computer science or related technical field or equivalent work experience
   
   + 8+ years of architecture and design leadership experience on large silicon projects
   
   + Experience with advanced compute systems, including CPUs, GPUs, memory systems, coherence, accelerators, and interconnects
   
   + C++ programming expertise for performance modeling and evaluation
   
   It's preferred if you have:
   
   + Experience with machine learning architectures and deep net performance characteristics
   
   + Experience benchmarking and characterizing complex workloads on CPU and GPU
   
   + Expertise partitioning workloads across programmable and custom accelerators
   
   + Architecting memory systems for accelerators that push latency and bandwidth limits
   
   + Experience with SystemVerilog and emulation
   
   + Familiarity with automotive functional safety and ISO26262
   
   Note: The following is only applicable for roles hired in the US. As we keep the safety of our employees and our communities top of mind, COVID-19 vaccinations continue to be a critical prevention measure to help end the pandemic. Because of this, Waymo requires all US-based employees who perform work onsite for Waymo to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. If you are unable to be vaccinated, Waymo will provide a reasonable accommodation consistent with applicable law.
   
   We appreciate your interest in Waymo. Waymo is an equal employment opportunity employer. Waymo's policy is not to discriminate against any applicant or employee based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, military status, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by law. Waymo also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories. Waymo will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal records in accordance with applicable law. Waymo also makes workplace accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities as required by applicable law.

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right head 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.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your head architect job on Zippia to find and recruit head architect candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as aaonetwork, aia , ala , an jobs, archareer .
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit head architects, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   Remember to include a few questions that allow candidates to expand on their strengths in their own words. Asking about their unique skills might reveal things you'd miss otherwise. At this point, good candidates can move on to the technical interview.

   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 head architect

   Once you have selected a candidate for the head architect position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the 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.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new head architect. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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.)

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