How to hire an infrastructure architect

How to hire an infrastructure architect, step by step

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

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

What does an infrastructure architect do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the infrastructure architect you need to hire. Certain infrastructure architect roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   An infrastructure architect's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, infrastructure 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.

   This list shows salaries for various types of infrastructure architects.

   Type of Infrastructure Architect	Description	Hourly rate
   Infrastructure Architect		$45-73
   Lead Systems Engineer	A lead systems engineer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the systems infrastructure and improving the stability of the operating systems to support business operations. Lead systems engineers install and upgrade software applications and ensure that the technical strategies meet the quality standards and business requirements... Show more	$43-75
   Systems Administrator Lead	A systems administrator lead is responsible for planning, designing, and implementing procedures for critical enterprise systems. Typical duties of systems administrators include managing the day-to-day operations of a company's computer and network systems, developing new application and system implementation plans, and establishing guidelines for installing and managing the organization's computer operating systems... Show more	$37-62

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cloud
   • Azure
   • Amazon Web Services
   • Linux
   • Cloud Computing
   • Switches
   • IP
   • VPN
   • Infrastructure Design
   • Virtualization
   • AWS
   • Hyper-V
   • VM
   • SOA

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Improve LDAP ACI management which give the project ability to manage ACI's via grouper rather than case by case basis.
   • Manage global voice communications both traditional and VoIP telephony.
   • Manage all UNIX environments, installations, configurations and implementations.
   • Leverage SharePoint to automate business processes and track historical data.
   • Manage Cisco ASA firewalls and Microsoft ISA firewalls in production environment providing secure configurations and monitoring of the firewall logs.
   • Research cloud computing to help determine company direction and potential applications to migrate to a cloud-base infrastructure.

   More infrastructure architect duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, infrastructure architects' average salary in oklahoma is 32% less than in oregon.
   • Seniority. Entry-level infrastructure architects 38% less than senior-level infrastructure architects.
   • Certifications. An infrastructure 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 an infrastructure architect's salary.

   Average infrastructure architect salary

   $119,786yearly

   $57.59 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level infrastructure architect salary

   $94,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 5, 2025

   Average infrastructure architect salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$148,546	$71
   2	Oregon	$142,488	$69
   3	Washington	$139,289	$67
   4	Massachusetts	$131,472	$63
   5	Maryland	$127,148	$61
   6	New Jersey	$124,569	$60
   7	New York	$124,402	$60
   8	Illinois	$121,945	$59
   9	Michigan	$121,234	$58
   10	Minnesota	$120,983	$58
   11	Indiana	$120,434	$58
   12	District of Columbia	$118,880	$57
   13	North Carolina	$118,400	$57
   14	Texas	$116,807	$56
   15	Pennsylvania	$115,060	$55
   16	Florida	$114,828	$55
   17	Virginia	$114,449	$55
   18	Connecticut	$113,972	$55
   19	Arizona	$113,703	$55
   20	Georgia	$113,308	$54

   Average infrastructure architect salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Grubhub	$158,235	$76.07
   2	ICE Mortgage Technology	$156,933	$75.45
   3	NVIDIA	$152,637	$73.38	209
   4	Apple	$151,030	$72.61	100
   5	Recorded Future	$144,385	$69.42	1
   6	Kohl's	$143,259	$68.87
   7	Citi	$142,639	$68.58	9
   8	VMware	$139,371	$67.01
   9	Cisco	$138,551	$66.61	170
   10	Amazon	$138,432	$66.55	429
   11	Barclays	$138,084	$66.39
   12	Waters	$135,374	$65.08	9
   13	Belk	$134,698	$64.76	1
   14	Aptude Consulting Services	$132,737	$63.82
   15	DTCC	$132,219	$63.57	10
   16	Motion Recruitment	$131,416	$63.18	19
   17	ICONMA	$131,269	$63.11	5
   18	Randstad North America, Inc.	$131,158	$63.06	5
   19	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$130,965	$62.96	245
   20	Robert Half	$130,669	$62.82	60

4. Writing an infrastructure architect job description

   A good infrastructure 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 an infrastructure architect job description:

   Infrastructure architect job description example

   We are Subway Headquarters! A dedicated team of professionals supporting thousands of franchisees around the globe.
   
   As a Cloud and Infrastructure Architect, you'll be responsible for leading the design, implementation & configuration of cutting-edge Datacenter and Cloud technologies, defining solutions that look and perform superbly across all platforms. You'll work in a highly collaborative environment alongside cross-functional products in Cloud (AWS, Azure, Private Cloud Services etc.), alongside Development Teams as well as DevOps and Infrastructure. The role will drive the development of innovative solutions in cloud and infrastructure technologies. You will engage with Enterprise Architects regarding technical architecture and details of Cloud Migration and Datacenter Transformation.
   Essential Functions
   Provide solutions as per the requirement given in the areas of Cloud (AWS, Azure, Private Cloud Services etc.) Encompasses architecture, engineering, and provide third level support for operations services for the IT strategy, innovation, operations, and infrastructure required to deliver efficient and effective platforms fundamental to business success Engage with Enterprise Architects regarding technical architecture and details of Cloud Migration and Datacenter Transformation Work with application owners/groups to ensure proper architecture and function of hosting infrastructure Develop documentation for best practices as it relates to server infrastructure, virtualization, and cloud computing technologies Provide thought leadership and subject matter expertise in a wide range of strategic IT infrastructure and operations initiatives Collaborate with team leaders to plan, design, engineer, procure, and deploy technology solutions Drive modernization Maintain the Service Catalog and supports and ensures the catalog and service portfolio are accurate and up to date, which includes the SLA's, OLA's, and underpinning contracts for services offered. Understand and introduce new service offerings and obtain feedback on customer expectations to further build out the catalog and services and adjust SLA's and OLA's accordingly. Responsible for the SLA, OLA, and underpinning contract administration and configuration in ServiceNow across all applications and modules.
   Skills & Abilities
   Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Systems or Engineering or related experience 10+ year overall related experience 3-5 years previous experience leading technical teams AWS solutions architect, Azure Solutions Architect, ITIL v3 or v4 required Strong analysis, project management, administration, and technology skills Aptitude for translating complex, technical subjects into clear, business-oriented communications The ability to cultivate and build strong working relationships with a broad range of cross-functional stakeholders Experience defining, tracking and analyzing KPIs and metrics related to I & O Ability to understand the strategy and initiatives of executives and the company and plan and execute strategic initiatives that align and support. Hands-On in widely used DevOps tools like Ansible, Chef, Puppet, Git, Terraform, Docker, Kubernetes etc. Strong organizational skills, including an ability to perform under pressure and manage multiple priorities with competing demands for resources Strong communication skills, both oral and written. Strong business acumen
   
   The Company is only considering applicants who are currently authorized to work in the country the position is based.AA/EOE/M/F/D/V
   
   Other details
   Job Family Infrastructure Ops Mgmt Pay Type Salary Employment Indicator Regular Required Education Bachelor's Degree
   Apply Now

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right infrastructure 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 infrastructure architect job on Zippia to find and recruit infrastructure architect candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit infrastructure 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.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview infrastructure architect candidates, so you can ask them to do a test project. If you are not a technical person and don't know what a test project should be, you can use these websites:

   • 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 infrastructure architect

   Once you've found the infrastructure architect candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new infrastructure architect. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are 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.)

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How much does it cost to hire an infrastructure architect?