How to hire a lead architect/developer

How to hire a lead architect/developer, step by step

Here's a step-by-step lead architect/developer hiring guide:

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

Post a lead architect/developer job for free, promote it for a fee

Post free

1. Identify your hiring needs

   The lead architect/developer 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 lead architect/developer 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 lead architect/developer that fits the bill.

   This list presents lead architect/developer salaries for various positions.

   Type of Lead Architect/Developer	Description	Hourly rate
   Lead Architect/Developer	Software developers are the creative minds behind computer programs. Some develop the applications that allow people to do specific tasks on a computer or another device... Show more	$43-75
   Developer Analyst	A developer analyst is a professional who is responsible for building application requirements and develops database solutions that allow operational efficiency and user-friendly tools. Developer analysts are required to develop a detailed definition of business solutions that can include database design, data flow, and transaction processing requirements... Show more	$30-54
   Applications Developer	An application developer is responsible for creating program applications for devices based on clients' specifications and business needs. Application developers must have excellent knowledge of computer systems, as well as a strong command of programming languages to develop customized programs... Show more	$32-56

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Java
   • Architecture
   • Web Services
   • Azure
   • C++
   • Responsive Web Design
   • Web Application
   • JavaScript
   • API
   • Amazon Web Services
   • Visio
   • SQL Server
   • J2EE
   • CSS

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage the day-to-day activities of the UI team, handling work assignments and monitoring progress to keep projects on track.
   • Configure and manage JGroup multicasting communication for apache tomcat web servers.
   • Design GUI utilizing MasterPages and global CSS.
   • Used available JavaScript libraries rather than purchasing 3rd party software.
   • Develop various work flow scripts and modules using PERL and JavaScript.
   • Design and develop web pages base on HTML, PHP and SQL.

   More lead architect/developer duties

3. Make a budget

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

   • Location. For example, lead architects/developer' average salary in south dakota is 36% less than in california.
   • Seniority. Entry-level lead architects/developer earn 43% less than senior-level lead architects/developer.
   • Certifications. A lead architect/developer 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 lead architect/developer's salary.

   Average lead architect/developer salary

   $119,680yearly

   $57.54 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level lead architect/developer salary

   $90,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 20, 2026

   Average lead architect/developer salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$154,799	$74
   2	Washington	$144,569	$70
   3	New York	$131,844	$63
   4	New Jersey	$128,404	$62
   5	Massachusetts	$126,199	$61
   6	District of Columbia	$121,494	$58
   7	Nebraska	$115,839	$56
   8	Texas	$114,727	$55
   9	Michigan	$114,548	$55
   10	Georgia	$113,242	$54
   11	North Carolina	$111,906	$54
   12	Florida	$111,121	$53
   13	Ohio	$110,814	$53
   14	Missouri	$109,512	$53
   15	Colorado	$108,893	$52
   16	Illinois	$106,778	$51
   17	Wisconsin	$106,640	$51
   18	Kansas	$95,878	$46

   Average lead architect/developer salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Intuitive Surgical	$156,543	$75.26	9
   2	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$141,504	$68.03	1,212
   3	Gillette	$137,055	$65.89
   4	Indeed	$136,105	$65.44	1
   5	Saks	$134,420	$64.63
   6	CyberCoders	$129,290	$62.16	1
   7	Texas Windstorm Insurance Association	$128,655	$61.85	4
   8	P&G	$127,136	$61.12	7
   9	The-Panther-Group	$126,716	$60.92	5
   10	Ample	$124,664	$59.93
   11	Randstad North America, Inc.	$124,487	$59.85	70
   12	General Electric	$124,323	$59.77	187
   13	Something Digital	$124,289	$59.75
   14	Black Knight	$124,170	$59.70
   15	QuintilesIMS	$124,038	$59.63	16
   16	McKesson	$123,941	$59.59	26
   17	Personalis	$122,686	$58.98	1
   18	Honda	$122,340	$58.82	5
   19	BuySeasons	$120,994	$58.17
   20	Altair	$118,730	$57.08

4. Writing a lead architect/developer job description

   A lead architect/developer job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a lead architect/developer job description:

   Lead architect/developer job description example

   No guarantee of conversion, open to visas if needed *Cost center and funding dates may change
   Position Title: Drupal Architect - Development Lead
   Reports to: Sr. Director - Digital Enterprise Technology - Martech
   Number of Direct Reports: 0
   
   Position Summary: The Digital MarTech Drupal Architect will be part of an agile digital team responsible for building Secure, high performance web Content management system-based marketing applications and experiences. The team’ s focus is on driving a culture of Digital Transformation, delivering mission critical information to our members, customers and potential customers in an intelligent and personalized experience. We accomplish that by collaborating with business stakeholders, development team members, enterprise architects, security/networking resources and key vendors. Being able to work seamlessly with these team members and resources in an effective collaborative way is critical to this position.
   
   Key Accountabilities: As a Digital MarTech Drupal architect, be a key member of the development team responsible to Develop, Modify and Test complex software applications according to specifications. Coordinate with Product Owner, Digital Architect, Sr Test lead and Business product lead to understand requirements, groom user stories with other developers and maintain backlog with proper scenarios to meet definition of ready. Responsible to analyze stakeholder needs and software requirements to determine feasibility of design within time and cost constraints working with the teams’ developers Responsible to work with UX resources for the design refinements as per the Drupal behavior requirements. Responsible to Confer with systems analysts, engineers, developers / engineers and others to assist in the design of the Drupal CMS based applications and to obtain information on project limitations and capabilities, performance requirements and interfaces. Recommend best practice Drupal based solutions meeting / exceeding the functional, security, performance, compliance requirements (applications include web and headless APIs built on the Acquia Drupal 9 Content management system) Responsible for guiding / recommending continuous enhancement and operation of DEV-SEC-OPS Aquia Pipelines CI/CD platform Collaborate and guide our developers performing root cause analysis for critical issues and solutioning the issue resolution. Guide the development team in implementing any risk mitigation needed to address any security challenges and in maintaining a consistently low risk profile across our applications and ecosystem. Experience:
   . BS or MS in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, related field, or equivalent industry experience.
   · Thorough understanding of Drupal 9 development and its architecture.
   · Expert in PHP and Object-Oriented Programming and Symphony MVC Framework.
   · Expert in using composer.
   · Experience with Drupal 9 Module Developments and troubleshooting with Contributed Modules
   · Experience with BLT, Drush, Drupal Features, Configuration Management
   · Expertise with Drupal profile management
   . Expertise in designing Drupal integrations with external systems / applications utilizing best practices for security, error handling, performance and maximizing the user experience
   · Experience with applications built on the Acquia Cloud Site Factory (ACSF) and Acquia Cloud Enterprise (ACE) platforms strongly preferred
   · Experience with HTML5, CSS3, SASS, JavaScript, JQuery and Twig templates
   · Experience with GIT version control system
   · Experience with Acquia, DAM or other Digital Asset management system is a plus
   · Expertise with Automated SW test tools, Software QA processes
   . Expertise in all aspects of the SDLC DEV-SEC-OPS and able to execute development, testing, deployment, security tool integration
   . Experience with Secure Website / Drupal networking
   . Familiarity with SSL and CloudFlare WAF / CDN a plus
   . Experience in Web application security best practices and Drupal SECKIT
   . Excellent communication, collaboration and teamwork skills

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right lead architect/developer 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 lead architect/developer 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

   Your first interview with lead architect/developer candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   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.

   Sometimes, it's not enough to interview lead architect/developer 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 lead architect/developer

   Once you've found the lead architect/developer 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 important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   To prepare for the new lead architect/developer first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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 lead architect/developer?