How To Become A Lead Enterprise Architect: What It Is and Career Path

What is a lead enterprise architect and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Robin Puttock

Lead enterprise architects are in charge of overseeing enterprise architects' efforts in maintaining the IT infrastructure of a company or organization. It is their responsibility to improve IT operations and maximize the efficiency of the activities of their company.

As a lead enterprise architect, you will work toward integrating the computer programs and applications of an organization. You will oversee the work of your department in cataloging and developing architecture models. You will be there to coordinate initiatives and maintain a smooth flow of technology activities.

This is the position of a leader, so you will need to organize your team's work and motivate them to achieve top performance. You will need excellent technical skills as well as a knack for project management, great communication, and interpersonal competencies.

What general advice would you give to a lead enterprise architect?

Robin Puttock

Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies, Visiting Assistant Professor, The Catholic University of America

In addition to all of the above, I recommend students stay connected with their professors. Most of us have a vast network that we would love to invite you into. Often, an introduction is the pivotal component to a new opportunity. Relationships are key, especially when a recent graduate does not have significant professional experience. In addition, recent graduates should be sure to spend time on crafting their cover letters, their resumes, their work samples, and their portfolios. Make sure you are putting your best foot forward when an opportunity does arise.

ScoreLead Enterprise ArchitectUS Average

Salary

8.5

Avg. Salary $132,965

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.9

Growth rate 3%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 8.82%

Unknown 4.70%

White 67.73%

Gender

female 19.88%

male 80.12%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress level

5.9

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.0

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

5.3

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead enterprise architect

Explore lead enterprise architect education requirements

Most common lead enterprise architect degrees

Bachelor's

67.5 %

Master's

23.2 %

Associate

5.0 %

Start to develop specific lead enterprise architect skills

Skills	Percentages
Infrastructure	9.33%
Governance	8.54%
Cloud	7.47%
Enterprise Architecture	6.68%
Project Management	4.74%

Complete relevant lead enterprise architect training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead enterprise architects learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a lead enterprise architect based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead enterprise architect resumes.

Research lead enterprise architect duties and responsibilities

Lead efforts to build enterprise SOA platform using web services and MQ.
Lead development of technical training curriculum for J2EE products, standards, SOA reuse.
Create risk mitigation plans and manage production assessment checks to validate core infrastructure readiness of enterprise network and security appliances.
Develop and implement risk strategy, risk governance, risk management, risk quantification and inter-dependencies to achieve desire company strategy.

Get lead enterprise architect experience

Prepare your lead enterprise architect resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead enterprise architect resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a lead enterprise architect resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

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