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

What is a lead software architect and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Frank McCown Ph.D.,

Kevin Treu Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a lead software architect. For example, did you know that they make an average of $59.41 an hour? That's $123,577 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 21% and produce 284,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

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

Frank McCown Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Harding University

The market is stable for software developers, despite the economic challenges created by the pandemic. Before accepting a job offer, talk to the company's employees through online meetings or email, and see what they think of the company. Do they enjoy their work? Are there opportunities to learn new technologies? How does the company treat their employees? There's a good chance you will be working remotely in your first job, so you will need to exercise a lot of self-discipline, be punctual for online meetings, do the work you've been assigned, and know when to ask questions when you get stuck. Expect a steeper-than-normal learning curve if you are working remotely instead of in an office.

ScoreLead Software ArchitectUS Average

Salary

8.2

Avg. Salary $123,577

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 29.93%

Black or African American 4.45%

Hispanic or Latino 8.19%

Unknown 4.80%

White 52.47%

Gender

female 4.44%

male 95.56%

Age - 38

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 - 38

Stress level

4.0

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a lead software architect

Explore lead software architect education requirements

Most common lead software architect degrees

Bachelor's

66.3 %

Master's

24.7 %

Associate

3.9 %

Start to develop specific lead software architect skills

Skills	Percentages
Java	9.16%
C++	7.95%
Software Development	7.45%
Windows	6.05%
Linux	5.53%

Complete relevant lead software architect training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New lead software 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 software architect based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real lead software architect resumes.

Research lead software architect duties and responsibilities

Manage technical infrastructure including but not limit to AWS images and instances, deployment procedures and tools, and monitoring.
Participate in the creation and review of UI and coding standards while leading code reviews.
Practice agile, scrum methodology with short release cycles.
Design and develop windows form in VB.NET for share brokers.

Get lead software architect experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a lead software architect. The most common roles before becoming a lead software architect include senior software engineer, software engineer team lead and software developer.

Prepare your lead software architect resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your lead software 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 software architect resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable lead software architect resume templates

Build a professional lead software architect resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your lead software architect resume.