Lead software architect vs architect

The differences between lead software architects and architects can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a lead software architect and an architect. Additionally, a lead software architect has an average salary of $123,577, which is higher than the $86,635 average annual salary of an architect.

The top three skills for a lead software architect include java, C++ and software development. The most important skills for an architect are cloud, java, and infrastructure.

Lead software architect vs architect overview

	Lead Software Architect	Architect
Yearly salary	$123,577	$86,635
Hourly rate	$59.41	$41.65
Growth rate	21%	3%
Number of jobs	307,926	94,621
Job satisfaction	-	3
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	39	45
Years of experience	4	4

Lead software architect vs architect salary

Lead software architects and architects have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Lead Software Architect	Architect
Average salary	$123,577	$86,635
Salary range	Between $89,000 And $170,000	Between $54,000 And $137,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	Alaska
Best paying company	The Walt Disney Company	Meta
Best paying industry	Retail	Technology

Differences between lead software architect and architect education

There are a few differences between a lead software architect and an architect in terms of educational background:

	Lead Software Architect	Architect
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Computer Science	Architecture
Most common college	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	Cornell University

Lead software architect vs architect demographics

Here are the differences between lead software architects' and architects' demographics:

	Lead Software Architect	Architect
Average age	39	45
Gender ratio	Male, 95.6% Female, 4.4%	Male, 76.7% Female, 23.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 4.4% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 2.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 16.0% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	8%	15%

Differences between lead software architect and architect duties and responsibilities

Lead software architect example 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.
Embed Linux development and customization of kernel for system control of burst messaging.
Provide overall technical direction and standards for the scrum teams working on the project.

Architect example responsibilities.

Manage Daimler resources for development of RFC programs
Manage overall testing activities withing the group including functinal, system and regression testing.
Manage the company website using HTML and CSS to produce an easily read website that customers can access more intuitively.
Manage GitLab and Jenkins deployment environment to support automate AWS- development software builds.
Lead re-architecture and implementation of cloud solution for enterprise auto-backup of individual computing devices.
Provide insight and manage all technology relate aspects with presentations and communications at Sr. management and CxO level.

Lead software architect vs architect skills

Common lead software architect skills

Java, 9%
C++, 8%
Software Development, 7%
Windows, 6%
Linux, 6%
OS, 4%

Common architect skills

Cloud, 10%
Java, 8%
Infrastructure, 7%
Azure, 5%
AWS, 5%
Digital Transformation, 5%