How to hire a senior architect

How to hire a senior architect, step by step

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

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

What does a senior architect do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a senior architect, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

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

   Here's a comparison of senior architect salaries for various roles:

   Type of Senior Architect	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Architect	Architects plan and design houses, factories, office buildings, and other structures.	$27-68
   Job Captain	A Job Captain is responsible for overseeing the drafting process of a project and completing outstanding items or tasks that remain to be accomplished. They take direction from the Project Manager, the Project Architect, and/or the Architect of Record.	$24-46
   Team Lead And Developer	A team lead and developer is a person who handles a group of employees in a particular section, geared to accomplish daily specific goals. The team lead and developer ensures that the team works cohesively and efficiently to achieve its goals... Show more	$23-73

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cloud
   • Java
   • Infrastructure
   • Emerging Technologies
   • AWS
   • Digital Transformation
   • Azure
   • C++
   • C #
   • Analytics
   • API
   • Cloud Computing
   • Amazon Web Services
   • Scrum

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage software integration using middle-ware and other enterprise software such as CTI systems, workforce management systems, and ERP systems.
   • Develop several custom Java and Perl systems used to manage operations of critical systems.
   • Manage the development infrastructure, change control, configuration items and application security utilizing knowledge of information resource management.
   • Coordinate project management, solutions configuration, integration capabilities, and cloud computing functionality.
   • Design end to end CI/CD pipeline using Jenkins.
   • Develop apex triggers, classes and visualforce pages.

   More senior architect duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the senior architect job description is a good way to get more applicants. A senior architect salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a senior architect in New Jersey may be lower than in Hawaii, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level senior architect. Additionally, a senior architect with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average senior architect salary

   $91,624yearly

   $44.05 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior architect salary

   $58,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 21, 2025

   Average senior architect salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	District of Columbia	$122,781	$59
   2	California	$110,273	$53
   3	Georgia	$98,559	$47
   4	New York	$95,067	$46
   5	Massachusetts	$95,031	$46
   6	Washington	$94,152	$45
   7	Virginia	$92,238	$44
   8	Pennsylvania	$91,027	$44
   9	Arizona	$89,961	$43
   10	Colorado	$87,162	$42
   11	Connecticut	$85,059	$41
   12	Ohio	$84,673	$41
   13	Illinois	$84,128	$40
   14	Mississippi	$84,118	$40
   15	Indiana	$83,639	$40
   16	Oregon	$82,355	$40
   17	Texas	$81,506	$39
   18	Minnesota	$81,503	$39
   19	Nebraska	$79,983	$38
   20	North Carolina	$78,057	$38

   Average senior architect salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Ropes & Gray	$183,373	$88.16	3
   2	eBay	$181,999	$87.50	2
   3	StubHub	$181,158	$87.10
   4	Levi Strauss & Co.	$181,056	$87.05	1
   5	The Citadel	$180,355	$86.71
   6	PayPal	$172,214	$82.80
   7	Safeway	$168,721	$81.12
   8	Apple	$167,643	$80.60	94
   9	Okta	$166,773	$80.18	19
   10	Microsoft	$165,621	$79.63	123
   11	Proofpoint	$163,066	$78.40
   12	First Republic Bank	$163,060	$78.39
   13	McKinsey & Company Inc	$162,238	$78.00	12
   14	Nike	$161,522	$77.65
   15	Atlassian	$161,199	$77.50	5
   16	Twilio	$160,620	$77.22
   17	Fairview Health Services	$160,444	$77.14	3
   18	Zscaler	$159,988	$76.92	5
   19	Fungible	$159,760	$76.81
   20	Nisum	$159,251	$76.56

4. Writing a senior architect job description

   A senior architect 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 senior architect job description:

   Senior architect job description example

   Welcome to Peacock, the dynamic new streaming service from NBCUniversal. Here you'll find more than a job. You'll find a fast-paced, high-flying team for unique birds that want to be at the epicenter of technology, sports, news, tv, movies and more. Our flock works hard to connect people to what they love, each other and the world around them by creating shared experiences through culture-defining entertainment.
   
   As a company, we embrace the power of difference. Our team is committed to creating an organization that champions diversity and inclusivity for all by curating content and a workforce that represents the world around us. We continue to challenge ourselves and the industry by being customer-centric, data-driven creatures of innovation. At Peacock, we are determined to forge the next frontier of streaming through creativity, teamwork, and talent.
   Here you can fly to new heights!
   
   This role is part of a wider technology team (Direct-to-Consumer Technology) focused on product offerings including Peacock across NBC Universal and Comcast. A Senior End-to-End Architect provides architectural design oversight across multiple development projects working closely with Business/Product stakeholders at an early proposition stage to shape Technology's approach to support a product/proposition.
   
   This role will require on-going engagement and close collaboration with other architects, software delivery teams and external partners where the Senior End-to-End Architect will define an appropriate solution to deliver a product or proposition; providing specific expertise and support around key areas such as content acquisition, media supply chain, video playout, content management systems, data platforms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, infrastructure and data security. To join a small team with big responsibility - shaping the architecture across the breadth of the technologies that support NBC Universal and Sky's OTT products.
   
   To take a leading end-to-end architectural role, driving collaboration across multiple technical and agile development teams between US and Europe to deliver the next generation of Direct-to-Consumer world-class video distribution platforms for on-demand, linear and live content.
   
   To become an acknowledged expert who can represent the capabilities of NBC Universal's technologies in the evolution of our Direct-to-Consumer business strategy, including the evaluation of potential initiatives and their financial justification.
   
   To communicate across all levels of the technology organization and to senior business stakeholders.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior architect for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with senior architects they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior architects who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior architect job on Zippia to find and recruit senior architect candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as aaonetwork, aia , ala , an jobs, archareer .
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with senior architect 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.

   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.

   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 senior architect

   Once you've decided on a perfect senior architect candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   Once that's done, you can draft an onboarding schedule for the new senior architect. Human Resources should complete Employee Action Forms and ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc. They should also ensure that new employee files are created for internal recordkeeping.

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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