How To Become A Senior Database Architect: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior database architect and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior database architect. For example, did you know that they make an average of $55.85 an hour? That's $116,172 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 9% and produce 10,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior database architect?

Alfredo Fernandez-Gonzalez

Professor of Architecture, University of Nevada - Las Vegas

It is important for recent graduates to recognize that Architecture is no longer limited to the physical realm, as transformative technologies are providing interesting career opportunities in the digital realm as well. This rapidly evolving context offers many opportunities and new directions for the discipline and remaining (or becoming!) current in new developments in computing power, digital visuals, manufacturing technologies, and robotics, are ways in which a recent graduate can secure a good paying job.

ScoreSenior Database ArchitectUS Average

Salary

8.0

Avg. Salary $116,172

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.4

Growth rate 9%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.6

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.54%

Asian 25.93%

Black or African American 7.23%

Hispanic or Latino 8.73%

Unknown 5.14%

White 52.44%

Gender

female 18.07%

male 81.93%

Age - 46

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 - 46

Stress level

4.4

Stress level is moderate

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior database architect

Explore senior database architect education requirements

Most common senior database architect degrees

Bachelor's

65.2 %

Master's

26.3 %

Associate

4.5 %

Start to develop specific senior database architect skills

Skills	Percentages
AWS	6.58%
Python	5.23%
ETL	4.52%
Azure	4.47%
NoSQL	4.20%

Complete relevant senior database architect training and internships

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

Research senior database architect duties and responsibilities

Create PHP page for loan officers to add to their contact list for leads which interact with the MySQL database.
Create ETL packages using Microsoft SSIS to transform and integrate several database structures into a single integrate data warehouse.
Design, create complex clinical research reports using SSRS.
Develop stored procedures and database code TSQL, SQL, SSIS.

Get senior database architect experience

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

Prepare your senior database architect resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior database 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 senior database 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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