How to hire a senior enterprise architect

How to hire a senior enterprise architect, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior enterprise 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 enterprise architect job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior enterprise architect
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior enterprise architect do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior enterprise architect you need to hire. Certain senior enterprise architect roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

   Hiring the perfect senior enterprise architect also involves considering the ideal background you'd like them to have. Depending on what industry or field they have experience in, they'll bring different skills to the job. It's also important to consider what levels of seniority and education the job requires and what kind of salary such a candidate would likely demand.

   This list presents senior enterprise architect salaries for various positions.

   Type of Senior Enterprise Architect	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Enterprise Architect		$47-82
   Architect	Architects are licensed professionals who specialize in art and science of design, building constructions, and structures. They play a vital role in the construction and not only responsible for the appearance but also the safety of users... Show more	$25-65
   Information Technology Architect	An information technology architect is responsible for designing and creating new technology systems and optimizing the performance of existing ones. Information technology architects analyze the business needs and client requirements to identify system features and technology infrastructure according to budget limitations and timetables... Show more	$42-73

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cloud
   • Emerging Technologies
   • Java
   • Enterprise Architecture
   • Infrastructure
   • Analytics
   • Amazon Web Services
   • Azure
   • Pre Sales
   • AWS
   • Digital Transformation
   • Governance
   • Portfolio
   • Technical Liaison

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Host and manage SaaS application for medical billing for multiple medical providers.
   • Design and develop a relational database API for managing accounts and on-line transactions.
   • Lead internal team in defining business rule architecture, and in designing and implementing StrategyWare decision engine.
   • Design and implement web-based metadata tool that manages data objects and their relationship to publish and subscribe data messages.
   • SOAP, XML, HTML, Java, .NET).
   • Used AngularJS as the development framework to build the UI modules.

   More senior enterprise architect duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your senior enterprise architect job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A senior enterprise architect salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

   For example, the average salary for a senior enterprise architect in Alabama may be lower than in California, and an entry-level senior enterprise architect usually earns less than a senior-level senior enterprise architect. Additionally, a senior enterprise architect with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

   Average senior enterprise architect salary

   $129,751yearly

   $62.38 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior enterprise architect salary

   $98,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average senior enterprise architect salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$160,848	$77
   2	Washington	$144,440	$69
   3	New York	$136,530	$66
   4	Oregon	$135,397	$65
   5	Massachusetts	$132,936	$64
   6	Maine	$132,498	$64
   7	Alaska	$131,731	$63
   8	Hawaii	$131,139	$63
   9	Arizona	$131,115	$63
   10	Minnesota	$130,199	$63
   11	Indiana	$129,425	$62
   12	District of Columbia	$128,752	$62
   13	Connecticut	$128,383	$62
   14	Florida	$127,109	$61
   15	North Carolina	$126,242	$61
   16	Texas	$125,817	$60
   17	Pennsylvania	$125,399	$60
   18	South Carolina	$124,924	$60
   19	Georgia	$123,687	$59
   20	Illinois	$123,611	$59

   Average senior enterprise architect salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	PayPal	$171,008	$82.22
   2	NVIDIA	$164,013	$78.85	169
   3	Atlassian	$159,937	$76.89	5
   4	Bunge	$155,356	$74.69	1
   5	Adobe	$149,128	$71.70	30
   6	Amazon	$149,030	$71.65	364
   7	Workday	$147,396	$70.86	20
   8	Citi	$146,745	$70.55	8
   9	Varian Medical Systems	$145,201	$69.81
   10	Rackspace	$142,829	$68.67	4
   11	Starbucks	$142,271	$68.40	3
   12	American Red Cross	$140,933	$67.76	1
   13	Akamai Technologies	$140,811	$67.70	11
   14	Tencent	$140,804	$67.69	3
   15	Navistar	$140,330	$67.47
   16	The Vanguard Group	$140,285	$67.44	1
   17	Randstad North America, Inc.	$140,030	$67.32	6
   18	Great American Insurance	$139,327	$66.98	1
   19	Zurich	$139,286	$66.96	8
   20	The Travelers Companies	$139,142	$66.90	27

4. Writing a senior enterprise architect job description

   A senior enterprise 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. Below, you can find an example of a senior enterprise architect job description:

   Senior enterprise architect job description example

   The Senior Architect, Enterprise Architecture will play a significant role in the definition and implementation of an over-arching application strategy, including architecture, design, and roadmaps. The successful candidate will perform work that is highly complex, varied in nature, and span multiple functional areas, though being focused in one or two. This individual will also seek to ensure the optimum utilization of existing system platforms and their integration while considering and / or facilitating the justified deployment of new technologies in response to business requirements. Primary responsibilities will include:
   
   Assessment and definition of integrated, cross-functional solutions required for the resolution of complex technical and / or business issues
   Management, leadership, and / or coordination of solution discovery / gap analyses Management, leadership, and / or coordination of activities associated with business blueprint, application systems design, realization, and implementation, especially as related to cross-functional activities / initiatives Active support for the establishment of and participation in design, architecture, and portfolio governance processes and review committees Support for the definition and development of the solution / application architecture and strategy Guidance / training of more junior staff, which does not have a direct reporting relationship This key role will lead / drive these activities, not through direct staff, but through the more challenging and vital management traits of influence and collaboration. This individual will manage / lead through the matrixed management of other resources, including but not limited to technical analysts, systems engineers, as well as business and functional SME’ s.
   
   Requirements:
   
   Successful Leadership of Projects and Designs
   
   Applications Development
   
   Enterprise Core and Horizontal Work Process Design
   
   Resource Planning
   
   Business Deployment of New Software Implementations
   
   IT Application Evaluation
   
   Experience with multiple SAP applications like R/3, ECC 5.0 or 6.0, SEM, BW, SRM, CRM, MDM, etc.
   
   BA / BS or equivalent experience
   
   Excellent written and verbal communication skills
   
   Effective team building skills
   
   Strong / effective influencing skills
   
   Strong / effective problem solving skills
   
   Conceptual to detailed thinking skills

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right senior enterprise 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 enterprise architects they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit senior enterprise 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.

   To find senior enterprise architect candidates, you can consider the following options:

   • Post your job opening on Zippia or other job search websites.
   • Use niche websites that focus on engineering and technology jobs, such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post your job on free job posting websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit senior enterprise architects, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.

   If your interviews with senior enterprise architect applicants aren't enough to make a decision, you should also consider including a test project. These are often the best, most straightforward, and least bias-prone ways of determining who will likely succeed in the role. If you don't know how to design an appropriate test, you can ask someone else on the team to create it or take a look at these websites to get a few ideas:

   • TestDome
   • CodeSignal
   • Testlify
   • BarRaiser
   • Coderbyte

   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 enterprise architect

   Once you have selected a candidate for the senior enterprise architect position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the 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.

   To prepare for the new senior enterprise architect first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

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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How much does it cost to hire a senior enterprise architect?