How to hire a senior information technology architect

How to hire a senior information technology architect, step by step

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

What does a senior information technology architect do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The senior information technology architect hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

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

   Yes

   No

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

   The following list breaks down different types of senior information technology architects and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Senior Information Technology Architect	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Information Technology Architect		$45-74
   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
   Enterprise Architect	An enterprise architect is responsible for evaluating systems to develop business operations, ensuring efficiency and profit growth. They mostly establish architectural models according to business plans and existing systems, perform research and analysis, recommend changes in the information technology structures, and conduct skills assessment to determine the needs of employees... Show more	$41-77

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Cloud
   • Java
   • Enterprise Architecture
   • AWS
   • Emerging Technologies
   • Azure
   • Technical Solutions
   • SDLC
   • Project Management
   • Application Development
   • SR
   • DOD
   • PMO
   • Business Process

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage application development teams both domestic and international that focus on developing applications using corporate partner API's.
   • Design and code foundation and application software on Unix platforms, both FreeBSD and Linux, in C++ and perl.
   • Provide guidance to development application areas by applying knowledge of data warehouse design, extract-transform-load (ETL) design and development.
   • Perform various UNIX shell, DOS/Windows scripting, and C/C++ programming and building.
   • Work with the Linux Admin to fine tune OS settings per recommendations on Mysql.
   • Involve in designing custom charting software for internal use, using JavaScript HIGHCHARTS library.

   More senior information technology architect duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the senior information technology architect job description is a good way to get more applicants. A senior information technology 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 information technology architect in South Dakota may be lower than in Idaho, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level senior information technology architect. Additionally, a senior information technology architect with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average senior information technology architect salary

   $120,393yearly

   $57.88 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior information technology architect salary

   $94,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 19, 2025

   Average senior information technology architect salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$143,796	$69
   2	District of Columbia	$133,857	$64
   3	Oregon	$129,992	$63
   4	Massachusetts	$124,333	$60
   5	Washington	$122,283	$59
   6	New York	$119,682	$58
   7	Florida	$117,572	$57
   8	North Carolina	$117,508	$56
   9	Georgia	$117,346	$56
   10	Hawaii	$116,470	$56
   11	Tennessee	$114,467	$55
   12	Missouri	$114,406	$55
   13	Michigan	$113,664	$55
   14	Minnesota	$110,601	$53
   15	Virginia	$110,044	$53
   16	Arizona	$108,838	$52
   17	Illinois	$108,158	$52
   18	Ohio	$107,651	$52
   19	Texas	$107,182	$52
   20	Wisconsin	$106,234	$51

   Average senior information technology architect salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Sungard Availability Services	$141,179	$67.87
   2	NVIDIA	$140,289	$67.45	188
   3	Nike	$139,324	$66.98
   4	JPMorgan Chase & Co.	$138,446	$66.56	288
   5	Bank of the West	$137,953	$66.32
   6	Edwards Lifesciences	$135,165	$64.98	91
   7	The TJX Companies	$133,995	$64.42	11
   8	Best Buy	$133,910	$64.38	1
   9	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.	$132,345	$63.63	1
   10	Shoppers Food	$131,504	$63.22
   11	Biogen	$131,369	$63.16
   12	Pacific Gas and Electric	$130,276	$62.63
   13	Walgreens	$130,211	$62.60	4
   14	Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance	$129,539	$62.28	10
   15	Clean Harbors	$128,141	$61.61	9
   16	Walden University	$128,060	$61.57
   17	HealthPlan Services	$126,662	$60.90	1
   18	Agilent Technologies	$126,443	$60.79	5
   19	Pharmaceutical Research Associates, Inc.	$126,195	$60.67
   20	Cadence Design Systems	$126,184	$60.67	13

4. Writing a senior information technology architect job description

   A job description for a senior information technology architect role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a senior information technology architect job description:

   Senior information technology architect job description example

   Sr. IT Security Architect
   
   Location
   Work From Home MI
   
   Job Summary
   This position is part of the Security Operations and Architecture team within the Information Security and Privacy organization. The Senior Information Security Architect will be responsible for driving security architecture best practices and processes throughout the organization, balancing business priorities, information security risks, emerging threats, to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the company's networks, systems, and applications.
   
   Job Responsibilities:
   Lead security architectural designs, security engineering, and implementation of security solutions for Business and IT applications, new products and services that are scalable, resilient and secure.Participate in projects supporting Flagstar Bank systems continuous process improvement projects. Identify and recommend improvements to organizational plans, processes, procedures, and other aspects of the program. Be a security expert for multiple process areas, security controls and technologies. Research and maintain knowledge of latest technologies and provide guidance to management for strategic planning purposes.Provide expertise in analyzing, troubleshooting, remediating, and resolving security related issues. Advise business leaders on the technical impact of information security exception requests. Represent the Information Security Department on Enterprise-level projects and workgroups dealing with IT Security Architecture.Lead the translation of business and technical security requirements into architectural designs that can be leveraged for implementation efforts.Lead the design, engineering and development of security architectures for on-premises, cloud and cloud/hybrid-based systems to allow them to be met with a minimal degree of risk to our organization and with appropriate security controls present.Develop, implement, and/or maintain a holistic view of multiple security control frameworks for on-premises and cloud application implementations for business workloads and processes and establish Information security standards and policy for security.Build and integrate security into development pipelines (DevSecOps) and implement security controls to reduce risks. Demonstrate firm understanding of the offerings within Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and similar cloud platforms.Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations. Complete all required compliance training. Maintain knowledge of and adhere to Flagstar's internal compliance policies and procedures. Take responsibility to keep up to date with changing regulations and policies.
   
   Job Requirements:
   
   Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Engineering or related field CISSP is preferred Minimum 10 years of industry experience, and minimum 7 years of experience working on Information Security ArchitectureExperience leading implementation of security standards that meet banking regulatory requirements and security industry best practices, such as: FFIEC, PCI, CCPA, GLBA, SOC2, SOX, NIST, COBITExperience leading security architecture reviews for systems and products and deep knowledge of SDLC methods Extensive knowledge of security issues faced by internal/external facing applications and ability to articulate their impact on technical and business users Experience with cloud service offerings and related security controls: Google, AWS or AzureExperience with architecture and security reviews, DevSecOps, threat modeling applications and identifying area of risk Proven understanding of security controls and technologies including SIEM, DLP, WAF, IPS, and firewall Understanding development of applications through automated deployment and orchestration services, such as GitHub, Jenkins or Kubernetes
   
   Internal Use Only: Band D

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find senior information technology architects for your business, try out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important talent pools for any company is its current employees.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and your current work to ask if they know any senior information technology architects they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit entry-level senior information technology architects with the right educational background.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have more than 3.5 billion users, and they're a great place for company branding and reaching potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior information technology architect job on Zippia to find and recruit senior information technology architect candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites such as dice, engineering.com, stack overflow, it job pro.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   During your first interview to recruit senior information technology architects, engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. During the following interview, you'll be able to go into more detail about the company, the position, and the responsibilities.

   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 information technology 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 information technology architect

   Once you've selected the best senior information technology architect candidate for the job, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, this letter should include details about the benefits and perks you offer the candidate. Ensuring that your offer is competitive is essential, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and you should be open to discussion. After you reach an agreement, the final step is formalizing 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 information technology 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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