What is a Senior Security Architect?

Senior security architects' whole careers revolve around cybersecurity. More often than not, they build systems from the ground up, engineering complex code and algorithms. As the senior team member, they are also in charge of leading their team and mentoring junior engineers.

Most employers require their senior security architects to at least have a college diploma. We found that employed American senior security architects commonly hold degrees in computer science, computer systems security, and management information systems. Because this is such a high-skill job, many candidates take more time to hone their skills by pursuing a master's degree in those fields.

Senior security architects in the United States earn an average yearly salary of roughly about $141,000. That's more or less $68 an hour. Suppose you want to cash in a bigger paycheck. In that case, you might want to look for employers that offer more competitive salaries like Bloomberg and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which pay $151,000 or more to their senior security architects on average.

What Does a Senior Security Architect Do

There are certain skills that many senior security architects have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, detail oriented and problem-solving skills.

Learn more about what a Senior Security Architect does

How To Become a Senior Security Architect

If you're interested in becoming a senior security architect, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 66.1% of senior security architects have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 19.0% of senior security architects have master's degrees. Even though most senior security architects have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Senior Security Architect
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Senior Security Architect Career Paths

As you move along in your career, you may start taking on more responsibilities or notice that you've taken on a leadership role. Using our career map, a senior security architect can determine their career goals through the career progression. For example, they could start out with a role such as security director, progress to a title such as operations director and then eventually end up with the title senior director of information & technology.

Senior Security Architect

Average Salary for a Senior Security Architect

Senior Security Architects in America make an average salary of $129,456 per year or $62 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $173,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $96,000 per year.
Average Senior Security Architect Salary
$129,456 Yearly
$62.24 hourly
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Roles and Types of Senior Security Architect

The role of a senior security architect includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general senior security architect responsibilities:

  • Work with technology partners to architect security elements that align with business needs
  • Leveraging leading security standards and practices for designing the future state solutions by understanding the business goals
  • Oversees implementation and maturity of the security development lifecycle (sdl) assists in directing

There are several types of senior security architect, including:

Architect

Role:

From designing to planning, architects have a hand in houses, factories, office buildings and other structures. Working from an office, architects spend their days developing plans for such structures and meet with clients to ensure their dream is being carried out.

While it all sounds like fun and games, you do need a good amount of education and experience to be able to become an architect. A bachelor's degree is step one. Then you need experience through a paid internship. Before accepting a job offer, you even need to pass the Architect Registration Examination.

  • Average Salary: $86,635
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Information Security Analyst

Role:

Information Security Analysts are responsible for creating security systems to ensure the information stored on a company's network is inaccessible to cyber attacks. They contribute to creating safety regulations and see to it that safety standards are maintained.

As an information security analyst, your job will be to monitor computer networks, install security software, and create documentation of any potential risks to security you detect. Your job will be to inform your colleagues on up to date security processes and perform tests to make sure networks and data are sufficiently protected.

Firewalls, antivirus scanning, proxies, and intrusion detection systems will be your best friends on the job. You will need a degree in computer science or a related field and previous experience on the job to land this position.

  • Average Salary: $98,144
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Securities Analyst

Role:

Typically, a Securities Analyst, also known as a financial analyst, researches and, of course, analyses various companies for their clients, attempting to understand how secure the companies are on the market and in trade, if and how much they grow, and how much they might earn going forward. An Analyst might perform this research only on the company they were hired by, thus evaluating what kind of a danger their client might be in, and giving them a rough idea of the road ahead.

More often than not, a Securities Analyst entering the field is expected to have at least a Bachelor's in Computer Science, Programming, or so on, as well as one to five years of experience in a role closely related to this one.

  • Average Salary: $84,334
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
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States With The Most Senior Security Architect Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active senior security architect jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where senior security architects earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Senior Security Architect Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1Texas5,149$120,046
2New York3,349$149,675
3Illinois3,250$120,980
4Pennsylvania2,956$133,346
5California2,399$144,680
6Georgia2,362$113,395
7North Carolina2,347$130,523
8New Jersey2,184$130,382
9Ohio2,081$123,972
10Florida1,976$107,200
11Washington1,786$155,077
12Virginia1,661$114,159
13Minnesota1,579$116,370
14Maryland1,525$109,081
15Arizona1,383$122,367
16Michigan1,371$122,593
17Missouri1,225$108,438
18Indiana1,134$114,301
19Colorado1,095$116,987
20Tennessee1,011$113,907
21Wisconsin982$127,594
22Alabama847$116,174
23Connecticut829$115,182
24Massachusetts702$133,185
25South Carolina683$117,845
26Kentucky599$119,055
27Oregon554$140,912
28Iowa541$114,687
29Nevada493$129,130
30Kansas467$114,540
31Oklahoma464$113,626
32Louisiana462$115,638
33Arkansas423$116,810
34Mississippi419$114,498
35Nebraska413$115,213
36New Hampshire354$113,991
37New Mexico339$122,325
38Idaho307$124,225
39Utah291$141,495
40Delaware288$122,000
41West Virginia238$121,872
42Montana235$115,445
43North Dakota225$109,024
44Rhode Island210$129,281
45Maine209$120,835
46Alaska192$123,841
47South Dakota149$110,564
48Hawaii141$122,708
49Wyoming114$117,610
50Vermont99$124,396

Senior Security Architect Education

Senior Security Architect Majors

Computer Science
26.3 %
Business
9.0 %
Computer Information Systems
9.0 %

Senior Security Architect Degrees

Bachelors

66.1 %

Masters

19.0 %

Associate

6.9 %

Top Colleges for Senior Security Architects

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

5. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

6. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

7. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

8. Boston University

Boston, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,948

Enrollment

17,238

9. New York University

New York, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,828

Enrollment

26,339

10. Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$50,530

Enrollment

4,571

Top Skills For a Senior Security Architect

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 8.1% of senior security architects listed cloud security on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and detail oriented are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Security Architect Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Security Architect templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Security Architect resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Senior Security Architect diversity

Senior Security Architect Gender Distribution

Male
Male
94%
Female
Female
6%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior security architects, 5.7% of them are women, while 94.3% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior security architects is White, which makes up 65.7% of all senior security architects.

  • The most common foreign language among senior security architects is Spanish at 40.0%.

Online Courses For Senior Security Architect That You May Like

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1. Introduction to Cybersecurity

udacity

Explore the fundamental building blocks of cybersecurity. Learn how networks handle routing, DNS, load-balancing, and more. Learn the Linux operating system, and review programming and APIs. Start building cloud infrastructure...

2. Security Governance & Compliance

coursera

Students are introduced to the field of cyber security with a focus on the domain of security & risk management. Topics include the fundamental concepts and goals of cybersecurity (the CIA triad), security governance design, the NIST cybersecurity framework, relevant laws and regulations, and the roles of policies, strategies, and procedures in cybersecurity governance...

3. AWS Fundamentals: Addressing Security Risk

coursera

Welcome to AWS Fundamentals: Addressing Security Risk! This course will give you an overview of security best practices when developing and managing applications on AWS. The course, created by AWS experts and delivered by AWS Solutions Architects, uses video lectures, hands-on exercise guides, demonstrations, and quizzes to dive deep on concepts about security on AWS. You will learn about the concept of “least privilege” and the AWS Shared Responsibility Model, as well as view demonstrations of...

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Best States For a Senior Security Architect

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior security architect. The best states for people in this position are Washington, New York, California, and Utah. Senior security architects make the most in Washington with an average salary of $155,077. Whereas in New York and California, they would average $149,675 and $144,680, respectively. While senior security architects would only make an average of $141,495 in Utah, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Washington

Total Senior Security Architect Jobs: 1,786
Highest 10% Earn:
$209,000
Location Quotient:
1.28

$155,077

Avg. Salary

View 1,786 Senior Security Architect Jobs In WA

2. New York

Total Senior Security Architect Jobs: 3,349
Highest 10% Earn:
$204,000
Location Quotient:
1.37

$149,675

Avg. Salary

View 3,349 Senior Security Architect Jobs In NY

3. Pennsylvania

Total Senior Security Architect Jobs: 2,956
Highest 10% Earn:
$181,000
Location Quotient:
1.33

$133,346

Avg. Salary

View 2,956 Senior Security Architect Jobs In PA
Full List Of Best States For Senior Security Architects

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Top Senior Security Architect Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ senior security architects and discovered their number of senior security architect opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Bank of America was the best, especially with an average salary of $117,270. NVIDIA follows up with an average salary of $145,217, and then comes FireEye with an average of $127,510. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a senior security architect. The employers include U.S. Bank, Oracle, and Sysco

Most Common Employers For Senior Security Architect

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Bloomberg$153,073$73.594
2Microsoft$145,601$70.004
3NVIDIA$145,217$69.8211
4Motion Recruitment$140,193$67.406
5Hewlett Packard Enterprise$137,090$65.914
6Salesforce$134,533$64.685
7Akamai Technologies$132,889$63.895
8Staples$132,268$63.593
9Unisys$129,852$62.433
10AT&T$129,755$62.388
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Senior Security Architect Videos

Effective Security Architecture as a Foundation for Risk Reduction
Rashmi Knowles, Chief Security Architect, EMEA, RSA, The Security Division of EMC

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Updated April 6, 2023