Senior security architect vs information security engineer

The differences between senior security architects and information security engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a senior security architect and an information security engineer. Additionally, a senior security architect has an average salary of $129,456, which is higher than the $97,288 average annual salary of an information security engineer.

The top three skills for a senior security architect include cloud security, cloud and risk assessments. The most important skills for an information security engineer are infrastructure, incident response, and security tools.

Senior security architect vs information security engineer overview

	Senior Security Architect	Information Security Engineer
Yearly salary	$129,456	$97,288
Hourly rate	$62.24	$46.77
Growth rate	32%	32%
Number of jobs	123,555	120,257
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

What does a senior security architect do?

Senior security architects deal with developing solutions to accomplish goals and providing ideas about structure, growth, and solutions. Their job revolves around a quick moving environment, constant communication, and working with partners to identify business opportunities. Having this position requires leadership and mentoring skills to help junior team members succeed in this field. They should have technical skills to design and develop solutions to improve an already existing technology. Also, they will be responsible for developing, planning, and executing security systems and strategies.

What does an information security engineer do?

An information security engineer specializes in designing and developing systems to protect company and customer data from hackers or any cyber attacks. Their responsibilities revolve around coordinating with different departments to identify their needs, assess existing programs to identify any areas needing improvement, monitor network and system for any problems, and implement preventive measures for protection. Should there be any breaches, it is essential to resolve them right away and conduct an investigation to prevent it from happening again. Furthermore, it is necessary to assist employees in utilizing security systems to ensure smooth workflow.

Senior security architect vs information security engineer salary

Senior security architects and information security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Senior Security Architect	Information Security Engineer
Average salary	$129,456	$97,288
Salary range	Between $96,000 And $173,000	Between $73,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City	Olympia, WA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	California
Best paying company	Apple	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Professional	Technology

Differences between senior security architect and information security engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior security architect and an information security engineer in terms of educational background:

	Senior Security Architect	Information Security Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 66%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Computer Science	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Senior security architect vs information security engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior security architects' and information security engineers' demographics:

	Senior Security Architect	Information Security Engineer
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 94.3% Female, 5.7%	Male, 88.3% Female, 11.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	9%	9%

Differences between senior security architect and information security engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior security architect example responsibilities.

Achieve full compliance for industry specification standards (UL, NEMA, NIST).
Manage logistics of moving necessary equipment for test across country to newly designed/built NSA certify test facility.
Provide governance and direction for proper use of data.
Implement logging, Nessus, write policies and develop encryption from framework for PCI/SOX compliance.
Ensure encryption solutions are in compliance with company policies, regulatory directives, and best practices.
Develop enterprise security policy, standards, controls and guidelines base on PCI, SOX, HIPPA, and NIST standards.

Information security engineer example responsibilities.

Lead the certification and accreditation efforts by implementing NIST 800-53 security controls in order to obtain FISMA compliance.
Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.
Ensure that security policies are properly implement using NIST guidelines and perform auditing of logs.
Conduct Java algorithm design reviews and resolve any design issues.
Automate manual queries and integration using WhiteHat API's with PERL and Java.
Update ACAS plugins weekly or when updates become available on the DISA provide website.

Senior security architect vs information security engineer skills

Common senior security architect skills

Cloud Security, 8%
Cloud, 8%
Risk Assessments, 5%
Encryption, 5%
Firewall, 5%
Windows, 4%

Common information security engineer skills

Infrastructure, 7%
Incident Response, 6%
Security Tools, 5%
Network Security, 4%
SIEM, 4%
NIST, 4%

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Senior Security Architect
Senior Security Architect vs Information Security Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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