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Senior security architect vs senior security engineer

The differences between senior security architects and senior 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 a senior security engineer. Additionally, a senior security architect has an average salary of $129,456, which is higher than the $122,480 average annual salary of a senior security engineer.

The top three skills for a senior security architect include cloud security, cloud and risk assessments. The most important skills for a senior security engineer are cloud security, java, and linux.

Senior security architect vs senior security engineer overview

Senior Security ArchitectSenior Security Engineer
Yearly salary$129,456$122,480
Hourly rate$62.24$58.88
Growth rate32%32%
Number of jobs123,55569,850
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4242
Years of experience66

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 a senior security engineer do?

A senior security engineer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the organization's systems and network database to prevent unauthorized access and avoid data breaches. Senior security engineers inspect the efficiency of networks, perform system configuration, and increase the optimal performance of complex systems. They also implement policies and procedures for compliance with the proper utilization of information directories. They also conduct regular maintenance of networks, create update reports, and resolve glitches and security threats.

Senior security architect vs senior security engineer salary

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

Senior Security ArchitectSenior Security Engineer
Average salary$129,456$122,480
Salary rangeBetween $96,000 And $173,000Between $90,000 And $164,000
Highest paying CityOlympia, WASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonCalifornia
Best paying companyAppleRoku
Best paying industryProfessionalManufacturing

Differences between senior security architect and senior security engineer education

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

Senior Security ArchitectSenior Security Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 66%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Science
Most common collegeStanford UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Senior security architect vs senior security engineer demographics

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

Senior Security ArchitectSenior Security Engineer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 94.3% Female, 5.7%Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between senior security architect and senior 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.
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Senior security engineer example responsibilities.

  • Manage logistics of moving necessary equipment for test across country to newly designed/built NSA certify test facility.
  • Assess cloud providers and products to meet NIST 800-53 for accreditation of applications operating in the cloud.
  • Involve in migrating JBOSS /Fat java applications to RHEL6 upgrade.
  • Conduct vulnerability scans using NESSUS to scan the CMS QIO network infrastructure.
  • Install and maintain security infrastructure, including IPS/IDS, log management, and SIEM systems.
  • Design and implement a plan to upgrade the ACAS infrastructure to include MDA's remote sites.
  • Show more

Senior security architect vs senior security engineer skills

Common senior security architect skills
  • Cloud Security, 8%
  • Cloud, 8%
  • Risk Assessments, 5%
  • Encryption, 5%
  • Firewall, 5%
  • Windows, 4%
Common senior security engineer skills
  • Cloud Security, 8%
  • Java, 8%
  • Linux, 5%
  • Windows, 5%
  • Incident Response, 4%
  • Security Engineering, 4%

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