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The differences between senior software architects and software engineers-consultant can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a senior software architect and a software engineer-consultant. Additionally, a senior software architect has an average salary of $129,435, which is higher than the $113,987 average annual salary of a software engineer-consultant.
The top three skills for a senior software architect include java, python and cloud. The most important skills for a software engineer-consultant are java, python, and architecture.
| Senior Software Architect | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Yearly salary | $129,435 | $113,987 |
| Hourly rate | $62.23 | $54.80 |
| Growth rate | 21% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 310,354 | 317,033 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A Senior Software Architect is focused on the development of new programs and software for technologically based organizations. They improve operations through conducting system analysis and recommending changes in policies and procedures.
A software engineer consultant develops and recommends strategies to optimize a company's software engineering operations. Their responsibilities revolve around conducting extensive research and analysis to find new opportunities, performing software evaluations and risk assessments, identifying the strengths and weaknesses of existing processes, and developing solutions against problem areas. Through the findings of their research, a software engineer consultant draws conclusions and recommendations that will help the company to reach their short and long-term goals and resolve issues or concerns.
Senior software architects and software engineers-consultant have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Software Architect | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Average salary | $129,435 | $113,987 |
| Salary range | Between $93,000 And $178,000 | Between $85,000 And $152,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Foster City, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | Netflix | Advent Software |
| Best paying industry | Internet | Insurance |
There are a few differences between a senior software architect and a software engineer-consultant in terms of educational background:
| Senior Software Architect | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 71% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Harvard University |
Here are the differences between senior software architects' and software engineers-consultant' demographics:
| Senior Software Architect | Software Engineer-Consultant | |
| Average age | 39 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 94.0% Female, 6.0% | Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 8.2% Asian, 29.9% White, 52.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% | Black or African American, 4.7% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 8.4% Asian, 29.7% White, 52.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 8% | 8% |