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The differences between senior systems architects and chief architects can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a chief architect has an average salary of $168,836, which is higher than the $113,858 average annual salary of a senior systems architect.
The top three skills for a senior systems architect include java, scrum and cloud. The most important skills for a chief architect are cloud, infrastructure, and digital transformation.
| Senior Systems Architect | Chief Architect | |
| Yearly salary | $113,858 | $168,836 |
| Hourly rate | $54.74 | $81.17 |
| Growth rate | 5% | 21% |
| Number of jobs | 143,269 | 98,518 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
It is the job of a senior systems architect to develop, enforce, and maintain servers under the goals of an organization. Senior systems architects assess the requirements of businesses and customers, design documents, and develop architectural approaches. The architects establish and interpret structural designs and serve as managers, advisors, and mentors. They take responsibility for providing technical advice for software development. Typically, they work onsite and in offices to ensure team cohesion and successful projects.
Chief architects are C-level executives in information technology (IT) who look at IT functions that may be centralized for seamless collaboration. They are also called enterprise architects who design and manage the software release team base on the scrum/agile development methodologies. Their job involves systems analysis, and they project plan in transitioning the Internet operation of MCI to wireless and cable platforms. Also, they offer a disaster recovery solution for a virtual or physical server to a data center in the cloud.
Senior systems architects and chief architects have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Senior Systems Architect | Chief Architect | |
| Average salary | $113,858 | $168,836 |
| Salary range | Between $83,000 And $155,000 | Between $111,000 And $255,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | Washington |
| Best paying company | Zscaler | |
| Best paying industry | Manufacturing | Retail |
There are a few differences between a senior systems architect and a chief architect in terms of educational background:
| Senior Systems Architect | Chief Architect | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 65% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between senior systems architects' and chief architects' demographics:
| Senior Systems Architect | Chief Architect | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 91.3% Female, 8.7% | Male, 92.7% Female, 7.3% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 11% |