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Technical manager vs architect

The differences between technical managers and architects can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 1-2 years to become a technical manager, becoming an architect takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a technical manager has an average salary of $116,619, which is higher than the $86,635 average annual salary of an architect.

The top three skills for a technical manager include project management, infrastructure and architecture. The most important skills for an architect are cloud, java, and infrastructure.

Technical manager vs architect overview

Technical ManagerArchitect
Yearly salary$116,619$86,635
Hourly rate$56.07$41.65
Growth rate8%3%
Number of jobs116,73294,621
Job satisfaction-3
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age4045
Years of experience24

What does a technical manager do?

A technical manager is responsible for maintaining the company's information systems database and analyzing technology system matters to ensure its efficiency and accuracy in supporting business operations. Technical managers perform network checks regularly to assess any possible malfunctions that might compromise the company's cybersecurity. They carefully analyze business and clients' specifications on working with systems integration, responding to end-users' concerns and inquiries. A technical manager must have excellent knowledge of the information technology systems industry, as well as a strong command on network codes to conduct adjustments and manage network infrastructure.

What does an architect do?

Architects are licensed professionals who specialize in art and science of design, building constructions, and structures. They play a vital role in the construction and not only responsible for the appearance but also the safety of users. They ensure that every structure is functional, safe, cost-effective, and suit the needs of the future occupants. They closely monitor the working progress to make sure that the project is built according to plan. Some architects are focused mainly on creating designs while some are exclusive in the production of building plans or "blueprints".

Technical manager vs architect salary

Technical managers and architects have different pay scales, as shown below.

Technical ManagerArchitect
Average salary$116,619$86,635
Salary rangeBetween $84,000 And $161,000Between $54,000 And $137,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaAlaska
Best paying companyA.T. KearneyMeta
Best paying industryManufacturingTechnology

Differences between technical manager and architect education

There are a few differences between a technical manager and an architect in terms of educational background:

Technical ManagerArchitect
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common majorBusinessArchitecture
Most common collegeCarnegie Mellon UniversityCornell University

Technical manager vs architect demographics

Here are the differences between technical managers' and architects' demographics:

Technical ManagerArchitect
Average age4045
Gender ratioMale, 83.7% Female, 16.3%Male, 76.7% Female, 23.3%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.6% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%Black or African American, 2.3% Unknown, 3.9% Hispanic or Latino, 11.8% Asian, 16.0% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage14%15%

Differences between technical manager and architect duties and responsibilities

Technical manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead efforts to establish asset and desktop /server management best practices.
  • Provide project management and KPIs development to ensure service levels are achieve and improve upon.
  • Project manage WebEx's customer call flow (IVRU) structure to meet both business and customer needs.
  • Lead project to implement Salesforce.com.
  • Manage high level support resources and evaluate XML technology against business requirements.
  • Optimize chemical formulas, manage chemical supply chain, troubleshoot laboratory and plant implementation.
  • Show more

Architect example responsibilities.

  • Manage Daimler resources for development of RFC programs
  • Manage overall testing activities withing the group including functinal, system and regression testing.
  • Manage the company website using HTML and CSS to produce an easily read website that customers can access more intuitively.
  • Manage GitLab and Jenkins deployment environment to support automate AWS- development software builds.
  • Lead re-architecture and implementation of cloud solution for enterprise auto-backup of individual computing devices.
  • Provide insight and manage all technology relate aspects with presentations and communications at Sr. management and CxO level.
  • Show more

Technical manager vs architect skills

Common technical manager skills
  • Project Management, 7%
  • Infrastructure, 6%
  • Architecture, 6%
  • Java, 5%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Emerging Technologies, 4%
Common architect skills
  • Cloud, 10%
  • Java, 8%
  • Infrastructure, 7%
  • Azure, 5%
  • AWS, 5%
  • Digital Transformation, 5%

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