Software Architect (General)
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Software Architect develops and defines the architecture for computer software and applications projects. Oversees the entire software development process; may manage projects for multiple clients. Analyzes customer or user needs, defines system architecture, and leads team of software developers to design programs and build applications.
Job Outlook
There were 1167 Software Architect (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 34148 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Software Developer / Engineer industry, which includes the Software Architect (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:
Salary
Many new Software Architect (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $130,323.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $121,968.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Software Architect (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $117,073.
Education and Experience
Posted Software Architect (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 1.42% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 56.66% |
| Master's Degree | 22.14% |
| Doctoral Degree | 6.29% |
| Other | 1.9% |
Posted Software Architect (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 4.11% |
| 3 to 5 years | 29.15% |
| 6 to 8 years | 24.86% |
| 9+ years | 41.88% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Software Architect (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (41.59%)
- Leadership (25.74%)
- Management (25.25%)
- Problem Solving (22.62%)
- Innovation (17.78%)
- Operations (15.21%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (14.27%)
- Mentorship (14.17%)
- Planning (13.59%)
- Research (12.53%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Software Engineering (24.96%)
- Java (Programming Language) (25.69%)
- Solution Architecture (22.06%)
- Software Architecture (12.47%)
- Application Programming Interface (API) (25.44%)
- Software Development (34.33%)
- Computer Science (40.46%)
- Agile Methodology (33.54%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Application Development (9.14%)
- Information Systems (6.01%)
- Business Requirements (15.22%)
- CI/CD (14.3%)
- RESTful API (11.27%)
- Workflow Management (13.66%)
- HyperText Markup Language (HTML) (8.95%)
- Scalability (22.09%)
- Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) (10.17%)
- Architectural Design (10.12%)
- Software As A Service (SaaS) (7.28%)
- Software Development Life Cycle (12.53%)
- Scripting (10.72%)
- Artificial Intelligence (9.42%)
- Microsoft Azure (21.54%)
- Web Services (11.07%)
- Machine Learning (9.56%)
- Computer Engineering (8.56%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (17.07%)
- Docker (Software) (8.01%)
- Kubernetes (10.31%)
- Amazon Web Services (23.33%)
- JavaScript (Programming Language) (20.46%)
- Python (Programming Language) (16.13%)
- Linux (8.62%)
- Systems Architecture (12.53%)
- Software Design Patterns (10.46%)
- Technology Solutions (6.13%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (8.64%)
- Solution Design (5.94%)
- ServiceNow (10.46%)
- Technical Leadership (11.66%)
- Debugging (8.7%)
- Automation (20.07%)
- Code Review (9.72%)
- Microservices (17.43%)
- Scrum (Software Development) (13.41%)
- Business Process (9.02%)
- Data Modeling (7.05%)
- Systems Development Life Cycle (10.33%)
- C# (Programming Language) (10.49%)
- Git (Version Control System) (8.92%)
- Emerging Technologies (7.84%)
- Angular (Web Framework) (10.03%)
- DevOps (14.8%)
- React.js (Javascript Library) (9.23%)
- Project Management (14.58%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- The Open Group Architecture Framework (TOGAF) (1.66%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Software Architecture (100%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Software Architect (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Software Architect
- Servicenow Architect
- Solutions Architect
- Java Architect
- Principal Architect
- Technical Architect
- Architect
- Platform Architect
- Systems Architect
- Principal Software Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Software Architect (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Intel (426)
- Boeing (375)
- Cognizant Technology Solutions (358)
- Deloitte (300)
- JPMorgan Chase (285)
- Accenture (285)
- Randstad (285)
- Guidehouse (269)
- The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) (234)
- Oracle (222)
North Carolina
- MetLife (46)
- Randstad (37)
- Cognizant Technology Solutions (35)
- Fidelity Investments (28)
- Avanade (20)
- Allegis Group (17)
- TEKsystems (14)
- Capgemini (13)
- Charlotte, Nc (12)
- Deloitte (12)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.