Information Technology
Systems Architect
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
Defines standards and requirements of an information technology system. Install both hardware and software during the setup and maintenance of systems. Provision and configure network ensuring applications and infrastructure can communicate to meet business requirements.
Job Outlook
There were 316 Systems Architect job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 10489 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Computer Systems Engineer / Architect industry, which includes the Systems Architect career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2012:
Salary
Many new Systems Architect 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 $115,404.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $116,600.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Systems Architect postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $100,023.
Education and Experience
Posted Systems Architect 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 | 3% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 54% |
| Master's Degree | 39% |
| Doctoral Degree | 1% |
| Other | 3% |
Posted Systems Architect 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 | 6% |
| 3 to 5 years | 34% |
| 6 to 8 years | 25% |
| 9+ years | 35% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Systems Architect 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 Skills (40%)
- Teamwork / Collaboration (35%)
- Planning (26%)
- Problem Solving (18%)
- Research (17%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- System Architecture (71%)
- System Design (28%)
- Systems Engineering (25%)
- Linux (13%)
- Systems Integration (11%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Software Development (18%)
- Java (14%)
- Python (14%)
- SQL (13%)
- Project Management (12%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Systems Development (6%)
- Scalability Design (6%)
- Solution Architecture (6%)
- Virtualization (6%)
- Hardware Experience (5%)
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 along with the marginal value: the average salary difference between postings that request that skill and those that do not.
- Digital Signal Processing (DSP) (1%) – marginal value $3,561
- Application Design (2%) – marginal value $3,438
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Systems Architect skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Senior Systems Architect
- Systems Design Engineer
- Pega Senior Systems Architect
- Pega Lead Systems Architect
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.
- Systems Engineer
- Systems Integration Engineer / Specialist
- Network Engineer / Architect
- Software Architect
- Senior Software Developer / Engineer
- Systems Analyst
- Vulnerability Analyst / Penetration Tester
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Systems Architect jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- The Boeing Company (338)
- Wells Fargo (292)
- Raytheon (290)
- Northrop Grumman (284)
- Lockheed Martin Corporation (236)
North Carolina
- Wells Fargo (42)
- Cisco Systems Incorporated (11)
- Volvo (9)
- Bank of America (7)
- Danaher Corporation (7)
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 Burning Glass Technologies. For more information about how they gather data and what it represents, see Burning Glass Technologies - Frequently Asked Questions.