Software development is a complex field. Hiring the right team enhances the successful completion of projects while opening doors to better opportunities. A software architect, for instance, is a specialist who plays several roles in the tech department of a company. That is why, in this guide, we describe who a software architect is, why you need to hire a professional software architect, and how to hire such a professional, among many other insights.
Who is a software architect?
A software architect is a professional who oversees all processes, including making core decisions in a software system.
A software architect defines the system’s architecture, including the components and their respective interfaces, oversees how components within the system’s architecture interact with one another, and provides insightful protocols that guide the organization and the entire team into working collaboratively to achieve core business objectives.
Apart from that, software architects take care of technical aspects of software development, such as technology constraints, security concerns, scalability, reuse, resilience, performance, and functionality of the system. Above all, these specialists ensure all the decisions they make are passed across to technical staff and stakeholders to ensure all the teams involved are on the same page.
Note: there are different types of software architects, with each specializing in different fields as described below:
- Enterprise architects – These specialists’ core objective is to ensure the company’s IT networks are updated and maintained regularly for better performance. They do this by analyzing business objectives the creating a design that aligns with the vision of the business.
- Cloud architects – These specialists are responsible for building, designing, managing, and deploying the cloud computing infrastructure in a company. They build and launch apps to the cloud, then monitor all the activities to ensure everything is in perfect shape. They also monitor resource utilization and planning for regular maintenance schedules.
- Solution architects – These specialists concentrate on finding tech solutions based on arising challenges in a business. They are responsible for ensuring they find suitable solutions to specific issues that will help a business meet users’ expectations and meet business goals.
- Data architects – These determine the procedures, tools, policies, and models to use in a software development environment that helps the teams generate, organize, store, and access business data with ease. These specialists also set standards for collecting, storing, and migrating data from current data structures.
What are the duties, roles, and responsibilities of a software architect?
So, what role or value does a software architect add to a company? Well, a software architect requires both technical and soft skills to carry out their duties and responsibilities. Below are well-elaborated roles and responsibilities of a software architect:
- Determining the appropriate software architecture based on the dynamics of a project. This includes choosing the right frameworks, technologies, and patterns that will help the development team create a scalable and solid system.
- Working collaboratively with other teams, including business analysts, project managers, and software engineers, to evaluate and determine the project’s needs. This helps the bigger team formulate procedures and architectural patterns that meet business goals.
- Analyzing and choosing reliable platforms, libraries, and third-party tools that suit a specific project best. They also factor in compatibility issues, overall performance, and expenses involved.
- Tracking and monitoring the software system to ensure it is easy to maintain, highly scalable, and secure by setting the required tech standards and choosing the best designs that align with the project needs.
- Generating and maintaining detailed software architecture documentation with technical standards, architectural patterns, and design decisions to help the teams follow during the entire development timeline.
- Training and overseeing tech activities among the development teams
- Offering technical leadership and guiding the software development teams in all aspects. This entails sharing valuable knowledge on best practices and procedures to follow and mentoring junior developers within the team as they motivate them.
- Verifying that the software architecture pattern aligns with industry-specific standards and best practices while keeping up with emerging trends & technologies to ensure the business remains competitive.
- Analyzing and finding possible technical risks and challenges and addressing them in a timely manner. They do this by assessing the architectural system and defining strategies to resolve the arising issues.
- Planning and monitoring software development progress to ensure timely delivery.
Why you need to hire a software architect
Hiring a professional software architect is an integral decision you will ever make for your company. These specialists will offer the following benefits to your organization:
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Better speed and scalability
In software development, change is inevitable. The changes vary, it can entail fixing bugs along the way, adding new features, and changing the project’s development scope. Without the right skillset, it can be hard to implement these changes to create a scalable software solution, and that is where a software architect comes in. The specialist will assess the state of the project and define appropriate steps and measures to take to align the project continuity without experiencing any complexities along the way.
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Streamlined coding processes
Software architects have the potential to asses and identify areas to reuse or duplicate the code during project development. This helps the team save time and resources while offering the flexibility of achieving emerging business requirements seamlessly without interrupting project continuity.
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Offers a viable platform to build on
Software architects have the skills and knowledge relevant to streamline the software project development process right from the word go. Without such an expert, it can be hard to outline the technical side of the project plus the right roadmap to follow to ensure the final project is delivered in a timely manner and of high standards.
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Streamlined communication among teams
Again, software architects have the best leadership skills and qualities. They help create a streamlined communication protocol among the teams.
By setting up proper communication channels and sharing the project’s comprehensive documentation, a software architect ensures all teams are working in the same direction to achieve a common business goal. This is especially crucial in cases of complex projects that require maximum attention.
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Better security and risk mitigation
Software architects have a better understanding of the required security checks for specific projects and possible risks that might arise when the project is on. Therefore, they put in place measures to mitigate such risks and ensure all security protocols are followed from development stages to product launches. This ensures the final project delivery is compliant with industry-specific guidelines and all sensitive data and details are well-protected.
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Fast product launches
An architect oversees all the progress of project development. By tracking and monitoring every step and phase of project development, these specialists ensure they handle issues arising along the way promptly without interrupting project continuity. What’s more, these specialists plan and schedule project timelines accordingly, implement measures, and choose strategies that will ensure the timely completion of a high-quality standard project, thus launching the product in the market early enough to gain a competitive advantage.
How to hire a software architect: step-by-step process
We’ve seen how relevant software architects are in an organization. The next question is, how do you find the right software architect? This section breaks down all you need to do until you find the right software architect for your company:
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Create a detailed job description and post
Before any other step, you need a detailed job description, narrowing down what you are looking for in a software architect. A team manager can help out here to ensure you cover every aspect of the job description to ensure you get the right fit in the end.
In the job description, include the required skills, duties & responsibilities, certification or education required, and a comprehensive job description. With the job description completed, you can then post it on the following platforms. It all depends on your preference and job dynamics. Each platform has its advantages and disadvantages, so do a thorough analysis before using a specific platform. These platforms from where you can get the best software architect include the following:
- Job boards – Job boards allow you to create a detailed job post once you create a business profile. In fact, many IT specialists are getting their dream jobs through job boards. Once you have your profile; you can then include the URL of your company and business logo. You are free to include details of the working atmosphere and the culture of your company to attract the right software architect to join your team.
- Recruiting firms – Here, you let a recruiting firm handle the hiring process on your behalf, especially when you have limited time. In most cases, these recruiting forms use cold calling techniques, databases, and social media platforms to recruit tech experts the conduct a thorough screening process until they get the right fit for your company.
- Outsourcing companies – Here, you simply hire a third-part software development company like Aalpha Information Systems to carry out the tech services needed in your company. The outsourced company is made of specialized experts who will handle the tasks or projects to high standards, ensuring they don’t miss any deadlines.
- Freelancers – freelancers are individual contractors who offer their services depending on the client’s needs. It can be long-term/short-term based on the nature of the project. There are many platforms you can source freelancer software architects, including Upwork, Guru, Toptal, Fiverr, and freelancer, among many others.
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Define the key skills you are looking for
After a detailed job description, you need the definitive skills you will be assessing when conducting the interview process. These are the must-have skills you are searching for in a software architect.
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Build a skills assessment
With the list of the must-have skills you are looking for in a software architect, you need a skill assessment procedure to use as you evaluate and screen candidates thoroughly.
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Onboard applicants to complete the skills assessment
You can now invite the applicants to start completing the skills assessment procedures as you have proposed. Instead of screening curriculum vitae from the applicants, you can use this method and save more time and effort.
In the invite, include all the required details as you prepare your candidates adequately. The applicants should know your assessment processes, the hiring procedures, and what to expect in the end. This creates a seamless hiring environment while creating a solid brand for your business.
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Evaluate results and identify top talent
After completing the skills assessment procedures, start analyzing the results and reviewing the individual applicant’s capacity. Compare and contrast until you select the best performer as the ideal candidate to fit the software architect job in your company.
Have several candidates from this analysis, as you will filter them out in the next stages.
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Interviewing the selected candidates
Once you have a list of your best candidates, you need to have a one-on-one interview with them and evaluate their potential in service delivery. The interview can be done online or physically, depending on your arrangements with your candidates.
Make sure you have relevant questions for specific roles. This will ensure you settle with the right candidate in the end.
In this case, structured interviews are the best because you will analyze the applicant’s capability from different angles and then compare the results in a smooth manner without biases.
We have included a sample of questions to ask software architect applicants in another section towards the end of this blog.
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Hire your next software architect
At this point, you have enough data, and you have performed sufficient analysis. It is about time you make a decision to choose the ideal candidate to fit the software architect job vacancy. Reach out to your selected candidate, share the terms and conditions of the contract, and start your engagement.
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Inform unsuccessful candidates
As a reputable tech company, don’t skip this step like most companies do. Even if the candidate missed the chance, they deserve to know instead of waiting with their hopes intact. Letting them know they have missed the chance enables them to have a positive experience with the company.
So, reach out to unselected applicants and stand out as the best tech company.
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Onboard your new employee
Finish the hiring process by onboarding the new employee. This process entails welcoming the new member to the team and, familiarizing them with the working environment, conditions, and introducing them to other team members. This final step is quite crucial as it helps the new member become free and motivated to start collaboration with others for a productive working environment.
Skills and competencies to look out for in a software architect
In most cases, software architects are expert programmers. However, not every programmer can make a perfect software architect. As you navigate the world of finding the next suitable software architect for your company, we’ve included a set of skills you should look into until you land the right specialist.
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Education
A qualified software architect must have at least a bachelor’s degree either in software engineering, information systems, computer science, or other related field. However, experience and training play a big role in determining the most suitable software architect for a specific project.
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Technical skills
An ideal software architect must have in-depth knowledge, skills, and understanding of the technical requirements of a specific project. This means that a software architect shouldn’t be limited to a specific tech stack, as in the case of developers.
They need to be updated on the emerging development strategies & best practices, architectural designs, new language, and trending frameworks.
Therefore, your next software architect should be open to welcoming new ideas and always be a step ahead of the new tech practices and approaches in the tech landscape.
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Coding skills
While coding isn’t a basic skill when hiring a software architect, it is crucial for software architect specialists to understand the language as they need to apply the same knowledge in relation to software development approaches the team uses for a particular project. After all, how will a software architect solve coding issues when they arise? They basically need to have a better understanding of coding to guide the team and make some decisions during project development.
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Engineering mindset
The architecture of a system is everything. Therefore, a software architect must be able to evaluate a newly launched system, including its linkages and components, in a professional manner.
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Communication skills
Apart from technical skills, software architects must have soft skills such as communication. They are in charge of steering communication among the bigger team, including the stakeholders, software engineers, developers, designers, and business analysts, when discussing a project, from the idea conception stage to the development stages and finally to the deployment stages, they need proper communication abilities to streamline communication among the teams.
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Flexibility
A good software architect is not all about ordering the team to do specific tasks. Instead, they should be flexible enough to listen to what others have to say and encourage creativity among the teams. This creates a smooth and motivated working environment for all, thus enhancing overall productivity.
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Creative and independent thinking
A software architect doesn’t follow specific rules. Instead, they take charge of a project and ensure every step is accomplished professionally. They can achieve this by welcoming creativity and independent thinking, especially when making core project decisions.
By independent thinking, a good software architect must have the ability to convince the team of the practicality of a specific idea or concept that will enhance project completion.
Questions to ask software architects during an interview
When interviewing a software architect, you can run out of ideas and concepts to ask the candidate. Here is a glimpse of questions you can ask your candidates as you weigh their potential and capabilities.
- How will you solve business issues within our company?
- Explain the framework you have used in your previous projects.
- Which technology in software development do you prefer? What are the reasons?
- What challenges have you faced before when planning an architectural layout? How did you solve it?
- What is your procedure for documenting a product’s design?
- Describe approaches you can followto structure a program
- What details would you include in a software architecture document?
- What is your understanding of architectural features such as dependability and scalability, among others?
- Describe how you can design functions to validate structural properties
- How do you ensure you are updated with the rending and emerging technologies?
- What measures do you put in place to monitor and track the quality of the code?
- Explain how you handle technical debt in your current project
- Explain how you measure the standard of external libraries in relation to open-source library practices.
- With an example, explain how you performed an analysis for architecture trade-off.
- How do you solve technical difficulties with the entire development team? Give examples of the issues you experienced and how you resolved them.
How much does a software architect earn?
The earning of a software architect varies depending on factors such as the skills they possess, experience level, the location of the software architect, and the type of company or organization they are working for.
With these factors considered, the average salary of a professional software architect can range from $135,000 to $250,000 per year or even more.
Conclusion
A software architect has a key role in the functioning and productivity of an organization. Apart from offering technical knowledge and skills, a software architect fosters a good working and collaboration relationship among the teams.
They implement strategic communication measures to ensure all the fundamentals of a project are communicated in a timely manner; they guide and advise the team on the best measures and approaches to accelerate project development and completion to high standards, and many other tasks.
Hiring the best software architect requires proper planning and then follow the process outlined in this guide. You only need to ensure the candidate you settle with will accomplish the vision of your business.
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