Hiring High-Paying Technical Architect Roles | Aniday

1. What is a Technical Architect?

A Technical Architect is also known as an IT Systems Architect. To construct IT systems, they serve as liaisons between a business, management, and design and development specialists. They are in charge of collaborating with organizations and planning or redesigning IT systems to ensure they operate accurately and as expected. Key responsibilities include ensuring that all aspects of the IT system operate as planned, that the organisation's requirements have been fully satisfied and the system meets the needs of those who will use it.

A Technical Architect needs to be highly trained and experienced. IT proficiency is extremely necessary; therefore, most employers will require a minimum of a bachelor's degree or higher education. Related fields of study include computer engineering or computer science, business information systems, mathematics, software development, and information management systems.

A solid foundation from a Technical Architect in system analysis, development, testing or programming will be an advantage, as employers seek individuals with a good understanding of available or potential technologies to invest in. Besides, a Technical Architect will be expected to be a good communicator, able to collaborate with clients effectively and convey clear guidelines to working groups in projects. As the IT industry is continually developing, candidates should continue updating their skills and knowledge on a regular basis.

2. The Roles and Responsibilities of a Technical Architect

The role of a Technical Architect is extremely diverse, encompassing both management skills and technical knowledge. Complex IT systems require experienced professionals to ensure they operate at optimal levels.

A Technical Architect's effort is mostly spent communicating with various departments, from management to designers and developers inside the IT department to make sure projects fit the needs of the company and the end users.

These include:

• Identifying what an organization needs

• Analysing the requirements of large systems and breaking them into manageable units

• Researching available products to determine if they suit projects better than building entirely new systems

• Discussing plans for the system structure with clients

• Working with software designers and developers to explain structures and support them

• Ensuring systems are operating correctly through testing processes

• Ensuring systems meet standards and quality procedures

• Working with senior IT managers on planning future IT requirements

• Understanding the company and needs to define system specifications

• Planning and designing structures of technology solutions

• Communicating system requirements to software development teams

• Evaluating and selecting suitable software or hardware and proposing integration methods

• Monitoring assigned programs (e.g. conducting code reviews) and providing guidance to team members

• Supporting resolution of technical issues as they arise

• Ensuring implementation of agreed architecture and infrastructure

• Addressing technical concerns, ideas and suggestions

• Monitoring systems to satisfy both user needs and business objectives

3. What are the requirements for the Technical Architect position

• Practical experience with software development and system administration

• Understanding of strategic IT solutions

• Experience in project management and service-oriented architecture (SOA)

• Knowledge of chosen coding languages (e.g. JavaScript, Java)

• Familiarity with different operating systems (e.g. Windows, UNIX) and databases (e.g. MySQL)

• Experience with cloud technologies (e.g. VMware)

• Excellent communication skills

• Problem-solving aptitude

• Organisational and leadership skills

• Bachelor in Computer Science, Engineering or related degree

4. What are the required skills for a Technical Architect

Given the combination of technical and management aspects of the profession, a Technical Architect requires a certain set of abilities.

They will require extensive and up-to-date knowledge of software applications, programming languages, and hardware, as well as an understanding of quality standards, legislation, and best practices in the IT industry.

For the most part, they will accumulate this knowledge throughout their studies and early careers. When working, they will consider undertaking short courses leading to professional qualifications in particularly relevant fields, such as Agile methods and ITIL.

Additionally, they will require advanced soft skills necessary for the managerial aspect of work. Specifically including:

• Issue management - foreseeing potential issues in IT projects and finding solutions before they disrupt the organization.

• Communication skills - proficiency in listening, understanding, and explaining concepts to both managerial and technical colleagues.

• Coping with pressure - technical architects have significant responsibilities and will need to be able to deliver under high-pressure circumstances.

• Prioritization and time management - IT projects often have tight deadlines and missing them can have significant consequences for their organization or clients.

• Relationship building - it is important to develop trust and understanding between technical and managerial/client groups to ensure projects progress smoothly.

• During studies and early career, always remember the skills a technical architect requires. Take advantage of every chance to hone and gather verification of these abilities so that they may subsequently utilize them to persuade employers that they are prepared to advance.

5. Aniday summarises several requirements for this Technical Architect position from our clients

Aniday highlights some of the details that are typically included in job descriptions for this role below: 

• Propose technical design solutions and estimates for major product milestones.

• Work with developers on analyzing large and difficult problems/topics. Take the lead in incident resolution, investigate issues and guide teams.

• Collaborate closely with engineering and product managers, and product owners. Participate in GoodData's international community of technical architects and solutions architects.

• Be a key factor in creating a professional, international, and open working culture.

• Collaborate with managers to source, hire, and onboard talented and passionate engineers

Skills:

• Analytical, problem-solving abilities

• Experience working on multitasking and prioritization.

• Able to work independently and collaboratively.

• Know how to negotiate, make decisions, explain and present.

• Strong leadership, know how to motivate team members.

• Guide and advise engineers in their career paths - whether they are seasoned veterans or recent graduates.

• Open-minded, agile, and persistent in handling challenges.

Degree requirements:

• Over 8 years of software development experience: product specification, design, implementation, testing, release, and maintenance.

• Proficient English working language

• Strong development experience with Java/C and willing to learn other programming languages (Perl, Kotlin, Ruby, etc)

• Practical experience in relational database design, SQL, and transactional DBMS (PostgreSQL, Vertica, MySQL, Oracle, or MSSQL).

Professional level:

• Practical programming experience with one of the following: Spring framework, JavaScript, Kotlin, Ruby, Perl, and C shell scripting.

• Experience with REST API design, distributed systems, enterprise applications, and cloud-based solutions.

• Experience with CI/CD Jenkins, Docker containers, Splunk, and GIT.