A chief software architect is usually a developer with extensive end-to-end product experience.
This role is a title given to a developer who can turn a business idea into a product. Consequently, a chief software architect’s role is a blend of a senior developer, team lead, and CTO.
Unfortunately, this high level of skills means hiring the right chief architect for your company can take time and effort. It can also cost you thousands of dollars if you hire incorrectly. What you need is a chief software architect job description.
The good news is that help is at hand!
Here at Gun.io, we’ve helped hundreds of companies – from Fortune 500s to startups – hire talented developers, so get in touch if you’d like us to help. However, if you’d prefer to go through the hiring process yourself, the chief software architect job description template below can help you attract highly skilled talent.
Let’s go!
Chief software architect job description
This job description will do three things:
- It will introduce candidates to your company’s culture and values
- It will help candidates understand what the role will entail
- It will get candidates excited about the possibility of working for your company!
You’re welcome to copy and edit this template as you see fit.
Okay, so let’s start with a detail that’s easy to overlook: The job title.
Job title
Think of your job title like a newspaper headline. It’s the first thing candidates see before reading your chief software architect job description, so it must capture their attention. After all, you want to attract candidates and get them to click through.
So how do you do this?
You want to keep the title short, but there’s a line. Make it too short, and you won’t capture a candidate’s attention. For example, “chief architect” won’t stand out on a job board.
Instead, you should thread in qualifiers. Qualifiers can be things like seniority level and the type of architect you’re looking for. They can also be non-technical qualifiers, such as whether the role is full-time, part-time, or freelance. The role’s location (remote or office-based) is also worth mentioning.
A good example of a job title is “Chief Architect – Full-Time (Remote)”. It details the seniority level, type of work, and location.
Now that you’ve got your job title, it’s time to start crafting your chief software architect job description.
About the company
You want to make a strong first impression with your job description. One way to do this is by talking about your company in a way that gets candidates excited about what you do. Paint your company in its best light and highlight what makes it a great workplace.
This section can highlight key information about your company’s culture, size, mission, goals, and perks. These include benefits, office hours, or remote working possibilities. Anything that makes your company stand out.
Unlike most companies, we also try to inject humor into our job descriptions when recruiting at Gun.io. We’ll let you judge whether that’s working for us!
Here’s one we made earlier:
About Gun.io
Gun.io is a technology company that connects great companies and proven software engineers who are the world’s best-hired guns. Our mission is to create joy through connection, collaboration, and achievement for the world’s professional class.
We believe that the current system for hiring and being hired as a software engineer isn’t working. For hirers, the process is long and time-intensive, typically requiring a developer from their team to pause their other work and manage technical vetting. On the other side, job seekers must wade through recruiter spam, repetitive interviews, code tests, and cryptic job descriptions just to answer the question: is this a job I want and would be good at?
Gun.io’s vetting and matching are designed and run by a team of developers passionate about fixing technical hiring. Each job posted to the Gun.io platform is vetted by a senior developer, and each new job seeker who joins the platform has a 1-1 conversation with a member of the team so we can personally pitch them to clients they’d love.
We believe in excellence, taking risks, and speaking the truth, and we take a talent-first approach to everything we do. Our fully-remote team is highly collaborative and indulgently nerdy. You’ll love working with Gun.io if:
- You’re passionate about making talent and opportunity more accessible for all, especially those outside of the Silicon Valley bubble.
- You have exceptional follow-through and organizational skills, and value teammates with the same.
- You love chasing big ideas, pitching them to stakeholders, and taking the initiative to implement and test them.
- You consider yourself to be a linchpin, not a cog.
- You’re very nerdy about something. Star Wars, a particular subreddit, Web3, backyard chickens, famous guitar history, anything.
- Career growth and financial success are core motivations for you.
- You thrive in remote office environments.
- You’re looking for a team culture that is curious, respectful, supportive, and at least once a day, hilarious.
About this role
You want to get to the point on your chief software architect job description. State what you’re looking for and what tasks a successful applicant will do when they join your company. One or two sentences should do the trick.
Here’s a sample:
To help drive our mission, our Programming team is looking to hire a Chief Architect. This developer will support our current projects, build new features, and mentor junior members.
Chief architect responsibilities
This section is arguably the most important part of the chief software architect job description.
You want to be clear about the responsibilities associated with the role, so list them all. Be concise and clarify what you expect from a candidate if they join your company.
Here’s how it might look:
- Manage the design, development, and implementation of solutions
- Translate business needs into technical requirements for software apps
- Handle all DevOps, including back-end code
- Find solutions to software teams’ tech stack problems
- Execute approved budgets
- Create and maintain design and code standards
- Identify all requirements involved in product development, including specific tools and coding language
- Provide a detailed roadmap that will show the future of the organization
- Serve as a technical liaison among executivess, developers, and stakeholders
- Create overall project plans and track progress
- Coach and mentor software engineers, programmers, and other team members
- {{ Add any other relevant responsibilities here }}
Chief architect requirements
Alright, it’s time for the nitty-gritty details. What will your chief architect do on the job?
This section lists all the professional qualifications a candidate needs to apply for this role. It also includes mandatory technical skills.
Try not to go over the top here. For example, only include skills or years of experience if it’s a dealbreaker. Also, be realistic. Most candidates don’t have 20+ years of experience, so asking for this will significantly reduce your talent pool.
Here’s a sample:
- 2-3 years of experience leading software teams
- A solid understanding of object-oriented programming
- Familiar with build tools, such as Gradle and Maven
- Familiar with development frameworks, such as Spring and Hibernate
- Familiar with version control systems, such as Git and SVN
- Experienced with agile software development methodologies and testing frameworks, such as JUnit and Selenium
- {{ Make sure to mention any other frameworks, libraries, or other technologies relevant to your project }}
- {{ List any education level or certification you may require }}
Benefits of this role for chief architects
It’s time to seal the deal!
In this section of your chief software architect job description, you can list the additional benefits/perks a candidate will receive by joining your company.
Here’s a sample:
- {{Career & growth opportunities}}
- {{Attractive salary and 401k matching}}
- {{Medical Insurance}}
- {{Remote working opportunities}}
- {{Incentives and perks, such as the office’s location and flexible vacation allowance}}
Meet available, vetted talent today!
Would you like us to help you hire the perfect chief architect for your company?
Whether you’re looking for temporary help or your next full-time developer, let Gun.io help you find the right person for the job.
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