IT Architect

[dirty_leo]

Hi all,

My wife got offered a job in Singapore. It's a great career opportunity for her and we may more there in the very near future. I'm currently working in a software development house as the head Software Architect specialized in J2EE and .NET. I'm managing a small group of architects. My gross salary is around 90k Euro (115k USD) in Europe. Would it be easy for me to find a high end software development/IT job in Singapore. What would be the possible annual gross salary?

Thanks in advance,

- Leo -

[Strong Eagle]

Well Leo... maybe I am old school but damned if I know what a software "architect" is any more than I know what a sofware "engineer" is. Both names have been stolen from professions where the names implied training and certification in a specialty, and not a few people wonder how someone can be an "engineer" because they push code.

The point is I have no idea what you do. Are you a business process analyst? A design analyst who converts the business case to a system specification? A programmer who turns specification into databases and programs? Or a hard core type who is in the middle of the hardware interface?

My sense is that if you have specialized DB skills, for example managing a grid system available on a 24x7 basis, or SAP, Oracle, DB2, or maybe you are a whiz at IP solutions and networks, then you have a good chance... really good people who know how to create and maintain large systems are hard to find.

OTOH, if you create Windows programs, there are many, many people out here who know how to do that. The key is specialization and I would re-ask you question in the context of what separates you from the herd?

[khigia]

In my understanding, a software architect is between the design analyst and programmers. Design analyst converts buiness case to specification; architect convert specification in scalable technical solution; and programmer realize specific parts. Am I wrong?

Anyway, should be possible to find a job here. But not sure the "first singaporean salary" will be the same in a local company (but that s just a feeling, no experiences)

good luck

[dirty_leo]

@Strong Eagle
I know what you mean I had to be more precise but I didn't want to turn this post into a cover letter or a CV .

I'm a software/technical architect so I architect and design software. I have 10 years of software development experience, that includes more than 6 years of architect experience. I work on custom enterprise systems and B2B/B2C systems. The project timelines may vary from 6 months to 2 years and I usually jump from one project to another as my involvement is more needed in the inception phase. I setup the standards, come up with the general architecture, decide what frameworks to use and this while always keeping the customer environment/requirements/SLAs in mind. These systems are in either Java/J2EE or in .NET. So occasionally I code some system critical parts in Java or in C#. We follow an agile process so I'm an agile mentor (unit tests, refactoring, etc.) as I'm the senior technical figure. So I'm directly involved with the software development process. I'm not a DBA but I have strong database skills (mostly Oracle and some SQL Server). Basically I'm the technical responsible of our projects. I do people management too as I have 4 architects reporting to me, which makes me the chief architect . I keep up with the new technologies/frameworks as I have to technically steer the company which is a 150 people development house (95% technical staff). I represent my company in the national and international technical seminars as a speaker. I get to see my picture in some of the national IT magazines every now and then .

I hope this is good enough to understand what I am doing. I'm not a wiz kid but I am the technical responsible of large enterprise systems.

So, as far as I understand, there aren't many pure software development companies or outsourcing companies in Singapore. So, I'm trying to understand what my options are before considering changing my career direction slightly as a consultant or a software development manager, etc. I like what I'm doing because I can still cut some code, stay regularly in touch with the developers, etc.

What do you think? Are there jobs out there for me? What kind of salary? In order to get 150k per annum should I consider a software development manager position? I hope you understand what my concerns are.

Thanks in advance,

[jpatokal]

What do you think? Are there jobs out there for me? What kind of salary? In order to get 150k per annum should I consider a software development manager position? I hope you understand what my concerns are.

That's a lot of money for an IT position in Singapore, and yes, I think your business card will need to say "manager" on it somewhere before you'll get that kind of dough -- although "chief architect" might just squeak by.

You're correct in saying that there are few pure software development houses in Singapore, but nearly every software house in APAC has its regional HQ here, so there are definitely opportunities for senior staff. My business card also says "system architect" on it, but I work on a higher abstraction level than you do, trying to figure out in detail how existing solutions fit into the customer's needs, and this kind of thing there's also demand for -- if, that is, you know a field well enough to be able to handle it well.

[riversandlakes]

I think IT Architect is hot in SG. 150K is very possible. Give it a shot!

[dirty_leo]

Thanks guys! It's probably going to be early in 2007 but it's nice to see that there are opportunities.

[Strong Eagle]

There are opportunities and there are a lot of local people emminently qualified. You will need to separate yourself from the heard... specialized skills, specialized knowledge. I say this as a project manager who deals with a lot of hardware/software people.