Careers Spotlights
Salesforce Solution Architect
How much do Solution Architects make?
| Junior pay band | Senior pay band | Contract rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States ($) | - | 160,000-190,000+ | 116-173 (p/h) |
| United Kingdom (£) | - | 84,250-111,000+ | 688-998 (p/d) |
| Germany (€) | - | 105,250-140,000+ | 725-985 (p/d) |
Junior pay band
| United States ($) | - |
| United Kingdom (£) | - |
| Germany (€) | - |
Senior pay band
| United States ($) | 160,000 - 190,000 + |
| United Kingdom (£) | 84,250 - 111,000 + |
| Germany (€) | 105,250 - 140,000 + |
Contract rate
| United States ($) | 116 - 173 (p/h) |
| United Kingdom (£) | 688 - 998 (p/d) |
| Germany (€) | 725 - 985 (p/d) |
of Solution Architects are satisfied with their job, down from 78% in our last study
of Solution Architects are satisfied with their salary, up from 65% in our last survey
Permanent Solution Architects work an average of 44 hours per week
Freelance Solution Architects work an average of 53 hours per week
What factors impact your earning potential as a Solution Architect?
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years of technical experience with Salesforce | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Exposure to large projects | 91% | 9% | 0% |
| Years of experience in IT | 87% | 13% | 0% |
| Becoming a Salesforce product specialist (e.g., working with Salesforce Industries [Vlocity], CPQ, FSL, Sales and Service Cloud) | 83% | 17% | 0% |
| Salesforce certifications | 81% | 13% | 4% |
| Years of experience working for a partner organization | 68% | 26% | 6% |
| Specific vertical industry experience | 68% | 28% | 4% |
| College/University degree(s) | 55% | 19% | 26% |
| Years of experience working for an end user | 51% | 45% | 4% |
Years of technical experience with Salesforce
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 100% | 0% | 0% |
Exposure to large projects
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 91% | 9% | 0% |
Years of experience in IT
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 87% | 13% | 0% |
Becoming a Salesforce product specialist (e.g., working with Salesforce Industries [Vlocity], CPQ, FSL, Sales and Service Cloud)
| Satisfied | Neutral | Dissatisfied |
|---|---|---|
| 83% | 17% | 0% |
Salesforce certifications
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 81% | 15% | 4% |
Years of experience working for a partner organization
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 68% | 28% | 4% |
Specific vertical industry experience
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 68% | 28% | 4% |
College/University degree(s)
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 55% | 19% | 26% |
Years of experience working for an end user
| Important | Neutral | Unimportant |
|---|---|---|
| 51% | 45% | 4% |
What steps should you take to become a Solution Architect?
Education
We found that 80% of Solution Architects hold at least a Bachelor's degree. However, only 22% consider that a degree is important for working with Salesforce, while 55% believe a degree to be an important factor when it comes to increasing earning potential.
Certification
Earning certifications that are vendor-accredited is the best way to upskill, as well as showing potential employers that you can do what you say you can.
Of the Solution Architects we surveyed, 96% are certified, and 87% believe that certifications make a candidate a more valuable professional.
There are two pathways to becoming a certified Solution Architect. The route you take will depend on the kind of work you’re primarily involved with—either B2B or B2C.
The Certified B2B Solution Architect badge requires you to pass the Certified Application Architect cert before you can sit the exam. The Application Architect cert itself doesn’t require you to sit an exam, but you will need to complete the four prerequisite certifications that comprise the Application Architect credential: Platform App Builder, Platform Developer I, Data Architecture and Management Designer, and Sharing and Visibility Designer. Once you have those four under your belt, you’re a Certified Application Architect and you can start prepping for your Certified B2B Solution Architect exam.
The Certified B2C Solution Architect credential requires three certifications before you can sit a final exam. They are Integration Architecture Designer, Marketing Cloud Email Specialist, and Platform App Builder.
What certifications do Solution Architects hold?
Roles that can lead on to becoming a Solution Architect
As big-picture thinkers tasked with designing high-performing, scalable Salesforce solutions for customers, Solution Architects tend to be technical experts with a knack for communicating with stakeholders and other Salesforce professionals. They know how to take customer goals and translate them into configurations, work flows, and data models that will get the job done. The skillset required often means SAs come into the role through similar software or system design roles, such as:
- Software Engineer
- Salesforce Developer
- Business Analyst
- Salesforce Consultant
What skills and experience should Solution Architects have?
- In-depth knowledge of the entire Salesforce platform and best practices
- Extensive experience designing and developing solutions and workflows using Apex, Force.com, Visualforce and J2EE
- Extensive experience with Lightning, D/HTML, CSS, .Net, JavaScript, and AJAX
- Strong understanding of RDMS concepts and structures
- Knowledge of SQL, structured system analysis and design methods
- Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal, and able to explain complex concepts to non-technical stakeholders
- Great process and technical documentation skills
- Good project management skills
- Requirements gathering, data analysis, and solution mapping skills
- Understanding of sophisticated Visualforce components, Chatter API, and integration
- Experience with agile methodology
- In-depth knowledge of key processes in industry-specific solutions (e.g. rate, quote, underwrite, policy management)
- Process modeling tools and best practices
- Systems analysis and design
- Data modeling
What are the opportunities for progression for a Solution Architect?
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Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the Salesforce ecosystem.
Our key findings report contains highlights from this year’s Careers and Hiring Guide, plus our salary tables allow you to compare your salary or benchmark your teams’ salaries no matter their role in the Salesforce ecosystem.
