While “Software Developer” is only #4 in salary.com’s 8 hottest jobs
of 2014 list in terms of growth rate (demand), it probably goes without
saying that there are many well-paying career opportunities in Computer
Science and IT (Information Technology) in general.
If you’re considering pursuing a computer science career, or just
curious, here is a list of 50 of the top-paying jobs in the field. While
salaries for some roles vary widely by location, industry, experience
level, demand and sometimes as the wind blows, this list should give you
a rough idea of the more financially rewarding IT-related roles.
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Not all of the following roles are purely technical, although all are
considered to be in the IT field in general or relevant to IT. In the
interest of presenting as many different types of widely-achievable
roles as possible for the average candidate, we’ve left out upper-level
IT management positions such as CTO, VP and Director roles. In some
cases, where job titles are merely different designations based on
experience, we’ve grouped titles into one listing. E.g., we’ve made no
distinction in entries between junior, intermediate, senior, and lead
positions of the same type of role. So listed salary ranges usually
cover all such variations. Salary ranges are a composite from different
sources and should only be considered as a guideline.
50. Systems Analyst or Systems Engineer
This role is sometimes referred to as a Computer Systems Analyst,
with duties that might overlap that of an IT Project Manager, if
overseeing installation or upgrade of computer systems. This role
typically analyzes an organization’s computer systems and procedures;
makes recommendations for process improvement; interacts with partners/
vendors and with programmers or programmer / analysts. Educational
background might be technical, though this is more of an analytical than
technical role that is focused on the business aspects of technology,
including: analyzing the cost of system changes; the impact on
employees; potential project timelines. Needs to interact with
department managers on IT requirements; incorporate feedback from both
internal and external users into business requirements documents;
incorporate feedback from designers; contribute technical requirements;
advise technical teams on their and their technology’s role in the
organization; provide guidance to programmer / developers with use
cases.
Salary range: $ 50-108K
49. Business Systems Analyst
This role focuses on specific computer systems – compared to a
Business Analyst, who will analyze a broader range of processes and
systems for an organization. Typically, it requires analytical skills
and is business-focused, so often requires a BA background, not
necessarily a B.Sc.. It does, however, require an understanding of
computer systems and information, and more technical reporting and
documentation procedures. Usually, understanding the SDLC (Software
Development Life Cycle), UML (Unified Modeling Language) and other
technical concepts and skills are often a requirement. The role has
optional certifications which bring increased opportunities and
compensation.
Salary range: $ 75-109K
48. CRM Business Analyst
Aka CRM Analyst. CRM = Customer Relationship Management: front office
functionality. This is typically a less technical role which may
require a marketing or business degree — often a master’s — combined
with statistics, but usually requires certain technical knowledge such
as database and CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software,
specifically. Typical responsibilities / skills: analyze customer
relationship data – especially within product channels – using CRM
software, and recommend strategy changes for building customer loyalty;
define organizational procedures based on the data; document new
procedures for internal use — typically for staff in sales, marketing
and support.
Salary range: $ 80-109K
47. Software Systems Engineer
Typical responsibilities / skills: development and upgrade of
computer systems; either interact with data and system security staff or
define necessary procedures for them to follow; design, develop and
test software when necessary — often middleware; document procedures for
internal use, and provide various system and operations documents;
participate in various review meetings, including design, program and
test reviews with inter-departmental co-workers; define a process for
change management.
Salary range: $ 76-111K
46. Solutions Architect
A Solutions Architect role is similar to other architect roles and
can go beyond the scope of IT. experience with hardware and software
systems is common requirement, as is an understanding of business
operations. This role is sometimes but not always synonymous with a
Director or CTO (Chief Technical Officer) position. Typical
responsibilities/ skills; understand the SDLC (Software Development Life
Cycle); have broad technical knowledge of computer systems; conduct
process flow analyses; transform business/ customer requirements into
technical requirements (functional design document); understand and have
experience with databases; interact with developers and bridge
different IT architect roles.
Salary range: $ 79-112K
45. E-Commerce Analyst
Aka E-Commerce Business Analyst. Backgrounds for this role vary:
computer science, finance, statistics, management, marketing,
communications. While a bachelor’s degree is standard, a master’s degree
is sometimes required. Typical responsibilities / skills: analyze
customer e-commerce data for behavioral or other trends; setup or
configure reporting or dashboards for easy internal access to such data;
create customer profiles for demographic targeting; utilize Web
analytics.
Salary range: $ 79-114K
44. ERP Business Analyst
An ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) Business Analyst focuses on
“back office” functionality for an organization’s various facets,
including CRM, management, accounting, sales. Typical responsibilities /
skills: have an understanding of typical business uses of ERP software;
interact with various stakeholders to analyze business processes and
gather requirements; incorporate business requirements to configure ERP
software; interact with developers to build a reporting environment;
document organization-specific customizations; conduct any necessary
training sessions for use of ERP software and reporting environment.
This role usually requires experience with a specific ERP solution.
Salary range: $ 83-115K
43. Pre-Sales Engineer / Technical Engineer
Similar titles include Pre-sales Engineer, PreSales Engineer,
Pre-sales Technical Engineer. This role is for a product advocate/
evangelist who works with internal sales staff and possibly offers
technical consulting to potential customers prior to a sale. They give
product demonstrations to sales staff and potential customers and handle
the technical aspects of RFIs / RFPs (Requests for Information /
Requests for Proposal). So the ability to communicate with both
technical and no-technical staff and customers is important, especially
to pass on customer requirements to Product Managers. It requires some
level of technical knowledge, especially about the systems/ software
being offered, and may require some certifications. Post-sales
interaction with a client is a possibility.
Salary range: $ 82-116K
42. CRM Technical Developer
AKA CRM Developer. Most CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
software has both internal and external (Web) components. Users can be
internal (sales staff, support, admin, systems developers) and external
(customers, vendors, partners, researchers). These are the users a CRM
Developer needs to keep in mind when developing solutions. Typical
responsibilities/ skills: experience with a specific CRM system; custom
configure a CRM used by the organization; develop custom modules to
extend CRM functionality; integrate CRM features into an organization’s
own computer systems, including for customer use – which requires
experience with a programming or scripting language, and either server,
desktop/ laptop, Web or mobile (phone, tablet) development experience as
necessary; document custom settings, modules and features for different
levels of user.
Salary range: $ 89-119K
41. Portal Administrator
This role is focused on Web portals and often requires knowledge of a
specific portal software platforms. E.g., IBM WebSphere, Microsoft
SharePoint. Typical responsibilities / skills: interact with Web and
other systems administrators; create or oversee creation of necessary
portal databases and user profiles; configure and manage portal
applications; perform configuration and upgrade process tests; oversee
integration of new technologies into the portal; document portal use
policies and procedures (internal); handle relevant trouble tickets;
train developers, content managers and end-users as necessary.
Salary range: $ 91-121K
40. Programmer Analyst
Aka Computer Programmer / Analyst. May have some overlap with a
Business Analyst role, such as performing requirements analysis. In some
organizations, there is a lot of overlap with a Software Developer
role, and in other places, the two roles work together. Typical
responsibilities / skills: design of applications from a high level
first – such as by using flowcharts or other graphical views — as well
as actual coding of software; testing and maintenance. Specific
programming language skills influence salary ranges.
Salary range: $ 69-122K
39. Network Analyst or Network Engineer
Sometimes referred to as a Network Support Engineer. The role
sometimes overlaps with Network Architect roles. Typical
responsibilities / skills: work with a variety of types of networks
including LANs, WANs, GANs and MANs; determine network capacity
requirements and ensure that the infrastructure can handle it; monitor
and administrate the network; troubleshoot problems. Depending on the
size of the organization, a person in this role might also setup,
install and configure all types of hardware, from servers and printers
to desktops and laptops, routers, switches, support internal network
users. Non-standard work hours are a possibility.
Salary range: $ 58-124K
38. Wireless Engineer
Typical responsibilities / skills: analyze wireless networking and
communication requirements; design and develop network infrastructure;
capacity planning; recommend system improvements; document necessary
processes; develop any necessary software such as drivers; monitor
systems use and performance; setup and run wireless network tests. A
senior position might lead a team of junior and intermediate engineers.
Salary range: $ 46-125K
37. Business Continuity Analyst
This role is primarily focused on focused on disaster recovery after a
crisis with computer systems. Typical responsibilities / skills:
develop strategies for disaster prevention and for resuming operations;
ensure backup of data for the organization (process-wise); design and
implement computer systems that will support continuous operations;
interact with vendors when necessary; design and test recovery plans;
report risk potential to senior management. The role may require risk
management experience and knowledge of specific 3rd-party systems/
applications.
Salary range: $ 87-125K
36. ERP Technical Analyst / ERP Functional Analyst
ERP = Enterprise Resource Planning. This is a broad term covering
many “back office” facets of an organization — some technical, some less
so. This role is often focused on an area of expertise within ERP
software, or could require broad knowledge, depending on the specific
position. ERP use is common in manufacturing companies, hence why
backgrounds for this role vary, including information technology or a
variety of relevant engineering education, depending on the industry and
the organization. Typical responsibilities / skills: understand
business operations and how ERP supports them, to be able to develop
improvements; interact with various stakeholders; apply continuous
improvement principles, processing mapping, and engineering principles;
perform troubleshooting. This role typically requires experience with
specific ERP solutions is common
Salary range: $ 90-125K
35. Database Administrator
Aka DBA. Sometimes has overlapping duties with Database Programmer,
Database Analyst and Database Modeller, and may report to a Database
Manager and/or Data Architect. Typical responsibilities / skills:
maintain an organization’s databases; design and implement databases, in
coordination with a Data Architect; schedule and run regular database
backups; recover lost data; implement and monitor database security;
ensure data integrity; identify the needs of users and provide access to
data stakeholders, data analysts and other users, as necessary. DBAs
can have broad or specialized duties. E.g., divide tasks up: System DBA
upgrades software for bug fixes and new features. Application DBA writes
and maintains code and queries for one or more databases in an
organization. The role may require certification.
Salary range: $ 63-126K
34. Software Developer
Typical responsibilities / skills: produce the overall design of new
software or modules based on requirements passed down; produce
flowcharts, algorithms and anything else necessary for the actual
coding. Junior developers might start out by maintaining (debugging)
existing code / features rather than design new code. If code in an
organization is not done separately by Computer Programmers, then it
falls to the Software Developers — who might also do testing and
debugging, or work with teammates who do that work.
Salary range: $ 80-127K
33. Telecommunications Manager
Typical responsibilities / skills: identify telecom needs for an
organization, including voicemail; create policies for the installation
and maintenance of telecom equipment and systems within an organization;
take into account any compliance needs, especially for a
publicly-traded company; oversee actual installation and maintenance of
equipment (cabling, modems, routers, servers, software); manage of a
team of telecom/ networking specialists; stay abreast of new telecom
technologies for upgrade consideration; interact with vendors as
necessary.
Salary range: $ 76-128K
32. ERP Technical Developer
Typical responsibilities / skills: understand the SDLC (Software
Development Life Cycle); interact with business teams to understand
requirements; analyze technical problems in ERP configurations and
assess risk; write any necessary code for extending an ERP platform’s
features, or to integrate with an organization’s applications. This
position usually requires experience with a particular ERP solution and
with one or more facets/ modules.
Salary range: $ 94-130K
31. Network Manager
Depending on company size, this role may overlap with Network
Administrator. A Network Manager has overall responsibility for an
organizations networks; ensures that networks are always running,
especially if customers and/or partners rely on them; devises and
implements a plan to either prevent or recover from a disaster. Overall,
they are responsible for all the networks, local and non, that drive an
organization, and for maintaining the hardware and cabling that goes
with the networking infrastructure. That includes installing hardware
and software, monitoring networks, etc., or managing a team of Network
Analyst/ Engineers and/or the various Network Administrators.
Certification may be required for some roles, depending on the
networking technology used and especially if the role is significantly
hands-on.
Salary range: $ 94-130K
30. Network Security Administrator
Typical responsibilities / skills: implement and follow a network
security plan; document the networking infrastructure, including any
firewall protocols and policies, monitoring and disaster recovery plans;
use vulnerability assessment tools to determine potential risks;
monitor and investigate security breaches; recommend organizational
security policies; keep up to date on changing networking technology,
and review software and hardware to be able to recommend upgrades when
necessary.
Salary range: $ 95-130K
29. Project Manager, Applications Development
This role may overlap with Application Development Manager. This is a
fairly technical role and sometimes requires a background as an
application developer. An App Dev PM needs the ability to interact with
co-workers from multiple departments, to keep them on track to achieve
milestones, drive a project forward and resolve bottlenecks. They
understand the SDLC (Software Development Life Cycle), budgets, project
management principles, basic psychology of motivating people. This role
sometimes requires industry knowledge and solutions, e.g., Financial
software.
Salary range: $ 88-131K
28. Systems Security Administrator
Overlaps with others administrator roles. Security administrators
oversee access to an organization’s computer systems, whether by
internal or external users. Typical responsibilities / skills: develop
and configure automated solutions for granting user access rights;
oversee internal/ external user access rights manually when necessary;
have knowledge of traditional and leading-edge security techniques and
tools; understand security auditing procedures; determine security
risks; investigate security breaches. This position may require
knowledge of specific security-related software and applications.
Salary range: $ 95-131K
27. Network Security Engineer
This role is typically responsible for network and server
architecture; implementation, admin, upgrade of hardware and software,
e.g., firewalls, etc.; enforcement of security policies set down by
either the organization’s Network Architect, Network Security
Administrator, or similar position; monitoring and analyzing network
usage for security issues; troubleshooting network problems;
contributing to the selection of new technology and/or upgrades;
contributing to the documenting of systems and processes; providing
technical support for IT coworkers. Certification may be required.
Knowledge of computer telephony technologies such as VoIP may be
required, along with an understanding of relevant compliance issues. May
require some physical effort, for cabling and installation work
Salary range: $ 99-131K
26. Data Warehouse Developer / Analyst
A data warehouse is a repository that combines data from several
sources, internal and external, within an organization – e.g., sales and
marketing – and is used for trend reporting. Typical responsibilities /
skills for a Data Warehouse Developer: interact with business analysts
to understand the necessary business logic; follow standards and
procedures for databases set down by a Data Warehouse Manager; design
and create databases for the purpose of data warehousing; design and run
ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) procedures to extract external data and
load into a data warehouse; test integrity of data warehouse; write and
maintain any code necessary for data warehousing tasks including report
generators. This position may require experience with specific 3rd-party
applications, and often overlaps with Database Developer duties.
Salary range: $ 60-133K
25. Database Developer
This role sometimes overlaps with Database Engineer or Data Warehouse
Developer (see above job description) and can cover a broad range of
tasks. Typical responsibilities / skills: data management and
administration, data modeling, data warehousing, investigate data
integrity issues; devise and conduct data tests for integrity, and
follow an action plan for any necessary recovery; document access of
specific databases for developers in other departments; work with
logical and physical models of data; understand principles of
distributed data, data redundancy; incorporate database updates as per
stakeholder requirements; produce reports on analyzed business
intelligence data; write database queries and complementary computer
code to support internal applications, and which are possibly shared
with developers in other departments. This may require knowing “back
end” programming or scripting languages such as Java, Ruby, Python,
Perl, etc., as well as knowledge of both traditional RDBMSes (Relational
Database Management Systems) and newer NoSQL databases such as
Cassandra, CouchDB, MongoDB, Hadoop and others. The role tends to
require specific commercial database system experience, experience with
database performance tuning and troubleshooting, and may require some
forms of certification.
Salary range: $ 73-134K
24. Data Modeler
Typical responsibilities / skills: creates the Conceptual Data Model
representing an organization’s data requirements for various business
processes; produces the plan for building the Logical Data Model(s) from
the conceptual model. (The physical data model is the actual
implementation (database) where data will be stored.) Data modeling (aka
database modeling) covers business requirements for databases and is an
organic process, so this role also requires adapting a database to
business requirements changes.
Salary range: $ 76-134K
23. Project Manager
For an IT project, this overlaps with Computer and Information
Systems Manager. This is a broader role than for an Applications
Development Project Manager and may not require as much of a technical
background. Project Managers should have at least an understanding of —
if not experience with — the computer systems or software being built /
maintained. Responsible for defining, maintaining, and enforcing a
project schedule; updating schedule when requirements change or project
facets become overdue; keep projects on or under-budget. Other
responsibilities and requirements: understand Agile development process
(where necessary); run scrums; interact with multiple departments and
many levels of co-workers, and convey to them the importance of their
respective stakes while also keeping technical resources such as
developers goal-oriented; update management on the status of projects,
bottlenecks, requests for resources. IT Certifications such as PMP
(Project Management Professional) can increase opportunities and salary.
Salary range: $ 56-135K
22. Web Developer
This is a wide-ranging role that can include “front-end” (Web
browser: JavaScript, HTML, CSS and related technologies) and “back-end”
coding, or require specialization. Back-end coding could be using Java,
Ruby, Python or Perl, etc., and might involve database queries and
manipulation. A person focusing on back-end web development might also
develop APIs (Application Programmer Interfaces) which layout a
blueprint of commands for allowing integration of a software platform
beyond its own code — such as for building the mobile version of a Web
application, etc. Some jobs labeled “Web Developer” also have an
expectation of front-end design, though such a role is usually denoted
as Web Designer / Developer. Another role in this category is a Web
Applications Developer, which involves integrating 3rd-party Web
technologies.
Salary range: $ 60-135K
21. Product Manager, Software Development
Aka Software Product Manager. Usually “owns” (the development and
maintenance of) one or more software products / applications / platforms
within an organization; works with marketing, UX / design, developers,
project managers, etc., in a largely cross-departmental role. Other
requirements and responsibilities: be an evangelist for the product —
internally and externally where appropriate; research the market and
understand what the user wants — either in terms of improvements or new
features; be an influential personality and possibly have an
entrepreneurial mindset; be outward-facing and understand both customer
needs and strategies for acquiring customers; have broad knowledge of
relevant from products from various disciplines, not necessarily deep
knowledge of one discipline.
Salary range: $ 99-136K
20. Data Security Analyst / Information Security Analyst
Typical responsibilities / skills: determine security risks for an
organization’s computer systems, databases and networks; monitor
external activity; install and configure security-related software
(firewalls, encryption); understand compliance issues related to
security, especially for a publicly-traded organization; make
recommendations to management for security policies and procedures;
design and run penetration testing (simulation of attacks); keep abreast
of new attack techniques and implement means of preventing these.
Salary range: $ 61-137K
19. Applications Developer
Aka Application Developer. Typical responsibilities / skills: focus
might be on middleware applications; interact with business analysts to
understand and incorporate customer and business requirements;
understand the SDLC (System Development Life Cycle); follow design specs
and programming standards for coding applications; develop and test
application-specific software and modules; interact with quality
assurance specialists. Possibly requires experience with multi-tier
environments. Requires an understanding of specific programming/
scripting languages and development frameworks, and possibly specific
database packages.
Salary range: $ 69-137K
18. Technical Support
Aka Help Desk Technicians. The focus of a support tech’s work is
interacting with non-IT users, whether internal to a company or
external. One group of technicians may support internal users of
3rd-party software, while another group may support internal and
external users of company software. Responsibilities include being
familiar with the software, hardware or systems they support, including
keeping up to date with both new and retired features; knowing where to
find the answers to questions that come in to the help desk; possibly
contribute to a repository of FAQs (frequently asked questions).
Salary range: $ 49-140K
17. Manager, Design & UX
Aka, User Experience Design Manager. Typical responsibilities /
skills: oversee the user experience for an application or portfolio of
applications; interact with marketing/ business, technical and other
departments to collect requirements and make recommendations; interact
with product owner/ manager (sometimes UX owns the product); interact
with technical managers, project manager, executive management; manage a
team of UX Designers – hiring, management, resource planning,
mentoring. This not always a strictly a technical role, though such a
manager might have a background that combines management, interface
design and coding — or at least be tech-savvy enough to understand what
is and is not possible for an organization’s software products.
Salary range: $ 94-140K
16. Manager, Technical Services/ Help Desk/ Tech Support
This is a general technical manager role and in some organizations,
this title can incorporate other managerial duties including overseeing
networks, managing network engineers, databases, database analysts and
developers and more. Typical responsibilities / skills: manage help
desk/ technical support teams for both internal and external users;
budget for support staff equipment and software; be involved in
corporate plans for hardware and software upgrades; define service call
procedures and policies and monitor employee behavior on calls; ensure
the updating of relevant documentation. The role usually requires
industry-related technical experience and can require physical effort.
Salary range: $ 76-141K
15. Information Technology Manager
This role usually requires a technical background and leads a
technical team, which could consist of developers, testers, analysts and
more – whether or not the organization is technical. Typical
responsibilities / skills: oversee the technical aspects of internal
projects; maintain corporate IT procedures, with documentation; hire and
lead a technical team to support the procedures; manage resources
within a budget; keep up to date with new technologies, for recommending
possible internal upgrades; interact with various departments, vendors
and possibly consultants /contractors. The role can require a master’s
degree in computer science or a related field.
Salary range: $ 99-142K
14. Business Intelligence Analyst
This is not always a purely technical role, though background could
be and often is in computer science or a similar field. Usually, it’s a
business-focused role that analyzes and reports on data used within the
organization. Reports are a key part of such a role and are targeted for
executives who will make business decisions upon the recommendations.
This could be IT process improvement, software and hardware upgrades,
networking, etc. Typical responsibilities / skills: collection and
analysis of business data for process improvement, similar to
“continuous improvement” philosophy; ability to express technical topics
in a form non-technical decision makers can absorb; ability to
structure business intelligence for internally-defined purposes. The
role can require an understanding of a specific software, particularly
database systems, and may involved working closely with developers.
Salary range: $ 101-142K
13. Mobile Applications Developer
This covers multiple related roles which require knowledge of at
least one mobile operating system and development platform, such as
Android or iOS, and the underlying programming languages. In some roles,
Mobile Web development skills are a requirement. Typical
responsibilities / skills: design, write and maintain mobile application
code; port features for an app from another platform (such as desktop,
Web, phone, tablet, wearable computing) to the mobile platform in
question; integrate databases (internal) and REST APIs (internal and
external); produce API components as necessary and document usage for
other developers (internal and sometimes external); devise and run code
tests in simulator or hardware; work with Quality Assurance staff for
additional; testing log and fix defects. The role can sometimes require
design skills for a front-end position.
Salary range: $ 100-144K
12. Information Technology Auditor
Aka IT Auditor, Information Systems Auditor. Typical responsibilities
/ skills: reviewing and recommending compliance processes, especially
for a publicly-traded company; determine and assess risk pertaining to
technology, both for a single location and other corporate offices;
audit an organization’s computer systems and infrastructure for
secureness; comply with company audit policies (e.g., if in a divisional
office); draft a security breech prevention plan; define audit
procedures; report audit findings. This role is more likely to require a
background in MIS (Management Information Science) or business
administration, although IT skills are valuable.
Salary range: $ 67-146K
11. Quality Assurance Associate / Analyst
Software Quality Assurance (SQA) work is on of those unusual sets of
roles where compensation varies widely. Companies that appreciate the
value of proper testing and “code coverage” pay more for a good Software
QA Analyst/ Engineer than they might for a Software Developer /
Software Engineer, and thus often require a seasoned developer/
engineer. Other companies pay less much less and tend to employe QA
testers — although both variations are sometimes referred to as a
Software QA Engineer. In QA work, these are overlapping roles. The
tester role is focused on running pre-defined test suites and verifying
the results, reporting bugs or interacting with Software Developers/
Engineers. A QA Analyst / Engineer is more like to be the person
designing test suites and improving code coverage to verify that
everything that needs to be tested is being tested. The latter role can
require experience with programming/ scripting languages and/or Web or
Mobile platforms.
Salary range: $ 57-147K
10. Database Manager
Aka DBA Manager; has a role that overlaps with other database
specialists. Typical responsibilities / skills: oversee how data assets
are managed within a company, including data organization and access:
internally-generated private and public data, as well as
externally-created (user) private and public data; data modeling;
database design; define and ensure data backup processes; monitor and
analyze database performance; troubleshoot data integrity issues; manage
a team of other database specialists, including Database
Administrators. The role may require an understanding of one or more
traditional DBMSes or the newer technologies, as necessary.
Salary range: $ 107-149K
9. UX Designer
Aka User Experience Designer. This role comes in various forms:
desktop, Web, mobile, wearables. Typical responsibilities / skills:
design software interface flow, user interactions, screen layout and
organization, screen interaction (between screens), overall appearance
(visual design), and optimizes the user experience — typically through
iterative improvements and user feedback, to create engaging user
experiences; create wireframes or more realistic prototypes — possibly
with the help of front-end web developers or a web designer with the
necessary development skills; recommend design patterns that are both
tested (on other Web sites or apps or desktop software) as well as
appropriate to the software at hand; define A/B Split Testing studies to
determine which variation of an interface is more engaging. In some
companies, UX teams own an application instead of a designated “content
owner” and can thus request changes from software developers directly as
needed. This is not necessarily a strictly technical role, and is
always a creative role that involves an understanding of user
psychology. However, it can require technical skills, especially if
combined with another role, such as front-end Web development or
front-end mobile app development. At the least, an understanding what is
and is not possible for a particular software platform is important.
Salary range: $ 65-150K
8. Manager, Software Quality Assurance (QA) / Testing
Aka Quality Assurance Manager, (S)QA Manager. Typical
responsibilities / skills: oversee all IT-related quality assurance
efforts within an organization — e.g., the entire application portfolio;
manage a team of QA specialists (testers, QA analysts, leads,
supervisors); interact with stakeholders; attend high-level project
meetings for new/ updated computer systems; budget resources for
inter-departmental efforts. Whether or not a QA Manager codes in their
role, this position tends to require senior-level QA analyst experience.
Salary range: $ 67-150K
7. Data Architect
Depending on the size of an organization, this role can overlap with
that of over database specialists. Typical responsibilities / skills:
provide a data architecture for an organization’s data assets, including
databases, data integration (combining data sources into one view),
data access; define the formal data description, structures, models,
flow diagrams, and overall metadata; enable stakeholders to manage their
portion of the databases or data warehouse, under guidance and data
access policies; have logical and physical data modeling skills, whether
they’re used in actuality or to oversee a Data Modeler’s efforts;
defines data warehouse policies including for Information Assurance. The
role usually requires senior experience as a Database Developer/
Analyst / Engineer.
Salary range: $ 111-153K
6. Manager, Data Warehouse
Aka, Data Warehouse Manager. Typical responsibilities/ skills:
collect and analyze business data from external and internal sources;
interact with stakeholders to understand and incorporate business
requirements; database modeling, business intelligence skills, data
mining, data analysis, reporting; oversee data warehouse integrity;
oversee benchmarking of performance; manage a team of Data Warehouse
Developer / Analysts.
Salary range: $ 115-154K
5. Network Architect
Aka Computer Network Architect. Depending on the size of an
organization, this role can overlap with that of other network
specialists. Typical responsibilities / skills: design internal and
intra-office networks, including physical layout: LAN, WAN, Internet,
VoIP, etc.; monitor network usage and performance, devise network tests
and evaluate them; incorporate any new business requirements so as to
upgrade overal network architecture; do any necessary cabling, routers,
and install and configure hardware and software; follow or recommend a
budget for projects; choose or recommend the appropriate network
components; sometimes report to a CTO (Chief Technology Officer).
Network Architects usually have five or more years of experience as a
Network Engineer, and supervise various other engineers in implement a
networking plan. Besides a Bachelor of Science degree, depending on the
employer and the specific role, sometimes an MBA in Information Systems
is required as well.
Salary range: $ 78-156K
4. Software Engineer
Aka Computer Software Engineer. In government positions and some more
established corporations, Software Engineer and other IT positions are
often divided into Levels indicating experience / rank. Each higher rank
incorporates more responsibilities for the role. While there is a
theoretical technical difference between a Software Developer and a
Software Engineer, many organizations use the term Engineer when they
mean Developer. True “software engineers” are certified by an
engineering board. While a Software Engineer creates/ tests/ documents
software just as a Software Developer does, the former is more likely to
also optimize software based on their technical, mathematical and/or
scientific knowledge. They produce more reliable software through
engineering principles. The salary range listed here covers any use of
the title Software Engineer.
Salary range: $ 61-160K
3. Manager, Information Systems Security
An Information Systems Security Manager oversees the security of
company and customer data and computer systems in general. Typical
responsibilities / skills: oversee all IT security needs for an
organization; determine security requirements; document security
policies; implement security solutions; manage a team of information
security specialists. This role tends to require experience with
computer or information science or a related field, experience with
specific computer systems security software, and may require one or more
certifications.
Salary range: $ 115-160K
2. Manager, Applications Development
Aka Application(s) Development Manager. Typical responsibilities /
skills: oversees an organization’s internally-created software
applications and platforms; gather application requirements; interface
with VP Tech, marketing, project managers, managers of other teams;
manage software analysts and/or developers for an organization’s
application portfolio; monitor timelines and resources; schedule
projects where necessary. This role often requires senior-level
experience with developing applications and may require experience with
database design.
Salary range: $ 86-162K
1. Applications Architect
Aka Application Architect. This title is sometimes misused and
applied to what would otherwise be a software developer or software
engineer position. Typical responsibilities/ skills: broad knowledge of
software used within an organization; project management experience;
senior-level software development experience; broadly oversee the entire
software development (application portfolio) effort for an
organization; define application architecture; interact with the various
role-specific architects, project manager, customer representatives;
interact with developers while enforcing architecture. This might
require experience with specific programming languages and software
development frameworks.
Salary range: $ 66-183K
Source:http://www.computersciencezone.org/50-highest-paying-jobs-computer-science/
