Investigating the Professional Profile of Software Architects in Brazil using Job Advertisements
Resumo
Software systems are vital to industry, emphasizing the need for quality assurance. Software architecture underpins quality systems by reinforcing key requirements. However, defining the Software Architect role is still challenging, particularly in a dynamic market demanding complex systems. This emerging results paper investigates the profile sought for Software Architects in Brazil through an analysis of job ads collected from an online platform in October 2024. Of 411 ads, 286 were valid for analysis. The data revealed 191 different terms for the role, indicating a lack of standardization. The market favors candidates with formal education in IT and a broad skill set - ads listed an average of 11.4 skills, including APIs, Java, Azure, and DevOps. While planning and implementation tasks appeared in 69.5% of ads, activities like architecture management were less emphasized. Results also show a preference for in-person roles, and higher salaries were linked to degrees and on-site work. These findings help map employer expectations and reflect the diversity of the role in Brazil.
Palavras-chave:
software architect, advertisement, quality, profile
Referências
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Valdemar Vicente Graciano Neto, Diana Lorena Santos, Andrey Gonçalves França, Rafael Z. Frantz, Edson de Oliveira-Jr, Ahmad Mohsin, and Mohamad Kassab. 2024. The Presence and the State-of-Practice of Software Architects in the Brazilian Industry – A Survey. arXiv:2403.00955 [cs.SE] [link]
M. Shaw and P. Clements. 2006. The golden age of software architecture. IEEE Software 23, 2 (2006), 31–39. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2006.58
Diomidis Spinellis. 2016. The Changing Role of the Software Architect. IEEE Software 33, 6 (2016), 4–6. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2016.152
Sami Surakka. 2005. Analysis of Technical Skills in Job Advertisements Targeted at Software Developers. Informatics in Education 4, 1 (2005), 101–122. [link]
Alexandru Telea, Hans Sassenburg, and Lucian Voinea. 2010. Visual Tools for Software Architecture Understanding: A Stakeholder Perspective . IEEE Software 27, 06 (Nov. 2010), 46–53. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2010.115
Hans van Vliet and Antony Tang. 2016. Decision Making in Software Architecture. The Journal of Systems and Software 117 (2016), 638–644. DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2016.01.017
Colin C. Venters, Rafael Capilla, Elisa Yumi Nakagawa, Stefanie Betz, Birgit Penzenstadler, Tom Crick, and Ian Brooks. 2023. Sustainable software engineering: Reflections on advances in research and practice. Inf. Softw. Technol. 164, C (Dec. 2023), 12. DOI: 10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107316
Zhiyuan Wan, Yun Zhang, Xin Xia, Yi Jiang, and David Lo. 2023. Software Architecture in Practice: Challenges and Opportunities. 1457–1469. DOI: 10.1145/3611643.3616367
ClaesWohlin, Per Runeson, Martin Hst, Magnus C. Ohlsson, Bjrn Regnell, and Anders Wessln. 2012. Experimentation in Software Engineering. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated.
Maria do Carmo Botelho Ana Costa Laranjeiro, Fátima Suleman. 2020. A empregabilidade dos graduados: competências procuradas nos anúncios de emprego Software Architects in Brazil (Graduate employability: skills sought in job advertisements). Miscellaneous 93 (2020), 0. DOI: 10.7458/spp20209312055
Len Bass, Paul Clements, and Rick Kazman. 2021. Software Architecture in Practice (4 ed.). Addison-Wesley, Boston.
Kelly Bergstrom. 2022. When a door becomes a window: using Glassdoor to examine game industry work cultures. Information, Communication & Society 25, 6 (2022), 835–850. DOI: 10.1080/1369118X.2022.2048048
Lucas de O. Carvalho and Tayana Uchôa Conte. 2024. Architectural decisionmaking in software projects: an exploratory study with professionals. In 27th Iberoamerican Conference on Software Engineering, CIbSE 2024, Curitiba, Brazil, May 6-10, 2024, Edson OliveiraJr, Ignacio García Rodríguez de Guzmán, Claudia P. Ayala, Leonardo Murta, Monalessa Perini Barcelos, Isabel Sofia Sousa Brito, Adolfo Neto, Pedro Valderas, Marco Paludo, Sheila S. Reinehr, Andreia Malucelli, and José A. Cruz-Lemus (Eds.). Curran Associates, 256–270. DOI: 10.5753/CIBSE.2024.28452
Márcio Antonio dos Santos and Márcia Ito. 2011. Um Estudo Sobre a Profissão de Arquiteto de Software em Empresas de São Paulo (A Study on the Profession of Software Architect in Companies in São Paulo). Boletim Técnico da Fatec-SP (2011). Disponível online. Acesso em: 11 nov. 2024.
Martin Fowler. 2003. Who Needs an Architect? IEEE Software 20, 5 (2003), 11–13. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2003.1231144
Soeren Frey, Lambros Charissis, and Jens Nahm. 2016. How Software Architects Drive Connected Vehicles. IEEE Software 33 (11 2016), 41–47. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2016.145
Christof Gellweiler. 2020. Types of IT Architects: A Content Analysis on Tasks and Skills. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research 15, 2 (2020), 1–16.
M. Gharbi, A. Koschel, and A. Rausch. 2019. Software Architecture Fundamentals: A Study Guide for the Certified Professional for Software Architecture® – Foundation Level – iSAQB compliant. dpunkt.verlag. [link]
Uwe Zdun Olaf Zimmermann Gregor Hohpe, İpek Özkaya. 2016. The Software Architect’s Role in the Digital Age. , 30-39 pages. DOI: 10.1109/ms.2016.137
IEEE Computer Society. 2024. Software Engineering Body of Knowledge (SWEBOK), Version 4.0. IEEE Computer Society, Piscataway, NJ. [link]
Daniel Zhao Ioana Marinescu, Daphné Skandalis. 2021. The impact of the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation on job search and vacancy creation. Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals 200 (2021), 104471.
Mohamad Kassab, Phillip Laplante, Joanna DeFranco, Valdemar Vicente Graciano Neto, and Giuseppe Destefanis. 2021. Exploring the Profiles of Software Testing Jobs in the United States. IEEE Access 9 (2021), 68905–68916. DOI: 10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3077755
Philippe Kruchten, Henk Obbink, and Judith Stafford. 2006. The past, present, and future for software architecture. IEEE software 23, 2 (2006), 22–30.
Vaida Pilinkien˙e Alina Stundžien˙e Andrius Grybauskas Jurgita Bruneckien˙e Mantas Lukauskas, Viktorija Šarkauskait˙e. 2023. Enhancing Skills Demand Understanding through Job Ad Segmentation Using NLP and Clustering Techniques. Miscellaneous 13, 10 (2023), 0. DOI: 10.3390/app13106119
Santiago Pinto Marios Karabarbounis. 2018. What Can We Learn from Online Wage Postings? Evidence from Glassdoor. Miscellaneous (2018).
Pere Tumbas Mirjana Marić. 2016. The Role of the Software Architect in Agile Development Processes.
Elisa Y. Nakagawa, Milena Guessi, José C. Maldonado, Daniel Feitosa, and Flavio Oquendo. 2014. Consolidating a Process for the Design, Representation, and Evaluation of Reference Architectures. In 2014 IEEE/IFIP Conference on Software Architecture. 143–152. DOI: 10.1109/WICSA.2014.25
Valdemar Vicente Graciano Neto, Diana Lorena Santos, Andrey Gonçalves França, Rafael Z. Frantz, Edson de Oliveira-Jr, Ahmad Mohsin, and Mohamad Kassab. 2024. The Presence and the State-of-Practice of Software Architects in the Brazilian Industry – A Survey. arXiv:2403.00955 [cs.SE] [link]
M. Shaw and P. Clements. 2006. The golden age of software architecture. IEEE Software 23, 2 (2006), 31–39. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2006.58
Diomidis Spinellis. 2016. The Changing Role of the Software Architect. IEEE Software 33, 6 (2016), 4–6. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2016.152
Sami Surakka. 2005. Analysis of Technical Skills in Job Advertisements Targeted at Software Developers. Informatics in Education 4, 1 (2005), 101–122. [link]
Alexandru Telea, Hans Sassenburg, and Lucian Voinea. 2010. Visual Tools for Software Architecture Understanding: A Stakeholder Perspective . IEEE Software 27, 06 (Nov. 2010), 46–53. DOI: 10.1109/MS.2010.115
Hans van Vliet and Antony Tang. 2016. Decision Making in Software Architecture. The Journal of Systems and Software 117 (2016), 638–644. DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2016.01.017
Colin C. Venters, Rafael Capilla, Elisa Yumi Nakagawa, Stefanie Betz, Birgit Penzenstadler, Tom Crick, and Ian Brooks. 2023. Sustainable software engineering: Reflections on advances in research and practice. Inf. Softw. Technol. 164, C (Dec. 2023), 12. DOI: 10.1016/j.infsof.2023.107316
Zhiyuan Wan, Yun Zhang, Xin Xia, Yi Jiang, and David Lo. 2023. Software Architecture in Practice: Challenges and Opportunities. 1457–1469. DOI: 10.1145/3611643.3616367
ClaesWohlin, Per Runeson, Martin Hst, Magnus C. Ohlsson, Bjrn Regnell, and Anders Wessln. 2012. Experimentation in Software Engineering. Springer Publishing Company, Incorporated.
Publicado
22/09/2025
Como Citar
LOPES, Lais Cândido Rodrigues da Silva; CARVALHO, Kaique Cruvinel; KASSAB, Mohamad; KALINOWSKI, Marcos; OLIVEIRAJR, Edson; GRACIANO NETO, Valdemar Vicente.
Investigating the Professional Profile of Software Architects in Brazil using Job Advertisements. In: SIMPÓSIO BRASILEIRO DE ENGENHARIA DE SOFTWARE (SBES), 39. , 2025, Recife/PE.
Anais [...].
Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
2025
.
p. 643-649.
ISSN 2833-0633.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5753/sbes.2025.10448.
