Software Architect

A software architect decides how a large software system should be structured so it can grow, stay reliable, and be maintained over time. You choose major patterns and technologies, define how services and databases connect, set standards, and weigh trade-offs between speed, cost, security, and complexity. You spend much of your time in design discussions, writing diagrams and decision documents, reviewing teammates' work, and talking with product managers and executives about what is possible. You still read and sometimes write code, but your main output is clear technical direction that helps many engineers move in the same direction.