As someone who has advised Georgia‘s booming technology industry for over a decade, I‘ve had a front-row seat to the rapid growth. Just within the last five years, Atlanta has welcomed tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Amazon establishing major regional hubs. Homegrown success stories like Mailchimp and Greenway Health have also chosen to scale up their headquarters in cities like Atlanta and Augusta rather than move out of state.
With all this activity, Georgia now employs over a quarter million tech professionals. The state has quickly become a southern magnet for those looking to get into fast-growing sectors like software development, data science, cybersecurity and more.
So what‘s driving this tech gold rush in Georgia? For starters, tax incentives and business friendly policies have brought established tech players into the mix while helping startups thrive. The lower cost of living compared to other innovation hubs makes salaries go further. A pipeline of new grads from excellent universities helps deepen the talent pool year after year.
Put it all together, and you have an environment ripe for advancing your technology career. To highlight this opportunity, let‘s count down the five tech jobs currently in the highest demand across Georgia along with their top-tier salary potential:
| Job | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Software Architect | $136,000 |
| IT Manager | $131,000 |
| Software Engineer | $108,000 |
| Scrum Master | $98,500 |
| Database Admin | $91,000 |
*Data from industry analysis on Georgia technology salaries
Now let‘s explore these top positions, the responsibilities they entail and requirements to land one of these lucrative roles in Georgia‘s booming job market…
1. Software Architect – $136,000 Avg. Salary
If you envision the blueprint for what a complex software system should achieve and provide guidelines to engineers building it out, becoming a solutions architect could be the perfect fit to maximize your potential salary and impact.
These IT professionals typically have at least 8-10 years of hands-on development experience before moving into an architect role. This experience gives them the judgment to design systems that are high-performing, stable and scalable while meeting business goals.
Day to day, software architects consult with management and technical teams to shape an application‘s structure and functions. They ensure different components like the user interface, APIs, databases and more all interconnect smoothly. Ongoing, they monitor systems and recommend optimizations in keeping with best practices.
It‘s a role requiring substantial strategic vision paired with technical mastery. In return, the typical salary reaches $136,000 annually in Georgia with bonuses and equity potentially bringing total compensation even higher for these elite professionals.
To secure this lucrative architect job, expect qualifications like:
- 8+ years professional coding experience
- Fluency in languages like Java and .NET
- Deep familiarity with frameworks like Dropwizard and Microservices
- Cloud platform expertise around AWS or Azure
For those eager to level up from hands-on programming to an enterprise architect role, companies like Atlanta‘s pioneering payment processor Elavon are hiring. Qualified principal architects here can earn $150,000+ in salary while crafting innovations used by customers worldwide.
2. IT Manager – $131,000 Avg. Salary
Savvy technology leaders who can evaluate infrastructure needs while managing skilled teams commonly break the $130k mark.
As an IT manager at an enterprise-level company or sizable organization, you oversee tech strategy decisions and system deployments while coordinating groups of developers, analysts, support technicians and more to execute projects.
Responsibilities range from analyzing how current solutions are supporting business goals and devising improvement plans all the way to budgeting, hiring and setting standards so internal groups operate efficiently. While demanding, this critical leadership earns an average salary of $131,000 in Georgia.
Here are some common requirements and preferences to unlock a manager job with top-tier salary potential:
- 5+ years managing technical staff members
- Infrastructure skills across hardware, networking etc.
- Budget and vendor management experience
- Strong communicator and relationship builder
For example, Atlanta healthcare technology provider Greenway Health needs IT managers who can lead major systems upgrades across public/private cloud solutions, with salaries ranging from $110,000 to $160,000 annually.
3. Software Engineer – $108,000 Avg. Salary
Developers who master coding languages enabling a range of applications can expect six-figure salaries on average as companies compete for their talent.
These engineers may build anything from user-facing websites and mobile apps to back-end services supporting business operations. Their expertise allows them to architect systems from scratch, update existing code and troubleshoot issues maximizing performance.
In Georgia, several in-demand skills along with 4-6 years of experience can easily garner a $100,000+ salary for software engineers, especially in cities like Atlanta with such an abundance of major corporations seeking proven developers.
Here is the typical background needed to reach a high earnings level in roles maximizing your programming talents:
- Bachelor‘s degree in Computer Science or related discipline
- Object-oriented languages – e.g Java, C++, Python
- Web/mobile frameworks – e.g. AngularJS, React Native
- Cloud platforms like AWS and system design skills
As examples, top Atlanta companies like global payment giant FLEETCOR need engineers skilled across C#/.NET and MongoDB with salaries soaring past $120,000 for specialized talent.
4. Scrum Master – $98,500 Avg. Salary
Acting as the project leader for agile development teams, scrum masters enable $100k+ salaries by optimizing team performance and removing barriers.
As scrum masters, we facilitate groups of developers, quality engineers and other technical staff to work smoothly together meeting tight deadlines. Leading everything from daily standups to sprint retrospectives, our duty is to maximize productivity.
Requirements generally include 2+ years actively participating on high-output agile teams to gain hands-on understanding before taking the scrum master helm. Common qualifications include:
- Agile training certifications like PSM or PSPO
- Project coordination experience
- Process improvement mindset
- Relationship management skills
Major companies rely on scrum masters to enable their technology teams. State Farm right here in Atlanta needs those ready to take charge of projects guiding mobile and legacy application development teams with starting pay reaching $120,000.
5. Database Admin – $91,000 Avg. Salary
Specialists ensuring vital company data remains accessible, secure and organized can advance into database admin roles providing around $100,000 compensation.
On any given day as a database administrator, you might optimize data warehouse performance for business analysts, apply security patches protecting sensitive customer info, develop disaster recovery protocols to prevent major outages or allocate storage allowing new applications to scale.
It‘s a career track rewarding those mastering the ins and outs of platforms like Oracle, SQL Server, MongoDB and more of today‘s essential database systems powering everything from financial records to website content management.
Typical requirements include:
- Bachelor‘s degree in information systems, computer science etc.
- Professional database certifications
- High proficiency managing complex DB systems
- Automation and scripting skills
Major presences like NCR and Verizon in Georgia regularly hire database admins to specialize further on their cloud systems andIoT networks advancing into $100k+ salary territory.
As you‘ve seen above, Georgia has nurtured a bustling pipeline of tech jobs with high earning potential whether you excel at software architecture, shine as an engineering guru, deliver as a standout IT manager or covet one of these other essential roles propelling companies into the future.
Leverage this guide to gaps with the greatest current demand along with salary outlooks, then start perfecting the specialized skills and resume that catches recruiters‘ attention! The Georgia job market holds much promise if you position yourself as the ideal talent solving problems and driving strategic initiatives at a technical level.
I‘m eager to see you land the fulfilling and lucrative tech role you deserve right here in the burgeoning Georgia economy. As someone embedded advising the companies and talent transforming this region each day, trust me when I say the opportunities abound like never before. Now go maximize them!
