Imagine moving to Arizona. You‘ve landed a six-figure salary working on cutting-edge technology alongside talented peers in an emerging hub bursting with career potential. Daily you apply your specialized skills to solve complex problems that advance your company‘s success.
Sound enticing? Arizona‘s flourishing technology sector makes this career dream attainable through an array of lucrative roles spanning data, software, security and beyond.
Based on the latest salary figures and job growth outlooks, here are 8 of the highest paying tech jobs located in Arizona as we enter 2023:
| Profession | Avg Salary | 10% | 90% | Experience | Remote |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Engineer | $114,217 | $86k | $148k | Mid | Mix |
| Machine Learning Engineer | $130,279 | $95k | $172k | Mid | Some |
| Technology Consultant Manager | $161,195 | $116k | $217k | Senior | Some |
| Security Systems Supervisor | $61,741 | $42k | $93k | Junior | No |
| Cloud/Software Architect | $195,540 | $132k | $279k | Senior | Yes |
| Front-End Developer | $83,277 | $55k | $124k | Mid | Yes |
| UX Designer | $94,397 | $68k | $134k | Mid | Yes |
| Sales Engineer | $117,106 | $63k | $203k | Mid | No |
Experience levels: Junior = 0-2 yrs, Mid = 2-8 yrs, Senior = 8+ yrs
Why Arizona for Tech Careers
More technology companies and roles emerge in Arizona each year thanks to the state‘s friendly business climate, wealth of university talent, lower costs than tech hubs like San Francisco, and southwestern lifestyle appeal.
Major firms like Intel, Raytheon, GoDaddy and infar have established significant presences here alongside thousands of startups. Arizona added over 9,000 new tech jobs in 2021 alone.
The greater Phoenix metro in particular thrives as a center for advanced manufacturing, aerospace engineering and microchip fabrication. Tucson also harbors a thriving cybersecurity community building on expertise at the University of Arizona. Flagstaff, Prescott and other pockets nurture niche tech innovators as well.
This ever-expanding technology ecosystem delivers abundant career opportunities to match the state‘s natural beauty. The jobs below represent some of Arizona‘s most lucrative and promising tech roles in 2023. The salaries shown reflect average base pay – bonuses, equity and commissions can further enhance total compensation.
1. Data Engineer
Average Base Salary: $114,217
Data engineers architect the fundamental information infrastructure companies rely on to efficiently access, analyze and act on their most valuable business data. As organizations gather exponentially more data from customers and business operations, they struggle organizing it into usable formats without the technical pipelines and services data engineers specialize in building.
You‘ll design data models, construct datasets, develop data flows between databases and data warehouses in the cloud and on premise, and ensure optimal data system performance. This involves mastering complex architectures involving myriad storage, transformation, streaming and visualization tools.
Given intense demand, data engineers earn among the highest tech salaries in Arizona. Large enterprises like American Express and IBM need data management specialists to help make sense of gigantic data volumes. Phoenix area health IT consultancies like WebPT and Patriot Software also have countless openings to construct analytics tools and data dashboards for clients nationwide.
Data engineers typically specialize after gaining a few years experience as developers or analysts. Programming languages like Python and SQL provide a common foundation for manipulating data. Certifications through Cloudera, Oracle and other platforms signal in-demand skills as well.
For analytical programmers who excel organizing complex systems, data engineering offers six-figure opportunities to fuel better decision making through information.
2. Machine Learning Engineer
Average Base Salary: $130,279
Catapulting artificial intelligence from research into practical innovations relies on machine learning engineers. ML engineers develop the statistical models and neural networks converting raw data into automated, self-learning algorithms.
As machine learning revolutionizes industries from finance to medicine to transportation, demand for specialized ML engineers soars. Arizona hosts pioneering applications at companies like TuSimple optimizing self-driving trucks and Revana Digital discovering better health diagnostics.
The average base salaries for local machine learning engineers reaches $130,279 with highly experienced individuals earning over $200,000. Top technology companies like Intel, Microsoft and State Farm actively recruit machine learning experts across Arizona. Startups also provide opportunities to take on major responsibility rapidly and receive compensation in the form of stock options that can prove extremely lucrative if successful.
Transitioning into machine learning engineering requires a strong foundation in programming essentials through languages like Python and developing statistical models. Combining computer science training with specialization through programs like Arizona State University‘s machine learning graduate certification can unlock premier opportunities.
For both recent graduates and experienced developers alike, focusing your expertise on machine learning can maximize both income and impact on tomorrow’s innovations.
3. Technology Consultant Manager
Average Base Salary: $161,195
Delivering complex IT solutions demands deft guidance from technology consultant managers. These experienced professionals oversee multi-disciplinary teams that usher clients through major digital transformations.
Technology consultant managers identify pain points with legacy processes and infrastructure before architecting new systems, workflows and technical capabilities. They help manage deployments, provide ongoing strategic direction and ensure projects ultimately solve real business challenges.
In Arizona, top technology consultancies like national leader Accenture along with Cox Communications, General Dynamics and others maintain large solution development workforces managed by experienced consultant managers earning on average above $160,000.
Bhaskar Ghosh, Accenture’s Arizona Delivery Center Lead, described the opportunity: “Phoenix will undergo massive job growth over the next decade thanks to the tech talent pipeline from Arizona State University. The next generation of business solutions will emerge from collaborations right here.”
Transitioning from hands-on development into guiding teams as a consultant manager represents a lucrative career progression for IT professionals. The compensation upside can prove substantial while still leveraging hard-won technical experience.
4. Security Systems Supervisor
Average Base Salary: $61,741
Safeguarding critical systems and sensitive information represents a vital capability for enterprises on which security systems supervisors take charge. Overseeing video surveillance infrastructure, access control protocols, and incident monitoring procedures demands both technical and management abilities security supervisors coordinate through hands-on leadership.
Charles Schwab, American Airlines and other major Arizona employers frequently hire supervisors to ensure robust protection of facilities, networks and proprietary data. The average base salary exceeds $60,000 with room for advancement overseeing multiple locations nationally.
Becoming a supervisor doesn’t strictly require a college degree, lowering the barriers to enter the cybersecurity field. However, vocational certifications in systems administration or completing an associate degree in network security vastly improves readiness to take on leadership duties. Experience managing IT help desks also offers a common path toward security systems supervision.
For those more passionate about on-site solutions than writing code behind a screen all day, security systems roles offer dynamic, hands-on work environments alongside competitive salaries.
5. Cloud/Software Architect
Average Base Salary: $195,540
Guiding high-level cloud infrastructure strategy requires mastering both wide-ranging technical concepts and business imperatives alike. These dual capabilities distinguish exceptional cloud architects who earn among the highest salaries within technology.
Today’s cloud architects architect solutions on platforms like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure that balance performance, reliability, scalability, extensibility and cost efficiency for organizations with complex application and workload requirements. Roles increasingly focus on infrastructure-as-code skills to automate provisioning and management processes through scripting.
In Arizona, cloud software architects average approximately $195,000 in base compensation with individuals at senior principal levels sometimes exceeding $250,000. National managed cloud providers like OneNeck IT Solutions offer cloud architect roles designing what OneNeck Site Lead Raju Kadamati described as “extremely scalable cloud data center infrastructure to support surging volumes.”
Transitioning into cloud architecture requires several years overseeing infrastructure engineering or software development operations. Understanding modern continuous integration/continuous delivery pipelines provides advantage. While intensive, few tech specializations today demonstrate greater demand alongside such ample financial upside and remote work possibilities.
6. Frontend Web Developer
Average Salary: $83,277
While data engineers organize behind the scenes and cloud architects strategize the big picture, frontend developers directly craft how users experience websites and applications firsthand. Mastering languages like HTML, CSS and JavaScript, frontend engineers build responsive, dynamic and visually appealing interfaces with usability top of mind.
Strong demand in Arizona drives competitive frontend developer salaries averaging above $80,000. Discount Tire, General Motors and numerous Phoenix technology consultancies eagerly hire JavaScript experts to translate mockups into polished reality across diverse products and platforms.
Collaborating alongside designers, executives and customers, skilled frontend developers create the highly tailored sites and apps central to reaching today’s over 5 billion global internet users according to WebPT’s Matt Weber.
Starting as a frontend web developer provides outstanding preparation to specialize in related roles like UX design or product management. Strong javascript skills also enable transitioning into popular frameworks like React and Angular that dominate complex site development. For those seeking both creative expression and programming technique through building online experiences hands-on, the frontend awaits.
7. UX Designer
Average Salary: $94,397
While frontend developers determine how websites functionally operate, UX designers focus on optimizing layouts and interactions for ease-of-use and engagement directly with end users in mind.
These user experience experts conduct qualitative research through interviews and observations before wireframing site maps and crafting user flows. UX designers prototype application designs and interface interactions while continuously gathering feedback to refine experiences. They enhance usability for customers while driving business KPIs from conversion rates to renewals higher.
Arizona UX design salaries average just under $95,000 with established professionals sometimes earning upwards of $120,000 as creative directors and principal designers. Top local employers include health IT leader Axway, semiconductor equipment manufacturer Precision Motorsports Engineering and security innovator NortonLifeLock among scores of firms prioritizing competitive user experience capabilities.
For those who thrive understanding subtle customer needs through empathy as well as distilling complexity into intuitive interactions, UX design delivers growth, variety and community impact.
8. Sales Engineer
Average Salary: $117,106
Translating technical insights around data workflows, embedded software systems or cloud infrastructure into compelling customer solutions requires mastering both engineering and interpersonal finesse – the hallmarks of successful sales engineers.
These consultant-like roles represent the leading edge of driving business growth through understanding client challenges before architecting customized technology answers. Sales engineers establish indispensability through pairing deep technical qualifications with pre-sales support across customer discovery calls, product demonstrations and pilot projects.
Major Arizona-based companies like payment processor Paychex and accounting platform Intuit employ large sales engineering teams to envision comprehensive solutions. Specialized engineering consultancies like Phoenix’s PTI Solutions develop novel testing systems for automotive manufacturers relying extensively on technically-adept sales engineers to translate performance into ROI.
Sales engineer salaries average above $115,000 in Arizona with commission bonuses adding substantial upside scaling into the multiple six-figures for teams closing large, long-term managed service deals and partnerships.
For engineers at heart who live solving problems and building relationships, sales engineering unlocks lucrative opportunities to blend analytical skills with creative deal shaping and customer courtship.
Level Up Your Career in Arizona‘s Thriving Tech Sector
Arizona‘s magnificent desert landscapes aren‘t the only vista filled with breathtaking opportunity. The state‘s technology job market also overflows with high-paying roles for those ready to bring analytical abilities, technical expertise and creative firepower.
Across artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, data-driven software and security, hungry Arizona tech firms seek world-class talent to deliver solutions shaping the future. From recent graduates gaining foundational experience to seasoned experts directing complex initiatives, compelling careers await.
Review the opportunities above to discover roles aligned with your skills and passions then start mapping your ascent. Tomorrow‘s tech leadership could begin with your next Arizona job application today.
