Cyber security specialist vs. consultant vs. architect?

Question

I have a general understand of these 3 roles, but no working experience (actually I work in security R&D). For example (I know some details may vary in different companies): [Specialist] - design solution /implement security programs for own company; work with vendors to use existing tool/software. [Consultant] - provide security advise/solution to 3rd party, work with vendors. [Architect] - design security architecture for own company I want to know the connections/difference between them from the following angels: 1. what are their required skills (e.g., technical 60%, project management 20%, customer 20%, or other equivalent) 2. If I want to move to a architect role in the future, which one is more helpful, specialist or consultant? 3. For specialist and consultant, which one may have higher *average* income?

Answer 1

Hi there! I can probably help offer some insight for you as I've worked in all three roles to some degree. Below is an outline for each role based on your questions.

1. Specialist
2. Leans more toward being technical with customer service skills
3. More likely entry level compared to consulting and architecture and would be better for moving into architecture later as you'll get more hands on experience compared to consulting where you fill more of an advisory role
4. Consulting will be more likely to give a higher average income since it typically requires more expertise compared to specialist roles that can be entry level
5. Consultant
6. Leans much more on project management and customer service skills since you would act as an advisor in client engagements, but usually requires some previous technical experience in order to provide that advice clients are looking for
7. Consulting is probably more suited to those who have already been a specialist or architect as the experience from those roles can help you provide advice to clients
8. Consulting also has a pretty high average income, but you would make more as a freelance or independent consultant than working for a consulting firm (which is what raises the average)
9. Architect
10. This would likely be a much more technical role that would also require good project management skills and little to no customer service skills
11. An architect role could either be the halfway point between a specialist and a consultant or it could be on par (or higher) than either since it usually requires a good amount of technical experience
12. This role has potential to achieve similar income to consulting, maybe even higher in certain cases for specialized architecture roles

To summarize, if you were to line these up in terms of where they fall in career progression it would likely be most practical to be Specialist > Architect > Consultant. Although, I have known consultants who went on to become security architects. And for pay, specialists tend to be more entry level (as far as cyber security is concerned) so the pay scale is likely to be in that order as well. There are probably a lot of cases where architects make as much as, or more thank, consultants though. For salary research, I usually look around on Glassdoor's site since you can see actual salaries reported by employees based on their job title and locations. Hope this helps!