It also means acquiring a thorough knowledge of the products and services a company provides and then crafting a Web design that leverages these offerings. For retailers, that means turning an ordinary direct-mail catalog into a compelling, dynamic online shopping experience, ensuring links to similar products or divisions--a link to L.L. Bean's camping products from its hiking-boots section, for instance.

Much of the Web architect's job entails working closely with project managers, typically product managers, and with technical leaders, such as network and operations management. A primary requirement of the Web architect position is understanding the end game: What are the customers' business objectives? What systems are required to complete the job?

Dry Cleaning and Java

Not surprisingly, the Web architect has to stay on top of advances in Web technology. This means keeping up with software development and quickly adapting to new development tools and techniques. Among the many technologies in which a Web architect must be well versed are HTML, Java, JavaScript, UML and XML. Aside from having prior experience developing software and using development tools and environments, such as Bluestone Software's Sapphire/Web, Microsoft's Visual InterDev, Sun Microsystems' NetDynamics and NetObjects, the Web architect also must be familiar with RAD (rapid application development) techniques. In fact, the list of tools useful to the job is quite long.

It's not enough merely to understand how to develop programming requirements and test systems. The Web architect has to know how databases work, for instance, and ideally have several years' experience working with at least one of the major databases. The key, however, is the ability to embrace and incorporate new technology quickly on the internal and public Web sites. That has a major impact on the organization's entire Web presence as well as its internal and external clients.

Talented Web architects are scarce, so salaries are high. In a recent Meta Group survey of 140 IT positions, we found that the average Web architect's salary--based on data collected from more than 500 companies--is a little more than $90,000. The low end is about $70,000, and the high end tops $100,000.

Given the demand, most employers also offer substantial bonuses, so earning an additional 10 percent to 25 percent above the base salary has become common. Aside from cash compensation, the Web architect position also comes with some colorful and lucrative perks: personal assistance like maid service and dry cleaning, car allowances, a leased car for a spouse or employee, and the use of corporate entertainment facilities for special occasions and the corporate jet for a paid getaway weekend (see list at right). Such elaborate perks have increased over the past three years. If you have the talent for these jobs, employers will do what it takes to lure you--and keep you.

Nothing Comes Free

Still, there is no free lunch. While a Web architect may get paid big bucks, this is a high-pressure position that requires an ability to operate on multiple levels. It's not a position for someone who wants banker's hours. Deadlines rule, and the ability to craft a timely solution is critical, which often means long hours and weekends. The successful Web architect has strong analytical and conceptual skills, and also can operate hands-on in a project. He or she must be able to complete a complex task in a minimum amount of time and quickly move on to the next challenge. This individual thrives on change but also must work well with businesspeople who are less comfortable with the rapid rate of change so characteristic of the Web. The Web architect must provide strong leadership while working well on a team, which is not easy.

Technical know-how is paramount. But a Web architect also has to be careful not to overwhelm his or her clientele with too much technical information. He or she must be capable of interacting with the content-development team, headed by the infomaster, as well as with the Web site management team, the technical staff that implements the infrastructure components developed by the Web architect. In addition, the Web architect should be comfortable working with senior management--in many cases that includes the director of Web systems and the chief information security officer, who report to the CIO (see chart).

At the very least, you typically need a bachelor's degree in computer science or engineering for the Web architect job, and a master's degree could give you an edge when applying for the position.

The job requires at least eight years' experience working in IT, with at least two of those years spent in a technical leadership position with responsibility for designing and integrating systems in a Unix or Microsoft Windows NT Server environment. Database experience is major plus as well: Many Web architects also have experience working as database administrators and have in-depth knowledge of data warehousing and data-mining techniques. Software-development experience is a must.

With the critical shortage of candidates for this position, the field is wide open for professionals who demonstrate the combination of business and technical acumen necessary to do this job. And the money and perks are certainly there, because the Web architect is indispensable to businesses that want to succeed in e-commerce.

Maria Schafer directs human capital management research at the Meta Group, an information technology research and advisory services firm based in Stamford, Conn. Send comments on this article to her at careers@nwc.com. For information on Meta Group's IT Staffing and Compensation Guide, go to www.metagroup.com/humancapital.