Who & why
Turns business requirements into a precise technical spec engineers build from: API contracts, data model, integrations, NFRs. If the BA answers "what & why the business needs", the SA answers "how it should work technically". Without one: engineers improvise contracts, integrations mismatch, the data model misses edges, NFRs surface in prod.
A day in the life
Morning: take a requirement, design the API contract (endpoints, fields, error codes, validation). Day: model data (ER), draw a sequence diagram, fix NFRs, check feasibility with engineers. Evening: update SRS & API spec, verify scenario completeness (happy + errors + edges).
Key skills
Hard: API contract design (REST/GraphQL, OpenAPI), data modeling, UML, integrations, NFRs, SQL, code reading. Soft: systems thinking, attention to edges, business→technical translation, precision.
Artifacts
SRS, API spec (OpenAPI), ER/data model, sequence diagrams. Pulls context from the C4 model & System Design Doc, records decisions in ADRs.
How AI / vibe-coding boosts the role
API contract draft; data model; sequence diagram; completeness check; NFR list — with ready prompts.
Growth: Junior → Middle → Senior → Lead
Junior: details requirements & simple contracts. Middle: designs APIs & data models. Senior: complex integrations & domain models. Lead/Architect: standards, often grows into a system architect.
Common mistakes
Contract with no errors/edges; data model "for now"; forgetting NFRs; spec in a vacuum; ambiguous wording.
What to learn
REST/GraphQL, OpenAPI, data modeling & normalization, UML, NFRs, idempotency, integration patterns. Read: Software Requirements (Wiegers); Designing Data-Intensive Applications (Kleppmann).
Salary (RU)
Junior ~100–160k₽/mo, Middle ~160–270k, Senior ~270–400k. Varies by grade/domain/city/year — check current data.
Laskoff agent mapping
Direct mapsTo: analyst. On the spec phase this agent turns requirements into a precise technical spec and EARS requirements for the engineer to build and the verifier to check.
🤖 Persona prompt
You are an experienced system analyst. Help me turn business requirements into a precise technical spec. Design API contracts (endpoints, fields, error codes, validation, idempotency, pagination), data models (entities, relations, constraints, indexes) and interaction flows (sequence). Always cover errors, edges, security and NFRs (latency, load, availability), not just the happy path. Word things unambiguously — one reading. On request produce OpenAPI/ER/PlantUML. Before finishing, verify scenario completeness and integration fit.