Jira Architect
About The Position
We are seeking an experienced Jira Architect Contractor to lead a large-scale transition from a decentralized, "one-space-per-project" Jira footprint to a standardized, multi-tiered enterprise architecture. This role will work embedded with our internal Work Structure team to finalize a global Jira architecture, remediate significant configuration drift (custom fields, screens, and workflows), execute data migrations, and provide organizational change management and leadership enablement. This is a hands-on, high-visibility engagement for a Jira expert who enjoys solving complex structural problems, standardizing chaotic environments, and enabling both individual teams and executive leadership to work more effectively within Jira.
Requirements
- Minimum 3 years of hands-on Jira administration experience, including workflow design, permission schemes, and custom field configuration
- Demonstrated experience with Jira Cloud
- Experience configuring portfolio-level project structures for organizations of comparable scale (100+ users, multiple departments)
- Proficiency with Jira Automation
- Ability to create and document dashboards and filters for executive audiences
- Available for remote collaboration
- Able to participate in stakeholder interviews and workshops during Pacific Time business hours
- Must be eligible to work in the United States
Nice To Haves
- Atlassian Certified Professional (ACP), Jira Administrator, or equivalent certification
- Prior experience supporting research, government, or higher-education organizations
- Familiarity with portfolio or program management frameworks (e.g., PMI, SAFe, or similar)
- Experience integrating Jira with Confluence for documentation and governance publishing
- Background in change management or organizational rollout of collaboration tooling
Responsibilities
- Finalize the global issue hierarchy (Initiative → Epic → Story/Task/Bug), ensuring seamless cross-space linking and dependency mapping
- Design the structural architecture for long-term Portfolio, Procurement, Programs, and Group/Department spaces
- Architect the deployment of Jira's native Goals feature to map strategic objectives to the work delivery layer
- Evaluate, refine, and scale the current use of Atlassian Teams across the instance
- Refine and improve Advanced Roadmaps plans and architect reporting for status, progress, dates, blockers, and Goal completion metrics
- Audit, rationalize, and merge redundant custom fields, workflow statuses, resolutions, notification schemes, and screen layouts
- Build a standardized set of reusable workflow schemes for software engineering, operations, and administrative functions
- Clean up historical, orphaned, or obsolete components, labels, versions, and permission groups; formulate an archiving strategy for inactive projects
- Guide teams through transitioning from legacy dedicated spaces into shared Group/Department spaces
- Lead technical execution of bulk data mapping, migration, and cleansing without data loss or downtime
- Support teams in aligning Team profiles, boards, and plans with the new structure, without disrupting active sprint tracking or cross-project dependencies
- Act as a neutral technical advisor to resolve competing requirements between departments regarding field or workflow customization
- Design and deliver leadership enablement sessions on portfolio visibility, dashboard consumption, and capacity tracking
- Provide deep-dive documentation and training for internal Jira administrators and team leads
- Author a Jira Governance Playbook detailing change control procedures for new custom fields, projects, and integrations
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Mid Level
Education Level
No Education Listed
