WHAT DOES A JIRA ADMINISTRATOR DO?

Reviewed by Lam Nguyen under Editorial Standards

Updated: Dec 12, 2025 - The Jira Administrator designs and configures Jira Software, Core, and Service Management to meet evolving business and Agile project needs. This role manages workflows, permissions, dashboards, integrations, and day-to-day administration while ensuring system performance and scalability. The administrator also supports user training, resolves technical issues, and promotes Atlassian best practices through documentation and stakeholder collaboration.

A Review of Professional Skills and Functions for Jira Administrator

1. Jira Administrator Duties

Business Collaboration: Work with multiple Lines of Business to define implementation designs, including system diagrams, data models, and business process diagrams.
Architectural Design: Engage with enterprise architects for design collaboration and review
Project Oversight: Oversee the implementation of assigned JIRA/Confluence projects, ensuring the implementation is consistent with design decisions, standards, and best practices
User Experience: Continuously seek to improve the user experience, enterprise implementation, and adoption to ensure industry competitiveness and edge
Programming Languages: Development languages, including JavaScript (Node/Angular), PHP, Java, Python, Shell Scripting, SQL
Workflow Design: Design, implement, and maintain custom workflows, screens, dashboards, fields, permission schemes, post functions, etc, to serve as templates for Agile teams across the TechOps organization
Atlassian Administration: Provide configuration and administrative support of the self-hosted Atlassian tool suite and future Cloud Atlassian tool suite, including multiple Jira Projects, Confluence, Github, Advanced Roadmaps, Jira Align, Big Picture, Tempo, etc.
Reporting Tools: Build advanced filters (i.e, Scriptrunner), custom dashboards, and reports
Support Management: Coordinate and respond to support requests, manage licenses, and costs
Plugin Management: Install, configure, test, and manage add-ons, plug-ins, and extensions
Skill Development: Actively develop and improve the Jira skill set by keeping aware of Jira industry trends, tools, and techniques
Training Delivery: Conduct training on Jira/Confluence, as well as navigating the projects and spaces
IT Collaboration: Effectively collaborate and communicate with IT staff, security, etc, to coordinate infrastructure maintenance
Product Lifecycle: Understanding of the end-to-end product development life cycle, best practices, and project management methodologies
PI Planning: Understanding PI Planning and being able to facilitate toolsets to help with the planning process (i.e, Jira Align or other)

2. Jira Administrator Details

Jira Transition: Use deep technical expertise and experience in Jira and related Atlassian technologies to help the transition from Trello and ensure the use of Jira following best practices and scalable strategies.
Subject Expertise: Serve as a subject matter expert on Jira to field questions and provide hands-on support to product teams as they move forward with the adoption of Jira tools and practices.
Workflow Development: Develop JIRA workflows, customizations, integrations, and support teams’ workflows on behalf of project management and leadership teams.
Dashboard Reporting: Develop effective dashboards and reporting to support leadership and project teams.
Team Mentorship: Mentor other Fools, sharing best practices to help guide teams to technical excellence in using Jira and related technologies.
Stakeholder Collaboration: Identify and build relationships with the key stakeholders and teams to foster collaboration in working on solutions and ultimately enhance the lives of everyone touching the Jira platform.
Vision Communication: Help to proactively communicate the Jira vision and collaborate at all levels, Business leads and Technical Leadership (DevOps, DBAs, Infosec, WPT, Engineering/Infrastructure, and Development) teams to ensure a cohesive and consistent approach.
Vision Execution: Help execute on that vision with hands-on design, implementation, mentorship, and team building.

3. Jira Administrator Responsibilities

Requirements Planning: Plan and facilitate requirements gathering workshops to plan Jira workflows and configurations.
Business Translation: Interpret and translate business requirements into product configurations, leveraging Atlassian best practices.
Jira Administration: Configure and administer Jira Software, Jira Core, and Jira Service Management, plus related apps and third-party tools.
Workflow Design: Design, implement, and maintain custom workflows, global settings, users and groups, screens, dashboards, fields, permission schemes, post functions, etc., to serve as templates for Agile teams across the company.
Application Management: Administer application instances on a day-to-day basis by setting up and supporting projects, roles, workflows, security, and plug-ins.
Process Optimization: Optimize and improve process workflows and identify where functionality can be improved to meet user requirements.
System Maintenance: Maintain a healthy application environment by periodically reviewing and modifying configurations, permissions, workflows, dashboards, integrations, and logs.
System Integration: Support integrations to external systems by collaborating with the external stakeholders.
Issue Resolution: Investigate, troubleshoot, and fix issues related to Atlassian tools suite, application servers, and database servers.
Agile Methodology: Apply a solid understanding of Agile principles when recommending project management methodologies (scrum, Kanban, waterfall, etc).
Best Practices: Provide recommendations to users and management on best practices and standardization in implementing projects and processes within Jira and the Atlassian suite.
Documentation Management: Create and maintain detailed technical and user-facing documentation and standard operating procedures, guides, and desk aids to support usability and issue resolution.

4. Jira Administrator Job Summary

Cross-Functional Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams across the organization, gather requirements to develop, and deliver custom templates, workflows using Atlassian products (JIRA, Service Desk, Confluence, etc.).
Template Development: Develop custom templates in JIRA to manage projects, epics, issues/tasks for the entire organization.
Atlassian Administration: Design, develop, and administer Atlassian products, deploying custom plugins for JIRA as well as evaluating plugins from the marketplace.
Infrastructure Management: Install and maintain Atlassian infrastructure for High Availability via Data Centre, version, and set up load balancers for scaling the application on-Demand along with configuring the Firewall and Network Security features for the Servers.
Project Management: Create, customize, and maintain small/large projects with users ranging from 100-2000 with up to 300 projects, spaces, build plans, workflows, and repositories in the Atlassian tool stack.
Dashboard Reporting: Create, maintain, and support dashboards and advanced filters for end users' reporting capabilities.
User Management: Provide user management and grant user permissions using LDAP/SSO integration.
Documentation Management: Create and maintain detailed technical and user-facing documentation.

5. Jira Administrator Accountabilities

Project Migration: Perform migrations of projects in JIRA and migrations of spaces in Confluence.
Migration Support: Provide consultation, support, and implementation on migration to Atlassian tools.
Employee Training: Conduct training for employees and new hires on JIRA and Confluence regarding how to use the tools, new functionality, etc.
Issue Troubleshooting: Troubleshoot and resolve issues as they arise with JIRA projects and Confluence in coordination with other admins, partner teams, Atlassian Premier Support, and TAMs.
System Backup: Ensure that necessary system backups are performed, and storage rotation of backups is accomplished.
Process Optimization: Provide continuous optimization for a very good customer experience.
Continuous Improvement: Proactively identify areas of improvement and innovative solutions to complex problems.
Script Development: Create custom post functions and triggers using Groovy Script in Atlassian.
Application Upgrade: Perform application upgrades with scheduled downtime and preemptive communication to the customer.

6. Jira Administrator Functions

Solution Design: Recommend and administer solution design for the Jira Align tool with the ability to configure all levels, including Enterprise, Program, Solutions, and Teams.
OKR Framework: Design, configure, and implement the OKR value engineering framework within a tool based upon the client’s requirements.
Requirement Definition: Define product requirements, business rules, acceptance criteria, and test cases that support the client’s Jira Align instance.
Requirement Gathering: Facilitate gathering of business and technical requirements from cross-functional partners, including Agile Coaching office, Enterprise Portfolio Management, Agile Release Trains, and Quarterly Business Review reporting needs.
Product Review: Review and approve user stories, use cases, and UX/UI wireframes that align with the client’s product definition for Jira Align.
Meeting Facilitation: Facilitate complex team meetings involving business and technical resources, including third-party vendors.
Team Leadership: Lead a diverse group of resources developers, technical architects, program and project managers, product owners, testing leads, and testers.
Decision Support: Ensure business and technology decisions are reached to support business goals and objectives.
Relationship Management: Establish and drive long-term relationships across all required verticals.
Product Support: Support testing, launch, and ongoing product management.

7. Jira Administrator Job Description

Tool Configuration: Configure, manage, and enhance Jira and Confluence tools, including native functionality, as well as researching, testing, and implementing plugins.
Project Management: Create JIRA projects, queries, and reports.
Workflow Customization: Create custom workflows, post functions, and validators, make changes to workflows, screens, fields, and reporting, and provide ongoing support and configuration maintenance.
Workflow Design: Create complex JIRA workflows, including project workflows, security schemes, screen schemes, JIRA vocabulary, and permission and notification schemes.
Metrics Reporting: Configure metrics, dashboards, reports, and advanced filters in JIRA/Confluence to provide end-users and business leadership with meaningful operational/performance metrics and status reports.
Account Management: Create new accounts, manage permissions, and build dashboards.
Script Management: Create and maintain scripts.
Issue Troubleshooting: Troubleshoot access and/or performance issues.
Confluence Support: Support Confluence requirements, including security, spaces, design, and integration with JIRA.
Jira Expertise: Provide Jira SME support to teams via approved collaboration tools.
Administrative Management: Create, manage, and support all administrative functions associated with the Atlassian product suite.
Documentation Management: Create and maintain technical documentation and user guides.
Add-On Management: Evaluate and manage the usage of Atlassian add-ons to meet team and business needs.

8. Jira Administrator Overview

Instance Administration: Administer JIRA instances on a day-to-day basis, including performance tuning/scaling the instances.
Workflow Design: Create complex JIRA workflows, including project workflows, screen schemes, permission schemes, and notification schemes in JIRA.
Permission Management: Grant user permission to projects according to the role given by the company.
Upgrade Management: Lead and provide technical assistance during major JIRA and Confluence upgrades.
Team Collaboration: Work closely with developers in other teams on ops projects.
System Maintenance: Schedule and coordinate maintenance for critical systems.
Best Practices: Research Atlassian best practices to implement them in Internal and Client Projects.
Backup Management: Be responsible for performing scheduled backups at all levels.

9. Jira Administrator Details and Accountabilities

Cloud Administration: Configuration, maintenance, and administration of Atlassian Cloud products (Jira, Confluence, Jira Service Desk).
Dashboard Reporting: Create, maintain, and support dashboards and advanced filters for end users' reporting capabilities.
EazyBi Reporting: Create, maintain, and support reports using the EazyBi tool and have knowledge of defining customized measures/dimensions.
Process Optimization: Work with development and design teams to identify procedural efficiencies, such as with Jira Workflows, custom fields, etc.
Tool Integration: Devise, test, and deploy integrations between Atlassian products and other internal tool chains (Azure DevOps Repo, Jenkins, etc.).
Employee Training: Conduct training for employees and new hires on JIRA and brief the team/s on new functionalities.
Add-On Management: Evaluate and manage the usage of Atlassian add-ons to meet team and business needs.
Innovation Research: Research and implement new approaches to Jira and Confluence usage.
Issue Resolution: Prompt issue resolution with JIRA Projects and Confluence in coordination with Engineering Dev/QA Managers, Scrum masters, and Atlassian support.

10. Jira Administrator Tasks

Jira Innovation: Drive innovation in how work is performed using Jira.
Project Configuration: Create custom Jira projects, complex workflows, and permission schemas.
Version Management: Manage Jira version upgrades.
Documentation Management: Create training material and standard operating procedure documentation.
User Training: Provide formal and informal training to Jira users.
Plugin Management: Identify, test, and recommend new plugins to meet project requirements.
Access Control: Define access permission schemas for internal and external Dropbox users.
Process Alignment: Align Jira with PMO processes and standards (Waterfall, Agile, and Kanban).

11. Jira Administrator Roles

Tool Configuration: Configure and maintain Jira/Confluence to meet evolving business needs.
Add-On Management: Evaluate and manage the usage of the tools' add-ons to meet team and business needs.
Process Optimization: Work with software teams to identify procedural efficiencies, such as with Jira workflows, custom fields, etc.
Status Reporting: Provide project status, progress, and potential delay information to DevOps, as well as development team Managers and team members.
Issue Escalation: Be a trusted support and escalation point for all tool issues.
Tool Training: Provide demos and training of all JIRA/Confluence Tools.
System Stability: Ensure systems are stable and available, and that user issues are addressed promptly.
Project Management: Create JIRA projects, queries, and reports.
Tool Enhancement: Configure, manage, and enhance Jira and Confluence tools, including native functionality, as well as researching, testing, and implementing plugins.
Workflow Customization: Create custom workflows, post functions, and validators, make changes to workflows, screens, fields, and reporting, and provide ongoing support and configuration maintenance.

12. Jira Administrator Additional Details

Project Implementation: Implement new JIRA Projects.
Application Management: Application administration, maintenance, and upgrades.
Incident Resolution: Respond to and resolve user-submitted incidents.
System Customization: Customization and testing (Workflows, Custom Fields, Dashboards, Reports).
Feature Development: Research, design, and implementation of new system features and/or plugins.
Documentation Management: Document system design, configuration, and user training guides.
User Support: Be responsible for providing Jira user and application support, analyzing problems, identifying root causes, and providing improvement and impact mitigation suggestions.
Requirement Analysis: Collect requirements of stakeholders, design, test, and roll out improvements.
User Coaching: Support in coaching JIRA users regarding best practices.
Tool Innovation: Help innovate the tooling landscape and improve the organization’s productivity.

13. Jira Administrator Essential Functions

Network Administration: Defines, designs, and administers network systems used for Project Management, Technical Development, and Test Execution.
Application Management: Be responsible for the initiation, configuration, and administration of enterprise applications supporting Dexcom IT execution and governance of the Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC).
System Configuration: Configuration and administration of JIRA, Confluence, X-Ray Test Management, Smartsheet, Valegenesis applications, and required integrations between all applications and ServiceNow.
System Enhancement: Proposes and implements enhancements that will improve the performance and reliability of the system.
Performance Analysis: First point of contact for performance analysis, scalability, and service administration issues.
Cross-Functional Communication: Approves action requests, communicates laterally, and engages others across the organization.
SDLC Alignment: Understands SDLC process requirements and is able to translate to technical configuration.
Technical Improvement: Continue to improve technical expertise through research and identification of new processes and technical alternatives to resolve problems and/or implement continuous improvement.

14. Jira Administrator Role Purpose

Atlassian Management: Manage all aspects of the Atlassian tool chain, including workflows, custom fields, schemes, add-ons, and integrations.
Subject Expertise: Subject matter expert for Atlassian tools (Jira Software, Jira Service Desk, Confluence, Jira Core).
Advanced Troubleshooting: Perform advanced troubleshooting tasks on Atlassian nodes, including resource utilization and stack trace analysis.
Project Development: Build new Jira projects and author workflows based on user requirements.
Tool Integration: Set up integration between Atlassian and other productivity, developer, and analytics tools.
Confluence Administration: Manage the Confluence environment and create spaces, pages, and page templates.
System Availability: Ensure system availability of all Atlassian tools based on defined SLAs.
Ticket Management: Handle service ticket queue to ensure timely resolution for end-user issues.
Deployment Support: Support for software deployment and maintenance projects.

15. Jira Administrator General Responsibilities

Process Engineering: Shape processes and tools that enable cross-functional collaboration and drive CI/CD transformation at VA.
Team Coaching: Work closely with product owners, developers, and external development teams to coach and mentor them on how to implement Jira and associated plug-ins like Portfolio, Xray, and Confluence.
Administrative Support: Provide administrative support for Atlassian JIRA services and JIRA-related products such as Confluence and Portfolio.
Training Delivery: Prepare and lead training sessions to teach valuable skills that lead toward organization-wide adoption of Jira.
Subject Expertise: Serve as a subject matter expert on Jira to field questions and provide hands-on support to VA product teams as they move forward with the adoption of DevOps tools and practices.
Workflow Development: Develop JIRA workflows, customizations, and integrations to support management on behalf of VA product teams.
Task Coordination: Coordinate tasks across other members of the DevSecOps team.
Team Leadership: Work in a fast-paced team environment and lead team activities to resolve issues and implement ad-hoc solutions.
Discovery Facilitation: Lead discovery sessions and consulting meetings with product teams to address their ALM needs.
Stakeholder Interaction: Interact with customers, team members, and upper management.

16. Jira Administrator Key Accountabilities

Team Coaching: Work closely with product owners, developers, and external development teams to coach and mentor them on how to implement Jira and associated plug-ins like Portfolio, Xray, and Confluence.
Administrative Support: Provide administrative support for Atlassian Jira services and Jira-related products such as Confluence and Portfolio.
Training Delivery: Prepare and lead training sessions to teach valuable skills that lead toward organization-wide adoption of Jira.
Subject Expertise: Serve as a subject matter expert on Jira to field questions and provide hands-on support to product teams as they move forward with the adoption of DevOps tools and practices.
Workflow Development: Develop Jira workflows, customizations, and integrations to support management on behalf of product teams.
Task Coordination: Coordinate tasks across other members of the DevSecOps team.
Team Leadership: Work in a fast-paced team environment and lead team activities to resolve issues and implement ad hoc solutions.
IT Management: Provide large-scale Information Technology and Management Services with a heavy focus on Software Development.
Project Delivery: Deliver quality products that are recognized throughout the technology industry, as well as successfully manage projects of both large and small scale.

17. Jira Administrator Roles and Details

Tool Configuration: Be responsible for the consistency, structuring, and configuration of Jira and Confluence tools.
Best Practices: Ensure that best practices are observed in the use and configuration of the tools that support software engineering agile processes.
Team Support: Work closely with software engineering teams to support and coach them in the process for using Jira and Confluence and the development lifecycle platforms.
Product Monitoring: Collaborate in the monitoring of the potential evolution of the products.
Service Improvement: Continuously improve the service offering for the Atlassian tools (Jira, Confluence, Jira Service Desk, and others).
Tool Recommendation: Help formulate tool and platform recommendations for the company.
Implementation Collaboration: Collaborate in the implementation of the evolution targets in line with the Agile Centre of Expertise.
Add-On Testing: Test and work with Jira add-ons, plugins, and extensions.
IT Coordination: Act as an interface to the IT-Service for support and troubleshooting.

18. Jira Administrator Responsibilities and Key Tasks

Workflow Management: Set up, understand workflows, asset management, service management, and dashboards.
Project Setup: Set up Epics, Releases, Stories, etc.
Jira Administration: Serve as a Jira Administrator working to customize, configure, and implement the tool across the organization.
Work Coordination: Act as a coordination and facilitation point for organizing work efforts.
Quality Assurance: Set up or follow established procedures to ensure high quality of work.
Dependency Management: Understand dependency identification processes in technology work, verify information, and carefully review and check the accuracy of own work.
Work Prioritization: Establish or follow a prioritization process to drive work and maintain a sense of urgency about getting work completed.
Solution Documentation: Document and demonstrate solutions by developing documentation, flowcharts, layouts, diagrams, charts, code comments, and clear code.
Software Development: Develop working software and unit tests based on the solution design in the target application technology.

19. Jira Administrator Duties and Roles

Atlassian Expertise: Provide local subject matter expertise on all things Atlassian.
Project Management: Create and customize projects, support pre-existing projects, and nurture a healthy culture of best-practice Jira usage.
System Improvement: Advise the business while taking a hands-on approach to implementing necessary systems improvements, platform migrations, and upgrades.
Team Mentorship: Provide mentorship and internal training on Atlassian and agile skills.
Data Analysis: Identify trends and problem areas using data-driven approaches and use metrics to identify focus areas for prioritization with the end goal of improving the internal infrastructure and efficiency of the workforce.
System Stability: Ensure the internal systems are stable and consistently available.
Configuration Support: Support configuration activities, planned outages, etc.
Plugin Research: Work with plug-ins and conduct R&D on JIRA/Confluence plug-ins.
Technical Documentation: Document technical configurations and support the development of business plans for technical integration.

20. Jira Administrator Accountabilities

Scrum Enablement: Launch, champion, cater, and support sustained SCRUM practices across all non-technical teams in the organization.
Project Administration: Maintain and manage project settings, boards, workflows, tasks/issues, permissions, and users, including setting permissions and maintaining security for JIRA projects and Confluence spaces independently without supervision.
Dashboard Enhancement: Advance JIRA filters, reporting, dashboards, workflows, and fields to be more user-friendly and visually appealing, increasing adherence with stakeholders.
Process Support: Support various departments in implementation, process improvement, and execution via documentation creation, training material creation, and process manual additions and improvements.
Risk Management: Proactively identify and address implementation risks through proper escalation and engagement of the appropriate teams in creative solutions.
Stakeholder Support: Complete special projects to support key stakeholders.
Workflow Automation: Develop, maintain, and manage Jira projects involving automation workflows, including customizations, validations, conditions, and post functions, etc.
Configuration Management: Maintain different screens and notification schemes related to configurations on Jira.
Requirement Gathering: Gather requirements to develop and deliver custom templates and workflows (automation) by collaborating with dynamic teams.
Records Administration: Manage records of the architecture setup and functionality, along with administrative duties.
Process Improvement: Recommend modifications to processes and procedures, and contribute to best practices, architecture, and implementations.
Multitasking Management: Work in a fast-paced environment with multiple competing priorities.

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