Jira Architect

Location: Berkeley, CA (Hybrid)

Client: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory - Berkeley Lab (ESnet)
Duration: 9-Month Contract
Pay Rate: $95/hour + benefits

Position Overview

Our client, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is seeking an experienced Jira Architect to support the Enterprise Services Network (ESnet) Work Structure team in transforming its Jira environment into a scalable, enterprise-wide platform.

This is a highly visible role responsible for designing and implementing a standardized Jira architecture, leading data remediation and migrations, establishing governance standards, and enabling executive portfolio reporting. The ideal candidate is a strategic Jira expert with deep experience in Jira Cloud administration, enterprise-scale implementations, workflow optimization, and organizational change management.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Jira Architecture

• Design and finalize ESnet's enterprise Jira architecture, including standardized issue hierarchies (Initiatives, Epics, Stories, Tasks, and Bugs).
• Develop long-term architecture for Portfolio, Procurement, Program, Group, and Department spaces.
• Architect and implement Jira Goals to align strategic objectives with execution.
• Standardize and optimize the use of Atlassian Teams across the organization.
• Enhance Advanced Roadmaps to provide executive and project-level portfolio reporting, dependency tracking, capacity planning, and goal progress.

Jira Administration & Technical Standardization

• Assess and remediate existing Jira configurations, including:
  • Custom fields
  • Workflows
  • Screens
  • Permission schemes
  • Notification schemes
  • Statuses
  • Priorities
  • Components
  • Boards
  • Filters
• Consolidate redundant configurations and eliminate technical debt.
• Design reusable workflow schemes supporting engineering, operations, and administrative teams.
• Develop strategies for project cleanup, archival, and long-term maintainability.

Data Migration & Enterprise Implementation

• Lead enterprise-wide Jira data migration efforts with minimal disruption.
• Execute bulk migration and mapping of projects into the new enterprise architecture.
• Support teams transitioning from legacy project spaces into standardized departmental structures.
• Ensure sprint continuity, reporting integrity, and dependency management throughout migrations.
• Serve as a trusted technical advisor in resolving cross-functional configuration requirements.

Governance & Training

• Develop a comprehensive Jira Governance Framework to prevent future configuration drift.
• Create standards for change control, naming conventions, project creation, workflow approvals, and custom field management.
• Deliver training for executive leadership focused on portfolio reporting, dashboards, goal tracking, and capacity planning.
• Provide technical documentation and knowledge transfer for Jira administrators and power users.

Required Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years of hands-on Jira Administration experience
• Demonstrated expertise with Jira Cloud
• Strong experience designing enterprise Jira environments supporting 100+ users across multiple departments
• Expertise in:
  • Workflow design
  • Permission schemes
  • Custom field configuration
  • Jira Automation
  • Advanced Roadmaps
• Experience creating executive dashboards, filters, and portfolio reporting
• Excellent communication, documentation, and stakeholder management skills
• Must be authorized to work in the United States
• Ability to collaborate remotely during Pacific Time business hours

Preferred Qualifications

• Atlassian Certified Professional (ACP), Jira Administrator, or similar certification
• Experience supporting research institutions, government organizations, or higher education
• Familiarity with portfolio management methodologies such as PMI or SAFe
• Experience integrating Jira with Confluence
• Background in enterprise change management and organizational technology rollouts