Salesforce Administrator

Salesforce Administrator Location: Chicago, IL (Remote Role, Central hours) Duration: Contract-to-hire About the Opportunity We are seeking an experienced Salesforce Administrator to lead the administration, configuration, release management, and ongoing enhancement of a complex Salesforce ecosystem. This role is ideal for a hands-on Salesforce professional who enjoys driving platform optimization, managing deployments, improving data quality, and partnering with business stakeholders to deliver impactful solutions. The successful candidate will work closely with architects, developers, business analysts, and business leaders to maximize the value of Salesforce and related technologies across the organization. Key Responsibilities Administer and optimize the Salesforce platform, ensuring scalability, performance, and adoption. Design and implement solutions that leverage Salesforce best practices and platform capabilities. Manage Salesforce sandbox environments, including refresh planning, data seeding, configuration, and post-refresh activities. Own release and deployment activities utilizing Copado, Salesforce DX, and Git-based development processes. Support governance, change management, and release management initiatives. Configure and maintain Salesforce functionality, including: Flows Validation rules Record types Page layouts Formula fields Reports and dashboards Partner with business and technical teams to gather requirements and deliver effective solutions. Ensure data integrity, security, and system reliability. Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues while providing continuous platform improvements. Stay current on Salesforce releases and evaluate new capabilities for business value. Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Software Engineering, or a related field. 3-5+ years of Salesforce Administration experience supporting Salesforce Lightning environments. Salesforce Certified Administrator certification. Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certification. Salesforce Certified Platform App Builder certification. Experience supporting Salesforce organizations with 300+ users. Strong experience managing Salesforce sandbox environments and refresh activities. Hands-on experience owning Salesforce deployments and release management processes. Demonstrated expertise with Copado deployment tools , including personally managing deployments. Experience utilizing Salesforce DX and Git-based development workflows. Strong understanding of: Salesforce configuration Security and access models Data management Reporting and dashboards Experience with AppExchange applications and third-party Salesforce integrations. Experience with Jira and GitHub. Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. Preferred Qualifications Experience with Data Cloud (Data 360). Experience with CRM Analytics (Einstein Analytics). Exposure to Agentforce and AI-enabled Salesforce capabilities. Experience with: OwnBackup DocuSign Pardot (Account Engagement) Service Cloud CPQ Kantata (Kimble) Salesforce Data Cloud Consultant certification. Salesforce Agentforce Specialist certification. What We're Looking For The ideal candidate is a proactive problem solver who combines strong Salesforce technical expertise with a customer-focused mindset. You are comfortable working in a fast-paced environment, managing multiple priorities, and driving projects from concept through deployment while maintaining high standards for quality, governance, and user experience.