Jira Administrator - Short Term Contract — USA

NextLink Labs is a fast growing technology firm focused on helping companies build, scale, and secure their software applications and organizations. We believe that in order for companies, teams, and products to succeed, technology must be utilized effectively and securely. We pride ourselves in helping our clients win in their respective industries.

As a remote-first company with team members spread out all across the country, NextLink Labs continuously works to ensure our work environment is comfortable and collaborative. We also aim to maintain an inclusive work environment where everyone can thrive professionally and live full lives outside of work.

We are looking for an experienced Jira Administrator for a 2 month contract engagement. The ideal candidate brings 5 to 8 years of hands-on Jira experience, has a track record of untangling over-customized Jira environments, and can operate independently from assessment through implementation. In this role, you will audit an existing Jira configuration, design a simplified and standards-aligned architecture, and implement it. You will deliver a blueprint document the internal team can own long-term, and validate that reporting and project status tracking are fully functional before the engagement closes.

• Audit the current Jira instance to identify over-customizations, structural problems, and reporting gaps

• Redesign and reconfigure workflows, issue types, custom fields, and project schemes to restore simplicity and maintainability

• Implement the agreed configuration directly in the Jira instance

• Install, configure, and validate add-ons required for reporting, portfolio planning, and test management

• Produce a clear configuration document covering workflows, issue hierarchy, field usage, and add-on setup

• Validate that reporting and project status tracking are fully functional before the engagement closes

• 5 to 8 years of hands-on Jira administration experience and familiarity with the Jira Cloud version.

• Demonstrated experience inheriting and restructuring over-customized or poorly planned Jira environments

• Ability to quickly diagnose root causes of structural and reporting problems in an existing Jira setup

• Ability to map business processes to Jira workflows

• Hands-on experience reconfiguring workflows, custom fields, screens, and project schemes

• Proficiency with Jira add-ons for reporting, portfolio planning, and test management including BigPicture, Xray, and EasyBI

• Ability to hit the ground running with no ramp-up time required

• Ability to produce clear, client-ready documentation

• Strong communication skills with a proven ability to build trust quickly with stakeholders and technical teams

• Proven ability to align stakeholders on design decisions before implementation begins

• Proven ability to deliver within a tight timeline without sacrificing quality

• Experience in consulting or professional services environments

• Familiarity with software development team structures and SDLC workflows

• Prior work with engineering organizations in the 30 to 100 developer range

• We’re a technical consulting firm that values clarity, ownership, and outcomes

• Remote-first culture, flexible work schedule, and autonomy to do your best work.

• Responsibility and autonomy at a growing company

• The opportunity to build something big and exciting

• At this time, we are unable to provide visa sponsorship or take over sponsorship for existing visas. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without the need for current or future sponsorship.