Salesforce Functional Expert – Higher Education (Education Cloud)

Position Title: Salesforce Functional Expert – Higher Education (Education Cloud)

Location: Remote

Client Industry: Information Technology / Digital Transformation / CRM Team

Job Status:  Full-Time / Contract / Consultant

Position Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Salesforce Functional Expert with deep knowledge of the Salesforce Education Cloud, ideally within a Higher Education environment. This role will be responsible for gathering requirements, configuring Salesforce Education Cloud solutions, optimizing user experiences, and aligning business needs with platform capabilities. The ideal candidate will have strong expertise in student lifecycle processes (recruitment, admissions, student success, alumni relations), CRM strategy, and a user-centered approach to solution design.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Functional Leadership:

• Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) for Salesforce Education Cloud capabilities and Higher Education CRM best practices.
• Translate institutional business needs into scalable, efficient Salesforce solutions.
• Lead discovery workshops, requirement-gathering sessions, and functional design reviews with stakeholders from admissions, advising, marketing, student services, and advancement.

Solution Design & Implementation:

• Design, configure, and optimize Education Cloud features, including Student Success Hub, Admissions Connect, EDA (Education Data Architecture), and Experience Cloud portals.
• Collaborate with developers and technical architects to deliver integrated solutions (e.g., SIS, LMS, financial aid systems).
• Support data modeling and management strategies using EDA.

Stakeholder Collaboration & Training:

• Act as liaison between business units and technical teams.
• Provide user training, functional documentation, and change management support.
• Advocate for platform adoption and continuous improvement based on user feedback and analytics.

Project Management & Support:

Assist with roadmap development, release planning, and backlog grooming.

Support testing, UAT coordination, and post-launch optimization.

Participate in governance processes to ensure platform alignment with institutional goals.

Minimum Skills, Knowledge, and Ability Requirements

• 3–5+ years of hands-on experience with Salesforce, including configuration and solutioning.
• 2+ years working with Salesforce Education Cloud and/or Education Data Architecture (EDA).
• Deep understanding of student lifecycle and CRM processes in higher education.
• Demonstrated ability to translate business requirements into Salesforce functionality without heavy custom code.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to engage with diverse university stakeholders.

Preferred Skills:

• Salesforce certifications (e.g., Education Cloud Consultant, Administrator, Advanced Administrator, Business Analyst).
• Experience integrating Salesforce with SIS (e.g., Banner, PeopleSoft), LMS, or other campus systems.
• Knowledge of data governance and privacy regulations relevant to education (FERPA, GDPR).
• Experience with agile methodologies and project management tools like Jira or Asana.

Soft Skills:

• Strategic thinker with a collaborative mindset.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Self-starter with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a dynamic environment.
• Empathy for student and staff user experiences.