Solutions Architect and Senior Administrator

About Open Philanthropy

Open Philanthropy is a philanthropic funder and advisor; our mission is to help others as much as we can with the resources available to us. We stress openness to many possibilities and have chosen our focus areas based on importance, neglectedness, and tractability. Our current giving areas include potential risks from advanced artificial intelligence, global health and development, scientific research, global public health policy, farm animal welfare, and biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. In 2024, we recommended $650 million to high-impact causes, and we’ve recommended over $4 billion in grants since our formation.

About the role

At Open Philanthropy, we use Salesforce to manage our grantmaking. We aim to make our system a user-friendly, end-to-end solution for grant processing and information management. Our Salesforce user base is around 150 and growing, and our instance is low-record-volume but high-touch and high-complexity, with lots of customization, and an unusually complex security model. To support this work, we’re looking for an experienced jack-of-all-trades, with strengths in most or all of the following areas: solution architecture, development, DevOps, business analysis, and project management. If you’ve served as a senior admin or architect at a medium-sized organization, or have some consulting experience switching hats between these roles, this opportunity might be a good fit for you. The Solutions Architect and Senior Administrator will work closely with our existing team to support the following functions:

Salesforce architecture and development:

• Design and build complex Salesforce solutions, demonstrating expert understanding of platform capabilities and limitations

• Make informed decisions on solution trade-offs, considering factors such as scalability, maintainability, and user experience

• Develop custom solutions using Apex, SOQL, and potentially Lightning Web Components and Visualforce

• Lead requirements-gathering sessions with stakeholders and users, translating business needs into technical specifications

• Collaborate with stakeholders and Salesforce team members to refine and implement solutions

• Mentor junior team members and provide technical guidance on complex issues

• Evaluate, recommend, implement, and manage Salesforce features and third-party tools

• Help oversee the team's user support function, and help resolve escalated cases

• Contribute to the continuous improvement of our Salesforce architecture and development processes
  
  

Project management:

• Lead Salesforce-adjacent projects from inception to completion:

  • Define and manage project scope

  • Allocate engineering capacity and keep stakeholders informed about project progress

  • Ensure all stakeholders meet deadlines and resolve any blockers

• Implement and refine agile methodologies within the team, facilitating the estimation, prioritization, and execution of tasks

• Balance multiple concurrent projects and initiatives, adjusting priorities as needed
  
  

DevOps:

• Implement and advocate for DevOps best practices within the Salesforce team

• Use and help junior team members gain skills with our preferred IDE, IntelliJ+Illuminated Cloud

• Serve as the team’s release manager, or mentor members of the admin team to serve in this capacity
  

Who might be a good fit

We are looking for someone with extensive experience in Salesforce administration and development, with a strong background in solution arc