Salesforce Architect

Our Mission: We coach and support students from low socioeconomic backgrounds to prepare for and graduate from college as transformational leaders in order to forge a just and equitable society.

College Success Foundation believes in respecting, upholding, and reflecting diversity and is committed to becoming an anti-racist organization. By leading with equity, and utilizing an anti-racist lens in our work, we center diversity, equity, and inclusion in everything we do. We believe students win when we have a high-performing culture that is committed to eliminating barriers to student achievement. Our passion is fostering educational equity, making college accessible and affordable to underserved students from low-income families.

POSITION SUMMARY: The Salesforce Architect is a senior strategic position responsible for designing, architecting, and evolving the organization's Salesforce platform and its integrated ecosystem. This role acts as the internal technical authority for Salesforce, overseeing platform strategy, managing relationships with external consultants and contractors, and ensuring that all solutions adhere to organizational standards.

The Salesforce Architect is crucial in aligning the platform with the organization's strategic priorities. They translate key performance indicators (KPIs) into reliable data structures, reporting frameworks, and process designs, providing leadership with accurate and actionable insights into the organization's mission impact. This role increasingly influences how emerging technologies, such as AI and intelligent integrations, connect with Salesforce to enhance staff support and program delivery.

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITES

The items listed in this section are the primary duties and responsibilities for this job and do not represent an exhaustive list. Our organization is dynamic and therefore duties may change based on business necessity; however, any new duties will remain within the scope of the job.

Configuration, Development & Delivery

• Design and implement complex automations using Salesforce Flow, validation rules, formula fields, and other declarative tools to enhance platform functionality.
• Architect and configure solutions utilizing core Salesforce features and installed packages, including Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP), Program Management Module (PMM), and Open Financial Model (OFM).
• Translate user stories and business requirements into functional Salesforce solutions, ensuring thorough documentation and adherence to agile methodologies.
• Manage the configuration backlog by gathering, prioritizing, and delivering enhancements that improve user experience and data quality.

Vendor & Contractor Direction

• Act as the internal technical lead for all external Salesforce consultants and contractors, providing direction, defining project scope, and establishing guidelines for external engagements.
• Review and approve technical designs, configurations, and deliverables from external parties to ensure they align with organizational architecture and standards.
• Define acceptance criteria for external work, managing the handoff and post-delivery ownership of solutions developed by consultants or contractors.
• Maintain institutional knowledge to ensure that externally-built solutions are fully understood, documented, and supportable internally once the engagement concludes.

Integrations & AI Tools

• Oversee and maintain all Salesforce integrations not managed by external developers, including form-building tools, data import workflows, and connected applications.
• Lead the Salesforce architecture for integrations with third-party AI tools and agent-based solutions, defining data access boundaries, field mappings, and security protocols.
• Collaborate with vendors creating AI-powered tools that integrate with Salesforce to ensure secure, purposeful, and maintainable integrations.
• Develop and enforce data governance standards, including naming conventions, data hygiene practices, and deduplication processes.
• Manage regular data imports and updates, including scheduled processes such as academic term data loads and student onboarding.

Security & Compliance

• Design and uphold the organization's security model, including profiles, permission sets, permission set groups, sharing rules, and role hierarchy.
• Conduct regular security reviews and license audits, monitoring user adoption and troubleshooting access issues.
• Identify and address legal and regulatory compliance considerations within Salesforce, including data privacy, student information release forms, and SMS messaging compliance.

Platform Architecture & Strategy

• Define and maintain the overall Salesforce architecture, including object model, data model, security model, and integration patterns.
• Lead the long-term platform roadmap aligned with organizational strategy and mission-critical programs.
• Evaluate new Salesforce features, managed packages, and AppExchange solutions, making recommendations on adoption.
• Ensure all solutions, whether built internally or by external parties, follow Salesforce best practices, scalability principles, and declarative-first design standards.
• Stay current on Salesforce platform developments and emerging technologies, including AI tools and agent-based solutions, and assess their relevance and applicability to organizational needs.

Governance, Documentation & Enablement

• Create and maintain comprehensive technical documentation, including architecture diagrams, data dictionaries, and process documentation.
• Define and uphold platform governance standards to support change management and release management processes.
• Develop and monitor the annual budget for Salesforce-related platforms, tools, vendors, and implementation needs.
• Identify, develop, and mentor Salesforce power users across the organization, building internal

Salesforce capabilities through training and coaching.

• Train staff on CRM tools, reporting functionalities, and recommended practices to enhance user confidence, data quality, and consistent platform adoption.
• Manage staff responsible for CRM reporting and organization-wide usability, ensuring reports, dashboards, and user-facing tools meet operational needs and promote consistent adoption.
• Collaborate with leadership and program staff to ensure platform decisions align with organizational priorities.

QUALIFICATIONS

Education and Experience
The items listed below are the minimum requirements for the job and are relevant to this position. The organization values both work experience and education and realizes that individuals take different paths to acquire knowledge.

Any equivalent combination of education and experience that provides the necessary qualifications to successfully perform the duties of the position will be considered.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field. A master's degree is preferred.
• Minimum of five years of relevant professional experience in Salesforce platform design, architecture and development.
• Experience with core Salesforce features, including but not limited to Non-Profit Success Pack (NPSP), PMM, and OFM.
• Experience leading complex Salesforce implementation and integrations.

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent organizational and project management skills. Ability to multi-task and work well under pressure.
• Outstanding interpersonal, oral and written communications skills.
• Fiscally responsible.
• Microsoft Office365 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint and Outlook). Including but not limited to; Salesforce, MailChimp, CVENT and Social Tables.
• Ability to look at data and find valuable and actionable information for frontline fundraisers to enrich prospect pool and increase revenue.
• Experience in managing a large volume of data, specifically event registrations and financial record-keeping and reconciliation.
• Utilize proactive approaches to problem-solving with decision-making capability.
• An established commitment to work collaboratively and harmoniously with CSF staff, colleagues and stakeholders.
• Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, respecting individual differences, and serving diverse populations.

Professional Certifications and Licenses

• N/A

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the primary duties and responsibilities of this job. The College Success Foundation is committed to fostering an organizational culture that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive. Therefore, if a reasonable accommodation is required to fully participate in the interview process or to perform the primary duties and responsibilities of this role, please contact Human Resources.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to:

• Operate office equipment such as a computer and printer/copier.
• Communicate information and ideas to create understanding and exchange accurate information.
• Sitting or standing for extended periods of time.
• Frequently lift and/or move up to 10 pounds and occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Perceive, inspect, and assess data at close range.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• This position requires Washington state residents if assigned in a Washington based location. If this position is assigned in a District of Columbia based location the resident must reside in the District of Columbia.
• Job may allow for hybrid work arrangements.
• Use collaborative software for communicating with others and attending virtual meetings.
• Travel may be required, including occasional evening and weekend events.
• Reliable transportation is required.

CONDITION OF EMPLOYMENT

The position may change based upon the needs of the program and/or organizational needs and available funding. In compliance with federal and state regulations, College Success Foundation maintains a drug-free environment and all successful applicants must pass a drug screen prior to hire.

The statements contained herein reflect general details as necessary to describe the principal functions of this job, the level of knowledge and skill typically required, and the scope of responsibility but should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned, including work in other functional areas to cover absences or relief, to equalize peak work periods, or otherwise to balance the workload.