What does a Salesforce admin do?

Thousands of businesses around the world trust Salesforce as their go-to CRM platform – managing customer relationships, streamlining sales and marketing processes, and optimizing operations through data-driven insights.

Every business that uses Salesforce relies on a team to manage their Salesforce instance and organizations (orgs), with roles ranging from developers and consultants to architects and admins. Salesforce administrators are the backbone of many of these teams, responsible for configuring systems, automating processes, and ensuring everything runs smoothly.

If you’re thinking about a shift into the Salesforce space, just curious about what the role involves, or are already a Salesforce admin and want to level up your skills, this post will break down why admins are so vital to a Salesforce team, what it takes to succeed, and how you can grow your career in this dynamic field.

What is Salesforce administration?

Salesforce administration is all about managing and customizing the Salesforce CRM to fit business goals and workflows. Administration creates a foundation that keeps data organized, Salesforce orgs running smoothly, and users equipped with the tools they need.

The role of a Salesforce admin

A Salesforce admin is a key role in a company’s Salesforce setup. They keep the platform running smoothly, make sure it fits the business’s needs, and help end users to get the most out of the platform.

Do you need a degree to become a Salesforce admin?

You don’t need a degree to become a Salesforce admin. Many admins come from non-technical backgrounds and learn Salesforce through hands-on practice and online courses. What matters most is understanding how the platform works, being curious about solving problems, and having strong organizational skills. Salesforce certifications, like the Administrator Certification, are often more valuable than formal education for securing a role as an admin.

How long does it take to learn how to become a Salesforce admin?

The time it takes to become a Salesforce admin depends on your starting point. If you’re completely new to Salesforce, it can take a few months of focused learning to get the basics down and pass the Admin Certification exam, which most Salesforce administrator jobs will require. With practice and some real-world experience, most people can feel confident in the role within six months to a year.

Do you need to know coding to become a Salesforce admin?

Coding skills aren’t required to become a Salesforce admin. Admins use Salesforce’s point-and-click interface to set up workflows, automations, and reports. While some admins choose to learn coding later to expand their skills, it definitely isn’t a requirement to get started.

That said, having a basic understanding of DevOps practices can be a big advantage. As Salesforce teams increasingly adopt DevOps tools and processes to manage deployments, version control, and collaboration, admins who are familiar with these concepts can streamline releases and work more effectively with developers.

How does a Salesforce admin fit within a DevOps/development team?

Salesforce admins often act as the bridge between business and development teams. They work closely with developers, business analysts, and DevOps engineers to implement changes, test features, and ensure the platform meets the company’s needs. Admins often handle configuration and day-to-day management, while developers focus on more complex customizations and coding. While roles and responsibilities might differ, the right culture — including good communication — between all of these individuals is crucial for any DevOps team.

Core responsibilities of a Salesforce admin

Here are some of the key responsibilities covered by Salesforce admins.

User management and security

Salesforce admins handle user access and security permissions. They create user accounts, assign roles, and manage profiles to control who can see and do things across the different orgs in a Salesforce instance. Admins maintain robust security by managing roles, profiles, permission sets, sharing rules and field-level security.

Customization and configuration

Tailoring Salesforce to match business processes is a big part of an admin’s role. They adapt the platform by customizing fields, objects, record types, page layouts, and workflows to improve efficiency and align with organizational goals. This might involve creating validation rules to enforce data quality and consistency, or designing workflow rules to automate routine tasks and streamline processes for non-technical users.

Deployments

Admins help roll out updates and new features to the Salesforce instance, ensuring smooth transitions without disrupting daily operations. They test changes and manage deployments to keep the system stable.

Data Management and Analytics

Admins keep data organized, accurate, and accessible. They supervise the import and export of data, cleaning and removal of records, and create tools to help teams analyze performance.

Setting up backups

To protect data integrity, admins set up data backups and recovery processes. This means information can be restored quickly if something goes wrong.

Report and dashboard creation

Admins design reports and dashboards that give teams clear insights for data-informed decisions. They define and track Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to measure success, monitor trends, and highlight areas for improvement. These tools help teams stay aligned with organizational goals and make strategic decisions backed by data.

System maintenance and support

Admins handle routine maintenance, updates, and fixes to bugs identified by users. They monitor system health and keep everything running reliably.

System performance and troubleshooting

When issues arise, admins investigate and resolve them quickly. They work to keep the platform fast and error-free.

Training and adoption

Admins will often support users to get the most out of Salesforce by providing training and education. They make sure users feel confident and know how to use the system effectively.

What does a typical day look like for a Salesforce admin?

A typical day for a Salesforce admin might start with checking emails and system alerts to catch any issues or requests that need attention. Admins need to be flexible and responsive to assess and troubleshoot any user problems as they arise — resetting passwords, fixing errors, or helping teams navigate dashboards and reports.

A large part of the day might involve building or updating automations, creating reports, or testing new features in a sandbox environment. If there’s a deployment coming up, they’ll spend time documenting changes and planning the rollout.

An admin will usually have some meetings in their diary — whether it’s gathering requirements from stakeholders, training users on updates, or working with developers on customizations.

Any time left over might be spent fine-tuning workflows, optimizing layouts, and reviewing data quality. Before wrapping up, it will be the admin’s job to check system performance and make sure everything is running smoothly for the next day.

What skills do you need to become a Salesforce admin?

In a crowded job market, it’s important to consider the skills that will position you as a standout candidate. Here are some of the core skills a Salesforce admin needs to have:

Communication: A Salesforce admin spends a lot of time talking to teams, understanding their needs, and explaining how Salesforce can help. Clear, confident communication — both written and verbal — makes it easier to gather requirements, share updates, and train users.

Problem solving: Admins are natural problem solvers. Whether it’s fixing a broken workflow or designing a smoother process, they need to be able to think critically, troubleshoot issues, and test solutions until they work perfectly.

Data analysis: From building reports to spotting trends, admins help teams make sense of their data. Strong analytical skills allow them to transform raw numbers into insights that drive better decisions.

Process automation: A big part of the role involves streamlining routine jobs. Finding ways to automate repetitive tasks — like approval processes and email alerts — saves time and keeps operations running efficiently.

Project management: Admins often juggle multiple requests, deadlines, and priorities. Staying organized and managing projects effectively keeps everything on track, whether rolling out new features or fixing bugs.

Security management: Data security is a core responsibility for a Salesforce admin. Admins need to understand how to set permissions, manage roles, and control access to ensure only the right people see sensitive information.

Change management: Salesforce is always evolving, and so are the needs of its users. Admins handle updates, test changes, and roll them out without causing disruption.

Training: As the go-to Salesforce experts, admins help users feel confident using the system. This often means creating guides, running training sessions, and answering questions to make sure everyone gets the most out of the platform.

Career path and development opportunities for Salesforce admins

There are lots of different routes that you can take to become a Salesforce admin. As admins largely use Salesforce’s low-code interface to build solutions, it’s a career path that’s open to anyone willing to build up a good understanding of Salesforce’s structure and capabilities.

If you’re totally new to Salesforce, there are plenty of resources available to help you get to grips with Salesforce functionality. Trailhead, the official learning platform from Salesforce, is a great starting point and has modules tailored to various experience levels and areas of interest.

As DevOps becomes increasingly important to the Salesforce platform, you’ll also want to upskill in DevOps to really boost your employment options. The free Introduction to Salesforce DevOps course from DevOps Launchpad will take you through a full overview of the fundamental concepts of DevOps and how to apply them to Salesforce development. You’ll also find lots of other courses on DevOps in the course library, such as Get your deployments DevOps ready and Version control fundamentals.

If you decide to go down the formal certification route, it’s worth taking a look at the Salesforce Certified Administrator and Salesforce Certified Advanced Administrator certifications. And don’t miss our blog post which is packed with tips on passing official Salesforce certification exams — good luck!