Planetary Radio

The Planetary Society, the world’s largest and most influential space interest organization, seeks a skilled Salesforce Admin/Analyst to partner with our team in building and evolving its Salesforce CRM platform.

Founded in 1980 by Carl Sagan, Bruce Murray, and Louis Friedman and today led by CEO Jennifer Vaughn, The Planetary Society empowers the public to take a meaningful role in advancing space exploration through advocacy, education, outreach, scientific innovation, and global collaboration. Our global membership boasts more than 50,000 individuals, ranging from newbie space fans to deep-dive enthusiasts, reflecting a diverse spectrum of passion and knowledge about our core enterprises of planetary exploration, the search for life, and defense from near-Earth objects.

The Planetary Society seeks a candidate who is passionate about building clean, reliable, and maintainable systems and who possesses strong technical skills in Salesforce development, automation, and integration. Candidates should excel at troubleshooting complex platform event driven architecture, documenting their work clearly, and explaining technical systems to non-technical colleagues. Not sure if you meet every qualification? Please apply anyway.

To apply, please submit your resume and cover letter to salesforcejob@planetary.org. This recruitment will remain open until filled; however, you are encouraged to apply as soon as possible as the application period may close at any time. The first round of application review will begin August 3.

The Planetary Society offers a competitive salary and benefits package. We pride ourselves on our supportive work culture that is committed to a healthy and rewarding work/life balance.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Chief Systems Administrator, the Salesforce Admin serves as the primary technical owner of The Planetary Society’s NPSP-based Salesforce CRM environment and its integrations, responsible for its design, development, maintenance, and ongoing improvement. Working in close partnership with the internal Chief Systems Administrator, the Admin takes ownership of the platform’s technical systems with the goal of simplifying the existing architecture, resolving issues, and building a system that internal staff can understand and operate with confidence. This is not a day-to-day administration role; The Planetary Society already has an internal administrator who manages user access, permissions, and operational decisions within the system. This position is a technically deeper role focused on development, architecture, and the ongoing reduction of complexity.

Flow & Automation Development

• Design, build, and maintain Salesforce Flows, including refactoring existing automation logic as needed.
• Implement new automation in response to evolving business processes, with an emphasis on clarity and long‑term maintainability.

Integration Management

• Own and maintain integrations between Salesforce and connected platforms, including Chargent for payment processing and other third‑party tools in the ecosystem.
• Troubleshoot integration failures and data sync issues independently.
• Evaluate and implement new integrations as organizational needs evolve.

NPSP Configuration & Data Integrity

• Maintain and improve NPSP configuration, including giving, membership, and sustainer processes.
• Enforce consistent data standards across the org, including field naming, date formats, picklist values, and object relationships.
• Lead data quality initiatives, including deduplication, field standardization, and schema documentation.

Custom Development

• Basic comfort and understanding of Lightning Web Components (LWC) and Apex.
• Manage deployments between sandbox and production environments.

Documentation & Knowledge Transfer

• Produce and maintain technical documentation for all flows, integrations, custom objects, and automation logic.
• Build internal knowledge so that the Chief Systems Administrator and other staff can navigate the system with increasing independence.
• Conduct regular health checks and org audits to identify unused fields, redundant automation, security gaps, and performance issues.
• Monitor Salesforce release notes and assess the impact of platform updates on our implementation.
• Proactively propose and implement improvements that reduce technical debt over time, building toward a system that is simpler, faster, and more reliable.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position is a sole contributor without direct reports.

This position is based at our Headquarters in Pasadena, CA. A hybrid work environment, but in‑office time is required as determined by the department.

Minimum Skills and Requirements

• Salesforce Administrator certification required; Platform Developer I certification strongly preferred.
• At least 3 years of hands‑on Salesforce development experience.
• Demonstrated experience with Salesforce Flow, including complex multi‑object flows and scheduled automation.
• Experience with NPSP (Nonprofit Success Pack).
• Familiarity with Apex and Lightning Web Components.
• Experience with Salesforce Experience Cloud, including member or community portal configuration and development.
• Experience with Account Engagement (Pardot), including campaign management, automation rules, and integration with the core Salesforce org.
• Experience with payment integration tools; Chargent experience a plus.
• Strong documentation habits and a demonstrated ability to explain technical systems to non‑technical stakeholders.
• Ability to work independently and accurately while meeting deadlines.
• Integrity, honesty, and a strong commitment to maintaining confidentiality.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience in a nonprofit or mission‑driven organization preferred; comfort working as part of a small technical team is essential.
• A commitment to The Planetary Society’s core values: passion, credibility, optimism, integrity, effectiveness, and inclusion.

Physical Requirements

• This position requires daily use of office equipment.
• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Paid time off: 11 holidays + vacation and sick days
• Basic Term Life insurance
• Long‑term and short‑term disability
• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

Salary Range

• $108,000 - $121,000

The Planetary Society is an equal opportunity employer. We comply with all applicable hiring laws, and we prioritize diversity at all levels of our work. Job applicants from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply.