Create custom roles

The five built-in project roles (Project Owner, Project Manager, Project Member, Project Contributor, Project Viewer) cover most teams. When they do not, custom roles let you add your own, for example a “QA Engineer” who can update task statuses and comment but cannot create or delete tasks.

Custom roles are project-level roles. They appear as extra columns in the permission matrix and as extra options wherever you assign a role to a project member. The organization axis (Owner, Admin, Portfolio Manager, Member, Guest) is fixed and cannot be extended.

Create a custom role

1. Open Organization Settings and go to the Permissions tab.

2. Select Add Custom Role above the matrix. Give the role a name and pick a badge color so it is easy to spot in member lists.

3. The new role appears as a column in the project-level permissions table, with every toggle off. Switch on exactly the permissions the role should have: task creation, status changes, comments, sprint management, and so on.

4. Select Save. The role is now available across every project in the organization.

Tip

Start from the closest built-in role and diff against it. If your new role is “Contributor plus task creation”, copy the Contributor column’s toggles and flip the one extra row, rather than reasoning about each permission from scratch.

Assign the role

Custom roles show up in the same role picker as the built-in ones: when you add someone to a project, or change an existing member’s project role from the project’s member list. The custom role applies only within projects where it is assigned; it does not change the person’s organization role.

FAQs

Who can create or edit custom roles? Only the organization Owner, because custom roles are saved together with the permission matrix, and matrix editing is Owner-only. Admins can view the definitions read-only.

What happens if I remove a custom role that people still hold? A removed role no longer grants any permissions, so those members effectively become view-blocked inside their projects. Reassign affected members to another role before removing one.

Can a custom role have organization-level permissions? No. Organization-level actions (creating projects, managing teams, reviewing governance gates) are resolved against the five fixed organization roles. Custom roles only control what someone can do inside projects where the role is assigned.

How many custom roles can I add? There is no practical limit, but each one is another column the Owner has to maintain. Most organizations need one or two. See Understand roles and permissions for how the two axes fit together.

Best practices

1. Diff from closest built-in role. Don’t define from scratch. Copy Contributor’s toggles, flip the one row that differs.
2. Use specific names, not abstract labels. “QA Engineer” beats “Custom Role 1”. Members understand what the role means.
3. Limit to 2-3 custom roles total. Each one is matrix maintenance overhead. More than 3 = consolidation opportunity.
4. Audit before removing. Removing a custom role someone holds = they lose permissions. Reassign first.
5. Cite the matrix change in audit log review. Custom role changes write to audit log; periodic review surfaces forgotten edits.

Troubleshooting / common pitfalls

• Add Custom Role button missing. Two causes: (a) Business+ required; (b) Owner-only. Verify both.
• Role saved but doesn’t appear in project member picker. Cache lag. Refresh.
• Removed role, members lost permissions. Expected. Reassign before removing next time.
• Custom role can’t have org permissions. By design. Org axis is fixed.
• Matrix performance slow with many custom roles. UI loads all columns. Consolidate to 3 or fewer.

How this combines with other features

• Custom roles + Matrix. Custom roles appear as matrix columns. See Understand roles and permissions.
• Custom roles + Permissions audit. Custom role changes go to audit log.
• Custom roles + Member management. Role picker shows custom roles in project member assignment.
• Custom roles + Plan. Business+ required. Below Business: defaults only.

Coming from another tool

Tool	Mapping
Jira project roles	Direct concept
SharePoint custom permissions	Direct
ServiceNow custom ACLs	Direct
Asana team-specific permissions	Limited; Onplana custom roles richer
Custom RBAC	Standard role-based

Related

• Understand roles and permissions — RBAC foundation
• Read audit logs — matrix change history