As projects and programs grow, spreadsheets and manual status updates can become difficult to manage across teams. Companies often hire Smartsheet experts to bring specialized skills and experience to organize project data, automate recurring workflows, build dashboards and reports, and configure Smartsheet around the team’s processes.
Companies hire a Smartsheet expert when spreadsheets and manual status updates stop keeping pace with the work. As projects grow, leaders can lose accurate visibility into deadlines, budgets, and ownership, and someone needs to turn scattered files into a governed system with automated workflows and real-time dashboards.
What does a Smartsheet expert do?
A Smartsheet expert configures and maintains Smartsheet to support project management, reporting, workflow automation, and team collaboration. Depending on the engagement, they may build a new solution, improve an existing environment, migrate data, connect other business tools, or train teams to manage the system effectively.
Smartsheet experts typically:
- Configure workspaces, sheets, forms, and reusable templates around project workflows
- Build automated workflows using formulas, alerts, approvals, and conditional logic
- Create dashboards and reports for project status, deadlines, budgets, and other metrics
- Integrate Smartsheet with tools such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Jira, or other business systems
- Migrate data from spreadsheets and other project management tools
- Configure permissions, sharing, and governance requirements
- Train users and document workflows, templates, and system processes
- Audit and optimize existing Smartsheet environments as requirements evolve
- Implement enterprise capabilities such as Control Center when included in the scope
How to hire a Smartsheet expert on Upwork
These four steps move you from posting a job to starting a contract with a Smartsheet expert, with Upwork tools available throughout the process. In fact, 89% of first-time clients complete a contract on Upwork, showing that many new clients successfully make it through their first engagement.
Step 1: Post a job
A clear job post helps Smartsheet experts understand your workflows, technical requirements, and expected deliverables.
- Describe the project, such as a new implementation, migration, dashboard build, or existing-system optimization
- List required Smartsheet capabilities, such as formulas, forms, automations, dashboards, or Control Center
- Identify the integrations involved, such as Salesforce, NetSuite, Microsoft 365, or Google Workspace
- Specify data migration, permissions, governance, or reporting requirements
- Share your timeline, budget, and expected deliverables
- Adapt this project manager job description to your Smartsheet project
You can also use the Job Post Generator, powered by Uma™, Upwork's Mindful AI. Describe your needs in a few sentences and Uma will draft a Smartsheet job post for you. On Upwork, the average time from job post to first proposal is just three hours.
Step 2: Evaluate candidates
Focus on candidates whose Smartsheet experience aligns with the workflows, scale, and integrations your project requires.
- Review portfolios for relevant dashboards, automations, templates, or migrations
- Assess how candidates structure sheets, workspaces, reports, and workflows
- Confirm experience with the integrations your team uses
- Look for experience with permissions, governance, and scalable configurations when required
- Consider Smartsheet certifications alongside hands-on project experience
- Read client feedback for technical execution, communication, and reliable delivery
Uma can conduct instant video interviews and provide shortlists of candidates with side-by-side comparisons.
Step 3: Interview your top choices
Use interviews to understand how candidates design Smartsheet solutions, automate processes, and make systems maintainable for end users.
- Ask how they’d structure Smartsheet around a workflow like yours
- Explore how they decide which processes to automate
- Discuss how they approach complex formulas, reports, and dashboards
- Ask how they migrate and validate data from legacy systems
- Explore how they manage permissions, governance, and user adoption
- Ask how they document builds and train teams for ongoing use
- Adapt these project manager interview questions to your Smartsheet project
You can schedule and conduct interviews within Upwork Messages, with an immediate transcript and summary after each one.
Step 4: Agree on scope and begin work
Before the build begins, align with your Smartsheet expert on workflows, access, deliverables, testing, and handoff.
- Define sheets, dashboards, reports, automations, and integrations in scope
- Set milestones for configuration, migration, testing, and launch
- Provide appropriate access to Smartsheet, source data, and connected systems
- Establish permissions, sharing, and governance requirements
- Agree on data validation, testing, and approval criteria
- Confirm documentation, training, and final handoff requirements
- Clarify ongoing optimization and support if needed
- Choose fixed-price terms for defined builds or hourly terms for ongoing work
Use Upwork messaging and the contract workroom for communication and project management. You also get identity verification, payment protection, hourly tracking, and project funds for added security.
Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.
The rates and information provided in this article are based on current data and industry sources available at the time of publication. Freelance rates can vary depending on factors such as experience, location, project scope, and market conditions. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research to confirm current rates and trends, as this information may change over time.