Manage administrator roles in Viva Engage

To perform administrative tasks and facilitate many of the premium features in Viva Engage, users need to be assigned specific roles. The table below describes each of the admin roles in Viva Engage and the business functions they enable.

Select a role in the table to learn more about it.

Admin role Business function
Microsoft 365 Global Administrator Manages all aspects of Microsoft 365 Entra and services that use Microsoft 365 Entra identities. This role controls admin role assignment and configuration in Viva Engage. As such, global admins have unlimited access to settings and most of its data, including subscription management.
Engage Administrator Configures and manages all aspects of Viva Engage including tenant settings, core and premium features, and compliance
Verified Administrator Configures the Viva Engage network. Performs tasks that have legal implications, such as managing security settings, monitoring keywords for appropriate use, managing data retention, and exporting data.
Network Administrator Configures the Viva Engage network
Answers Administrator Configures Answers in Viva Engage, manages topics, and enables badges
Corporate Communicator Creates and manages official campaigns, defines leaders, and manages content across the organization
Community Administrator Manages day-to-day activity (including usage) within a community to keep it engaged and productive

Who assigns roles and where?

Some admins have more permissions than others and can assign Viva Engage roles to users. The following table lists admins in order of their permissions, with those having the most permissions at the top.

Admin role Can assign these roles Assigned in
Microsoft 365 Global Admin Other global admins, Engage admins, Answers admins (Knowledge manager) Microsoft Entra ID
Engage Admin Verified admins, Network admins, Corporate communicators Microsoft Entra ID
Verified Admin Verified admins, Network admins, Corporate communicators Yammer admin center / Viva Engage admin center
Network Admin Other network admins, Corporate Communicators Yammer admin center / Viva Engage admin center
Community Admin Other community admins Viva Engage community

Role hierarchy

Diagram that shows the hierarchy of administrator roles in Viva Engage, with roles having the most power at the top.

Microsoft 365 Global Administrator

Function Details
Permissions
Who can assign A Microsoft 365 Global administrator
How to assign See Assign admin roles in the Microsoft 365 admin center

Engage Administrator

Function Details
Permissions
  • Configures Viva Engage and its features for the organization, including data management and compliance, network settings
  • For Viva Engage core, assigns Corporate Communicator role
  • For Viva Engage premium, assigns additional permissions and features:
    • Identify leaders and their audiences
    • Storylines, advanced settings, and notifications
    • Analytics features and data collected for metrics
    • Official campaign creation, management, and analytics
    • Answers, and badge management
Who can assign A Microsoft 365 Global administrator
How to assign Assign the Engage admin role either in Microsoft Entra ID or Privileged Identity Management (PIM)

Verified Administrator

Function Details
Permissions
  • Manages content policies, monitors keywords, data retention, security settings, and reading data in private communities
  • Assigns verified and network admin roles
  • Identify leaders and their audiences
  • Exports data and performs integrations with other tools
Who can assign A Microsoft 365 Global administrator, Engage admin, or verified admin
How to assign In the Yammer admin center, select Admins. Find and select the user's name and select Make this user an admin. If the user is already an admin, find their name from the Current Admins list and select Grant Verified Admin.

Network Administrator

Function Details
Permissions
  • Configures network settings, usage policy, and user profiles
  • Manages internal users, outside guests, and unlisted groups
  • Identify leaders and their audiences
  • Can view reports in the Microsoft 365 Usage Reporting dashboard
Who can assign A Microsoft 365 Global administrator, Engage admin, or network admin
How to assign In the Yammer admin center, select Admins. Find and select the user's name and select Make this user an admin. If the user is already an admin, find their name from the Current Admins list and select Grant Network Admin.

Answers Administrator

Function Details
Permissions
  • Set up, configure, and enable Answers in Viva Engage
  • Delete and close Answers posts>
  • Manage topics in Answers
  • Manage badges
  • View global insights
Who can assign A Microsoft 365 Global administrator
How to assign Assign a Knowledge Manager role in Microsoft Entra ID

Corporate Communicator

Function Details
Permissions
  • Create and manage official campaigns
  • Identify leaders and their audiences
  • Send announcements
Who can assign A Microsoft 365 Global administrator or an Engage admin
How to assign Viva Engage admin center

Community Administrator

Function Details
Permissions Manages the settings for the community, including name, description, image, and header colors.
Manages the conversations and files in the community.
Manages members and community admins.
Posts announcements.
Who can assign Any Engage user who creates a community is automatically assigned the community admin role. Community admins can add (up to 100) and remove other community admins.
Engage admins

Note: Network admins and verified admins can prevent Engage users from creating communities. In this case, they must assign the initial community admin who performs all community admin tasks.
How to assign On the community page, select Settings icon > Manage Members and Admins. Choose a user and select either Make Admin or Revoke Admin.