Roles

Last updated: April 23, 2026

Roles are how you define your workforce needs per project. Once roles are created you can assign team members and customize their assignments to ensure every project is properly staffed from start to finish.

Key capabilities:

  • Create, edit, and delete roles on projects

  • Assign team members using Smart Suggestions or drag and drop

  • Customize assignment percentages and schedules

  • Send assignment alerts to notify team members


Eligibility/Prerequisites

Permissions required:

  • Manage Roles: Create, edit, and delete roles; assign people to roles

  • View Financial Fields: See role cost data (if enabled)


How to Use

Creating Roles

From the Operations Tab:

  1. Navigate to a Project Profile and select the Operations tab

  2. Click Add Role or use an Alternative method below

  3. Add relevant role details

  4. Click Save

Alternative methods:

  • Use Template: Add multiple roles at once from a pre-configured template

  • Copy from Another Project: Copy all roles from an existing project

  • Import from a Document (AI): Upload a document and Bridgit will extract whatever role information it finds — including role, assignment dates, tags, and descriptions.

  • Duplicate Role: Click the three-dot menu next to any role and select Duplicate Role

From the Project Gantt:

  1. Navigate to Projects > Gantt

  2. Hover over a project name and click the + button

  3. Complete role details

  4. Click Save

From the Roles Tab:

  1. Navigate to Roles in the main navigation

  2. Click Add Role in the top right

  3. Select the project

  4. Complete role details

  5. Click Save


Managing Assignments

All role details can be edited by clicking into the cell in the role line.

By default, salary roles are set to 100% for their full duration. Customize this when a team member's availability or workload varies.

Customize assignment percentages,

  1. In the role assignment modal, click the ... menu next to Assignment %

  2. Choose a breakdown method: Phases, Custom Range, Monthly, or Weekly

  3. Enter percentages for each period and click Save

For additional role tag editing information, check out our Tags article.


Assigning People to Roles

Using Smart Suggestions:

  1. Click Place Person in an unfilled role (or click the unfilled role bar in the Gantt)

  2. Adjust filters on the right to refine suggestions

  3. Click on the person you want to assign

  4. Click Save or Save & Alert to notify them immediately

See Smart Suggestions article for more information.

Using Available People List:

  1. Navigate to a Project and click on the Operations tab

  2. On the right hand side, click on Available people.

  3. Drag and drop the Person you've selected onto an open role, or drag to the top of the role list to create a new role for them

From a Person Profile:

  1. Navigate to People and select a person

  2. In the Assignments tab, click Add to Project

  3. Select the project and add relevant role information

  4. Click Save


Split Roles

A split role is a single role that is covered by more than one person, either because different people are assigned across different time periods, or because part of the role remains unfilled. Use a split role when no single person can cover the full duration, or when you want to track a handoff between two team members explicitly within one role rather than creating separate roles.

How to create a split role:

  1. Assign the first person to the role as normal

  2. Expand the role to see the assignment dates

  3. Edit the assignment dates

  4. Save the date change

  5. An unfilled segment will appear on the role

  6. Click Place Person (+) on the unfilled segment to assign the second person

You can repeat this process to create multiple segments with different assignees across the full role duration.

How split roles appear:

  • In the Gantt, filled segments appear as solid grey bars and unfilled segments as striped green bars within the same role row

  • In the Operations tab, multiple assignee avatars appear on the role row; unfilled segments show (+) Place Person

  • When a role has more than four segments or assignees, a + avatar appears — hover over it to see the total count


Editing Roles

From the Operations Tab

Click into a role row to edit dates, allocation, or assignment. Use the three-dot menu to duplicate, add a description, or delete the role.

From the Roles Tab

Click directly into any cell to edit without opening a modal — changes save automatically. Editable fields include role name, start and end dates, allocation %, description, and working days/hours.

For Bulk Editing, select multiple roles using checkboxes and use the bulk action bar to send alerts, edit start or end dates, edit tags, or delete assignments.

From the Project Gantt

Drag role bars to adjust dates. Hover over a role and click the bar to edit details or unassign the person from the role.

Note: When phase dates change on a project, a confirmation modal shows all impacted roles. You can choose to shift or leave each role's dates individually.


Transferring a Person

Use Transfer to move a person from their current role on one project to a role on a new project in fewer steps.

Transfer is available from any filled role via the ... menu in the following locations: Operations tab, Project Gantt, People Gantt, Person Profile (Assignments tab), and Roles page. It is not available from unfilled roles or precon roles.

How to transfer a person:

  1. Locate the filled role you want to transfer from

  2. Click the ... menu on the role line and select Transfer Person

  3. Select the destination project and set the new role dates

  4. Review the overlap notice, if applicable, and confirm how the existing assignment should be handled

  5. Click Save or Save & Alert to notify the person of both changes

Warning: If the new assignment completely overlaps the existing one, the existing assignment will be permanently deleted. This cannot be undone.

Transfer is also available as a bulk action. Note that bulk transfers are disabled when the selection includes roles with multiple people assigned, a mix of hourly and salaried roles, or the same person more than once. Select multiple people from the Operations Tab or the Roles page and click Transfer Person.


Removing Roles

Warning: Deleting a role permanently removes all history for that role and its assignments. This cannot be undone.

From the Operations Tab: Click the three-dot menu next to the role and select Delete Role

Bulk delete: Select multiple roles in the Operations tab or the Roles tab and click Delete in the bulk action bar


Common Workflows

Staffing a new project: Create roles using a template or by copying from a similar project, then use Smart Suggestions to fill each role with available team members.

Aligning roles to phases: Use Quick Dates when creating a role to automatically match phase timelines, then customize allocation per phase if workload varies.

Covering a role across a leave period: Assign the primary person to the role, shorten their end date to when leave starts, then click Place Person on the unfilled segment to assign a replacement. When the primary person returns, add them back for the final segment.

Adjusting allocations mid-project: Click into the role, use the ... menu to customize allocation, and adjust percentages by phase or time period.

Notifying team members: Use Save & Alert when assigning, or select multiple filled roles and click Send Alert from the bulk action bar.


Common Questions

Q: Can I assign someone to a role even if they're over-assigned?

Yes. Bridgit flags the over assignments with an orange indicator but won't prevent the assignment. Review the availability bar to understand the overlap.

Q: What's the difference between a role and a title?

Roles are components of projects (what needs to be done). Titles are components of people (their position). You can assign any person to any role — they don't need to match.

Q: Why can't I see role costs?

You need the View Financial Fields permission and must toggle View Confidential Fields on in the top navigation. Cost rates must also be set for people or roles.

Q: Can I edit multiple roles at once?

Yes. Select checkboxes in the Operations tab or the Roles tab and use the bulk action bar to edit dates or send alerts. Assignment percentages cannot be bulk edited.

Q: What happens when I copy roles from another project?

Role names and the number of roles are copied. Custom assignment percentages revert to 100%, dates inherit the new project's dates, and role notes are cleared.

Q: How do I know if a role is filled or unfilled?

In the Operations tab, unfilled roles show + Place Person. In the Gantt, unfilled roles appear as blue bars and filled roles as grey bars.

Q: Can I have more than two people on a split role?

Yes. You can create as many segments as needed by repeatedly shortening an assignee's end date and placing a new person on the remaining unfilled portion. All segments are tracked within the same role row.

Q: Why don't I see Quick Dates when adding a role?

The project doesn't have phases configured. Go to the project's Dates tab to add phases first.

Q: How do I create a new role type?

Only administrators of the account can update role types. Navigate to Project Roles, then click Manage Roles to open the existing list, add the new role option, and save. Optionally, you can set a default cost rate for the new role.