# Admin access and permissions

> Super admins can do everything in the products your company has. Everyone else gets access from admin roles, and each role is a set of the permissions listed here.

- Product: Company admin › Roles and permissions
- Who can do this: Super admins, Employees with an admin roles

- Where: Admin dashboard
- Last checked: 15 Oct 2026
- Web page: https://www.vantagecircle.com/en/help/company-admin/roles-and-permissions/admin-access-and-permissions/

There are two kinds of admin: super admins, and admins whose access comes from roles.

## Super admins

Super admins can open every page and use every permission below, in every product your company has. Some pages are for super admins only:

- **Admin → Add employees**
- **Recognition → Campaigns**, **Boost**, **Certificates** and **Feed setup**

You can't make someone a super admin in **Admin → Roles and permissions**. It isn't one of the roles you can assign.

## Admins with roles

Everyone else gets access from the roles they've been given. A role is a set of permissions, and a person gets every permission from every role they hold. You create roles and give them out in **Admin → Roles and permissions**. See [Create an admin role](/en/help/company-admin/roles-and-permissions/create-an-admin-role/) and [Give someone admin access](/en/help/company-admin/roles-and-permissions/give-someone-admin-access/).

### Administration

| Permission | What it allows |
|---|---|
| **Manage departments** | Create, edit and deactivate departments in **Admin → Departments**. Without it, the list is view-only. |
| **Manage roles** | Create, edit and deactivate roles on the **Roles** tab of **Admin → Roles and permissions**. It's also what lets someone edit the emails in **Admin → Settings**, **Recognition → Emails** and **Rewards Hub → Emails**. |
| **Assign admin roles** | Give and remove roles on the **Employees** tab of **Admin → Roles and permissions**. |
| **Manage announcements** | Create, edit and remove announcements in **Admin → Communications**. |

Someone with **Manage roles** but not **Assign admin roles** only sees the **Roles** tab, and the other way round.

### Recognition and rewards

| Permission | What it allows |
|---|---|
| **Allocate reward budgets** | Give points to budget holders in **Rewards Hub → Budgets**. Without it, the page says "You can view budgets but cannot change them." |
| **Manage awards** | Open **Recognition → Awards** and **Recognition → Eligibility rules**. |
| **Manage badges** | Open **Recognition → Badges**. |
| **Send employee wishes** | Open **Recognition → Greetings** and send birthday and work anniversary wishes for the company. |
| **Manage service milestones** | Change the setup in **Recognition → Service milestone**, if your company has service milestones. |
| **Submit award nominations** | Nominate employees for panel-approved awards. |
| **Award points** | Award points from a budget the person has been given. |
| **Use award quotas** | Give awards from a quota the person has been given. |

**Submit award nominations**, **Award points** and **Use award quotas** don't add any pages to the admin dashboard.

### Wellness

These say which kinds of challenge the person can create: **Create department challenges**, **Create company challenges**, **Create private challenges**, **Create points-based challenges** and **Create location challenges**. They only matter if your company has Wellness.

## Pages without their own permission

Pages that aren't listed above, such as each product's **Overview** and **Reports**, are open to every admin. Your company needs to have that product. Some settings on those pages are still for super admins only. The article for each page says so.

## Things to watch

- **Announcements only.** If someone's only permission is **Manage announcements**, the dashboard shows them **Admin → Communications** and nothing else.
- **HR contacts.** When you add someone under **HR contacts** on a department, they get HR Report Viewer access. That lets them open the admin dashboard even if they have no role.
- **Missing pages.** A page can be missing because of your role, or because your company doesn't have that product or feature. If a super admin can't see it either, contact your Vantage Circle account manager.
- **Pulse.** Pulse permissions aren't shown in **Roles and permissions**. A role that includes them can't be edited there; contact support to change it. Who can see what in Pulse is in [Pulse settings and access](/en/help/pulse/pulse-settings-and-access/).