Summary and recommendation
Lever user management can be run manually, but complexity usually increases with role models, licensing gates, and offboarding dependencies. This guide gives the exact mechanics and where automation has the biggest impact.
Lever's user management lives at Settings > Users (https://hire.lever.co/settings/users) and is accessible only to Super Admins and, in some configurations, Admins. The platform offers four named roles - Super Admin, Admin, Team Member, and Limited Team Member - plus a link-based Interviewer access method that requires no provisioned seat.
There are no custom roles or field-level permission sets; all granularity beyond role assignment is limited to posting-level access overrides for confidential jobs.
Quick facts
| Admin console path | Settings > Users (accessible via top-right gear icon or direct navigation to /settings/users) |
| Admin console URL | Official docs |
| SCIM available | No |
| SCIM tier required | Enterprise (for SSO) |
| SSO prerequisite | Yes |
User types and roles
| Role | Permissions | Cannot do | Plan required | Seat cost | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Admin | Full access to all Lever settings, user management, billing, integrations, job postings, candidates, reports, and offer management. Can add/deactivate users and assign roles. | All plans | Included in headcount-based pricing; no per-seat add-on documented | Only Super Admins can manage other users and access billing/settings. At least one Super Admin must remain active. | |
| Admin | Can manage job postings, candidates, pipelines, and most settings. Access to reporting. Cannot manage billing or promote users to Super Admin. | Cannot access billing settings or manage Super Admin accounts | All plans | Included in headcount-based pricing | Distinction between Admin and Super Admin is subtle; verify role before offboarding a Super Admin to avoid lockout. |
| Team Member | Can view and interact with candidates on postings they are assigned to. Can leave feedback, schedule interviews, and view pipeline stages for accessible roles. | Cannot access settings, create or archive job postings, view confidential postings unless explicitly granted access, or run reports | All plans | Included in headcount-based pricing | Team Members cannot see confidential job postings or candidates unless added to that specific posting. |
| Limited Team Member | Restricted access; can only view and provide feedback on candidates they are explicitly tagged on. Cannot browse the full candidate pipeline. | Cannot view job postings, pipeline, or candidates they are not directly assigned to | All plans | Included in headcount-based pricing | Useful for external interviewers or contractors who should have minimal visibility. Access is narrower than standard Team Member. |
| Interviewer (via interview link) | Can submit structured interview feedback via a shared link without requiring a Lever account or seat | Cannot log in to Lever, view pipeline, or access any other data | All plans | No seat consumed | This is not a named user role in the admin panel; it is a link-based access method. No provisioning required. |
Permission model
- Model type: role-based
- Description: Lever uses a fixed set of predefined roles (Super Admin, Admin, Team Member, Limited Team Member). Permissions are assigned at the role level. Additional granularity is available at the job posting level, where specific users can be granted access to confidential postings. There is no documented support for fully custom roles.
- Custom roles: No
- Custom roles plan: Not documented
- Granularity: Role-level permissions with posting-level access overrides for confidential jobs. No field-level or object-level custom permission sets documented.
How to add users
- Log in as Super Admin or Admin
- Navigate to Settings > Users (https://hire.lever.co/settings/users)
- Click 'Invite user' or 'Add user' button
- Enter the user's email address
- Select the appropriate role (Super Admin, Admin, Team Member, or Limited Team Member)
- Click 'Send invite'
- User receives an email invitation and must accept to activate their account
Required fields: Email address, Role
Watch out for:
- Users must accept the email invitation before they can log in; pending invites do not consume a confirmed seat but the invite remains open
- If SAML SSO is enabled, users must authenticate via the configured IdP; password-based login is disabled for SSO-enabled accounts
- Lever pricing is based on total company headcount, not the number of active Lever users, so adding users does not directly change per-seat billing in the traditional sense
- Admins (non-Super Admin) may have limited ability to invite users depending on account configuration; verify with Super Admin
| Bulk option | Availability | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| CSV import | No | Not documented |
| Domain whitelisting | No | Automatic domain-based user add |
| IdP provisioning | Yes | Enterprise (SSO required; SCIM provisioning available via Aquera third-party integration, not native SCIM) |
How to remove or deactivate users
- Can delete users: No
- Delete/deactivate behavior: Lever does not support permanent deletion of user accounts. Users can only be deactivated (suspended). Deactivated users lose login access but their historical activity, feedback, and candidate interactions are retained in the system for audit and compliance purposes.
- Log in as Super Admin
- Navigate to Settings > Users (https://hire.lever.co/settings/users)
- Locate the user to deactivate using search or the user list
- Click on the user's name or the action menu (three dots / ellipsis) next to their name
- Select 'Deactivate user' or 'Suspend user'
- Confirm the deactivation in the dialog prompt
- User immediately loses the ability to log in
| Data impact | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Owned records | All candidates, feedback, notes, and pipeline activity associated with the deactivated user are retained and remain visible to active users. Ownership of records is not automatically reassigned. |
| Shared content | Interview feedback, scorecards, and comments left by the deactivated user remain visible in candidate profiles |
| Integrations | Any API tokens or OAuth connections tied to the deactivated user's account may stop functioning; integrations should be reviewed and re-authenticated under an active user |
| License freed | Because Lever pricing is headcount-based rather than per-named-user, deactivating a user does not automatically reduce the contract cost. Billing adjustments require contacting Lever directly. |
Watch out for:
- Deactivating the only Super Admin will lock the organization out of admin settings; ensure at least one other Super Admin exists before deactivating
- Lever does not automatically reassign open tasks or candidate ownership from a deactivated user; manual reassignment is required
- Headcount-based pricing means deactivating users does not reduce the monthly/annual bill without a contract renegotiation
- If SSO is enabled, revoking access in the IdP does not automatically deactivate the user in Lever; both actions must be performed separately unless SCIM provisioning via Aquera is configured
License and seat management
| Seat type | Includes | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Full platform user | Access to all features permitted by assigned role (Super Admin, Admin, Team Member, or Limited Team Member) | Included in headcount-based contract pricing; not billed per named user |
- Where to check usage: Settings > Users (https://hire.lever.co/settings/users) - lists all active and pending users with their roles
- How to identify unused seats: Review the user list at Settings > Users for accounts with no recent login activity. Lever does not surface a 'last login' timestamp in the UI by default; admins must cross-reference with IdP logs or request usage data from Lever Support.
- Billing notes: Lever pricing is based on total company headcount (all employees), not the number of active Lever users. Estimated pricing is $6–$8 per employee per month. Adding or removing Lever users does not directly change the contract price. Billing adjustments require contacting Lever account management. Enterprise plan required for SSO; SCIM provisioning requires a third-party integration (e.g., Aquera).
The cost of manual management
Lever's pricing is based on total company headcount, not the number of active Lever users, so adding or removing users does not directly reduce the contract cost without a renegotiation with Lever account management.
Identifying inactive accounts is friction-heavy: the admin user list at Settings > Users does not surface a last-login timestamp by default, forcing admins to cross-reference IdP logs or request usage data from Lever Support.
SAML SSO must be enabled by contacting Lever Support directly - it cannot be self-configured - and SCIM provisioning is only available through a third-party Aquera integration, meaning every app in your stack that relies on automated lifecycle management will need that middleware layer in place.
Deactivating a departing user does not auto-reassign their open candidates or tasks, so offboarding always requires a manual cleanup pass.
What IT admins are saying
Practitioners consistently flag the absence of native SCIM as the sharpest operational pain point: even with SSO configured, deprovisioning requires a separate manual action inside Lever, creating a window of access after an employee leaves.
The requirement to contact Lever Support to activate SAML - rather than self-serving it in the admin UI - adds friction for IT teams managing frequent IdP changes.
The headcount-based billing model draws criticism because deactivating unused Lever accounts yields no cost savings without a contract amendment. Limited role granularity (four fixed roles, no custom permission sets) is a recurring complaint from organizations that need more nuanced access control across hiring teams.
Common complaints:
- No native SCIM provisioning; deprovisioning requires manual action in Lever even when SSO is configured, creating offboarding gaps
- Must contact Lever Support to enable SAML SSO; it cannot be self-configured in the admin UI
- Headcount-based pricing means organizations cannot reduce costs by simply deactivating unused Lever accounts
- No 'last login' visibility in the admin user list makes it difficult to identify inactive accounts without IdP log cross-referencing
- Limited role granularity - no custom roles or permission sets, only four fixed roles
- Deactivating a user does not auto-reassign their open candidates or tasks, requiring manual cleanup
- Revoking IdP access does not automatically deactivate the Lever account without SCIM (via Aquera)
The decision
Lever is a reasonable fit for recruiting teams that can absorb manual provisioning overhead and do not require automated lifecycle management out of the box. The four-role model covers most hiring org structures, and posting-level access overrides handle confidential requisitions adequately.
However, teams that need SCIM-driven provisioning across every app in their stack should budget for the Aquera integration and confirm Enterprise plan eligibility before committing.
Organizations sensitive to offboarding risk - particularly those in regulated industries - should establish a documented manual deprovisioning checklist, since neither SSO revocation nor API deactivation alone closes all access paths without coordinated IdP-side action.
Bottom line
Lever's manual user management is straightforward for day-to-day hiring operations but carries meaningful operational debt at scale: no native SCIM, no last-login visibility, no auto-reassignment on deactivation, and a headcount-based pricing model that decouples seat activity from cost.
Teams that treat provisioning as a compliance requirement - not just an IT convenience - will need to layer in third-party tooling or disciplined manual processes to close the gaps Lever leaves open.
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