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How to create Sub-Pojects and Parent Programs for projects in Jira

Nikky Choudhary

We need to create a nested structure in Jira with projects under program.

Sub-projects under project.

How best this can be achieved in jira without a plugin.

Accepted answers

Denis Paul

Jira Premium ($14.54/user/month) includes Plans, which allows for complex, nested issue hierarchies that go beyond the standard Epic > Story > Sub-task structure. This allows you to create higher-level, custom parent-child relationships, such as Initiatives > Epics > Stories

See https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/templates/top-level-planning

All comments

Denis Paul

See https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/templates/top-level-planning

amit.r.keskar

Hello @Denis Paul

In the Digital AI Agility platform, there is functionality to create sub-projects within projects, including the ability to set up multiple nested sub-projects.

Could you please confirm whether Jira offers a similar capability? If so, I would greatly appreciate it if you could provide some insights or guidance on how this can be achieved.

Thanks,
Amit Keskar

Denis Paul

Hello Amit,

Quick note up front: Jira does not support “sub-projects” as nested projects. The common practice is to model sub-structures through the issue hierarchy and planning layers. There are two proven approaches:

1. Multiple Jira projects + Jira Plans (formerly Advanced Roadmaps)

Idea: Each team works in its own project. A higher-level Initiative/Program issue type aggregates epics across teams
Example hierarchy: Initiative/Program → Epic → Story/Task → Sub-task
Benefits: Clear team separation, team-specific workflows/permissions per project, planning and dependency management across all projects in a single plan
Note: Extended hierarchy and Plans features are available on Jira Premium/Enterprise
Getting started: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/advanced-roadmaps/overview#how-to-get-started

Program A (common parent issue for the epics below)
- Jira-Project 1 (Team A)
  - Epic 1
    - Story 1
    - Story 2
  - Epic 2
    - Story 1
    - Story 2
- Jira-Project 2 (Team
  - Epic 3
  - Epic 4

2. One Jira project + Boards/filters for team separation

Idea: Work in a single project; distinguish teams via components or labels (e.g., team-fe, team-be, team-devops) and use dedicated boards for each team
Benefits: Shared configuration and releases; simple cross-team visibility
Setup:
- Use Components or labels to tag team ownership
- Create separate boards per team with JQL filters, e.g.:
  - FE Board: project = PROJ AND component = "FE"
  - BE Board: project = PROJ AND component = "BE"
  - DevOps Board: project = PROJ AND component = "DevOps"
- Optional PO Board using status/labels, e.g.:
  - project = PROJ AND status in ("Planning","Refinement")

When to choose which?

Multiple projects + Plans: Best if several teams have distinct workflows/permissions and you need program/portfolio-level planning
Single project + boards: Best if you want lean configuration and tightly collaborating teams

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