What Does a Project Coordinator Do?
A project coordinator manages projects for a company or organization. They lead teams, assign tasks, and keep stakeholders up-to-date on the progress of a project. They assist the project manager in defining project goals and objectives, developing project plans, timelines, and budgets, and tracking progress on each project. These professionals meet with internal and external customers to ensure that the project meets requirements and objectives. Project coordinators must have exceptional time management skills, superior communication skills, and be able to motivate and keep resources on track.
Individuals in this role need to be aware of company or client standards and meet them. Outstanding project management abilities are essential to this role, as well as excellent organizational skills and the ability to multitask effectively. In addition, project coordinators should be capable of identifying project risks and issues and developing mitigation strategies in collaboration with the project manager.
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National Average Salary
Project coordinator salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. Click below to explore salaries by local market.
The average national salary for a Project Coordinator is:
$55,474
Project Coordinator Job Descriptions
Crafting the perfect job description may be the key to finding an exceptional project coordinator. To help you with your recruiting search, our team has put together some examples from past openings.
Example 1
[Your Company Name] is searching for an experienced project coordinator to join our team. The ideal candidate would be able to work within a budget to solve various problems, communicate well with other employees to set proper expectations of what needs to get done, and keep a record of everything that is going on while frequently updating the project manager of the current situation on the project. They need to be organized and attentive to their work in order to record and make sure everything is going according to plan. While the job can sometimes get stressful, it can also be exciting as you work on various different projects each day.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Maintain and oversee project plans, schedules, and work hours
- Keep track of budgeting and expenditures
- Making sure project deadlines are reached
- Talk with clients to determine requirements, scope, and objectives
- Taking notes and following up on the important steps and decisions discussed during meetings
- Prepare the necessary materials for presentations in important meetings
- Offer additional administrative help as needed
- Define project changes and create an additional plan to go about that change
- Determine project risks and present solutions where applicable
- Organize and participate in team meetings
- Create a project calendar that reveals when goals and objectives need to be reached
- Take care of the appropriate legal paperwork i.e. contracts and terms of the agreement
- Regularly update the project manager on each department’s progress
- Undergo routine quality assurance tests
- Act as the main point of contact and communication for project status for all employees
Education and experience
- Bachelor’s degree in business or another related field
- 2+ years of experience in related field
- PMP/PRINCE2 certification is preferred
Required skills and qualifications
- Excellent multitasking and time-management skills
- Ability to lead and direct a team
- Strong communication skills
- Understands risk management and quality assurance control
- Ability to set up and interpret flowcharts
- Ability to make schedules and create step-by-step action plans
- Competent in using Microsoft applications, such as Word, Excel, and Outlook
- Ability to work under pressure while ensuring project quality and efficiency
- Advanced computer skills and up-to-date knowledge on the technology used in various projects
- Can perform various administrative procedures
- Comprehend various contracts and terms of agreements
- Ability to quickly recognize problems and come up with solutions to solve them
Preferred qualifications
- Willingness to celebrate the success of your team and project
- Experience working with a group of other project coordinators
- Strong background and experience in business operations
Example 2
Responsibilities
- Supporting sales by owning the order fulfillment process
- Preparing quotes and processing orders
- Using Khameleon to update sale orders.
- Create quotes
- Place client orders by cutting and sending purchase orders to furniture and labor vendors
- Track shipments and deliveries with manufacturers and freight companies
- Communicating status of orders and ensuring accurate information is sent to customers.
- File punch and warranty claims with manufacturers
- Train to double check specs against scope of work
- Opportunity for local on-site visits, 1-4x per month, will train with PM and install during first 6 months
- Assisting in the implementation of policy and procedures
- Maintaining an efficient work environment
- All other duties as assigned
Qualifications
- 1-2 years experience Project Coordination
- Detailed oriented
- Preferred Design industry experience
Example 3
Essential job functions, duties, and responsibilities
- Type correspondence, meeting minutes, and compile required documents in standard company format, etc.
- May prepare own correspondence and compose for signature as directed
- Develop and maintain filing system
- Answer telephones, take messages, screen and handle routine items
- Maintain supervisor’s calendar; arrange and schedule meetings; coordinate business and client meetings
- Open and distribute mail for project/department
- Arrange for travel, hotel, and car reservations
- May assist in the maintenance and update of accounting reports
- Assists in the preparation, compilation, and distribution of monthly reports
- Handle and/or administer confidential documents
- May function as a liaison between supervisor and other company personnel
- Have knowledge of company organization, policies, practices, and personnel in order to carry out responsibilities
General background and minimum requirements
- Two-year business and/or secretarial school
- 2 to 5 years of work experience
- Excellent proofreading and grammar skills required
- Preferred shorthand or fast longhand skills
- Proven ability in planning, organizing and implementing work priorities
- Proven ability to perform a variety of critical and often confidential tasks with constantly changing priorities
- Proven ability to meet deadlines, carry through assignments and exhibit accuracy and neatness
- Proven ability to interact, develop and maintain a positive working relationship with personnel on all levels, both within the company and with clients
- Proven proficiency in word processing (55-WPM) including proficiency in current corporate software packages
- Proficiency in operation of standard office equipment
Example 4
Job description
- The project coordinator will be responsible for actively participating in project planning including but not limited to; general project oversite, resource management, organization of meetings and taking meeting minutes, working with project management tools for control and status management, and coordination of various teams, communications, and presentations
- This person will participate in strategic business planning to accelerate the unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) integration strategy for the business unit
- A successful project coordinator will be able to manage deadlines, interact with multiple teams, communicate project status, be competent in project management tools, have experience with managing program financials, and is highly organized, be a good communicator, and can oversee a project management portfolio with several interdependencies
Skills
- Synthesize data to provide information to key stakeholders in a clear, succinct manner
- Maintain and monitor project schedules, plans, and calendars
- Maintain thorough and timely documentation
- Proactively monitor and ensure that project deadline is met
- Facilitate customer and partner meetings as required
- Actively take meeting minute recordings and distribute them to relevant team members in a timely manner
- Actively contribute to business case and financial modeling for UAS integration services
- Ensure company guidelines are followed and met
- Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field of study with a minimum of 5+ years of relevant experience
- Experience with various project management software utilities (Microsoft Project, Jira, Salesforce, Asana, etc.)
- Strong background in finance, accounting, or another business-related field
- Exceptional verbal, written, and presentation skills
- Strong ability to work both independently and as part of a team
- Experience supporting enterprise-level technical projects
- Competency in Microsoft applications suite
- File management knowledge
- Ability to work in a fast-paced environment with tight deadlines
Must haves
- Project Coordinator
- Project Costing
- Project Scheduling
- Microsoft Project
- Project Management
Education
Bachelor’s degree in Business or related field of study with a minimum of 5+ years of relevant experience
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- Project Management Professional (PMP). The PMP is the world’s most recognized project management certification due to its predictive, agile, or hybrid approach that allows candidates to learn to become strong leaders in project management. This certification allows candidates to prove that they have learned the proper skills it takes to develop a strong team through effective communication, reinforce the technical aspects of properly managing projects, and take note of the connection between projects and organizational strategy.
- Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP). The PMI-RMP certification allows students to specialize in assessing and identifying project risks along with coming up with plans to minimize threats and take advantage of opportunities. This certificate is useful for project coordinators since it is vital for them to recognize the potential risks of the projects and be able to mitigate the problem. Through this course, people will be able to understand the needs of a project environment and be able to meet the expectations of their supervisors by knowing how to minimize potential threats.
- PMI Scheduling Professional (PMI-SP). The PMI-SP certification is a great advantage for candidates looking to enter the project management field. This certification teaches students to develop and maintain project schedules. One of the most important aspects of becoming a project coordinator is being able to execute a project correctly while staying on top of fast deadlines. The PMI-SP will help professionals learn to manage activities, resources, dependencies, and project outcomes by teaching them how to strategically plan for every project they take on.
Sample Interview Questions
- How do you plan and execute projects, and what experience do you have in project coordination?
- What are the best practices for clearly defining and communicating project goals and objectives?
- Have you used any effective strategies to address project risks and issues?
- What tools or systems do you use to manage your project documentation, and how do you ensure that it is accurate and up-to-date?
- When was the last time you had to develop a project plan, timeline, or budget? How did you ensure the plan was accurate and realistic?
- How do you make sure the project team is motivated and does their work well?
- How do you deal with the pressure that comes with tight deadlines?
- When dealing with multiple tasks and responsibilities, what strategies do you use to manage and prioritize them?
- In what ways do you monitor project progress and identify issues and risks?
- What strategies have you used to address communication challenges with project teams and stakeholders?
- Share a time when you collaborated with project teams and stakeholders.