A project coordinator keeps projects on schedule. The coordinator builds timelines, tracks tasks, runs meetings, writes status reports, and chases every open action item. The table below sums up the role. A copy-ready job description template follows.
| Element | Project coordinator |
|---|---|
| Reports to | Project manager, PMO lead or business owner |
| Core duties | Scheduling, task tracking, meetings, status reports, documentation |
| Key hard skills | Asana, Jira, Monday.com, Smartsheet, Microsoft Project, Excel |
| Key soft skills | Written communication, follow-through, organization, problem-solving |
| Education | Bachelor’s degree in business or a related field, or equivalent experience |
| Certification | CAPM (optional), PRINCE2 Foundation or a Scrum credential |
| US average salary | About $62,350 a year (Indeed, 2026) |
Writing this job description to hire? Exec Assistants recruits vetted virtual project coordinators from the Philippines and South Africa. You get a shortlist in 7 to 10 days.
What Is a Project Coordinator?
A project coordinator supports the delivery of a project from kickoff to closeout. The coordinator turns the project manager’s plan into tracked tasks, booked meetings, and current documents. The project manager makes the decisions. The coordinator makes sure those decisions get done on time.
The US Department of Labor’s O*NET database groups this work under Project Management Specialists (code 13-1082.00). O*NET lists tasks such as updating project plans, tracking milestones, assigning responsibilities, and preparing progress reports. Coordinators carry out much of that work at the execution level.
Project Coordinator Job Titles
Employers use several titles for the same role. Use the title your candidates search for.
- Project coordinator: The most common title in the US.
- Project administrator: Common in construction, engineering, and government.
- Project support officer: Common in the UK and Australia.
- PMO coordinator: Used when the role supports a project management office.
- Project assistant: Used for junior roles with a heavier admin load.
Where the Project Coordinator Sits in the Team
The coordinator usually reports to a project manager. In a small business, the coordinator reports to the founder or a department head who acts as project manager. In a large company, the coordinator often sits in the PMO and supports several project managers at once.
In a RACI matrix, the coordinator is usually responsible for status reports, meeting logistics, and document control. The project manager stays accountable for scope, budget, and results. Our guide on project coordinator vs project manager explains the split in detail.
Project Coordinator Job Description Template
Copy this template into your job board post. Edit the tools, hours, and industry details to fit your team.
Job Title
Project Coordinator (Full-Time, Remote or On-Site)
Job Summary
We are hiring a project coordinator to keep our projects on schedule and on budget. You will build project timelines, track tasks, run team meetings, and report progress to the project manager. You will work with internal teams, clients, and vendors to make sure every deliverable lands on time.
Project Coordinator Responsibilities
- Build and maintain project timelines, Gantt charts, and work breakdown structures (WBS).
- Assign tasks in our project management tool and follow up before deadlines.
- Schedule kickoffs, standups and status meetings, and send agendas 24 hours ahead.
- Take meeting minutes and send action items within 24 hours.
- Write a weekly status report with red, amber, and green (RAG) ratings.
- Maintain the RAID log of risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies.
- Track vendor deliverables, deadlines and invoices.
- Log change requests and record approvals.
- Keep project documents current in our shared drive or wiki.
Requirements
- 1 to 3 years of experience in project coordination, operations, or administration.
- Strong skills in Asana, Jira, Monday.com, ClickUp, or Smartsheet.
- Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills.
- Clear, concise written English.
- Proven ability to manage several deadlines at once.
Preferred Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in business, management, or a related field.
- CAPM, PRINCE2 Foundation, or a Scrum certification.
- Experience in our industry.
Hours and Location
Full-time, 40 hours a week. Overlap with US Eastern business hours required.
How to Write a Project Coordinator Job Description in 5 Steps
A clear job description attracts stronger candidates and cuts screening time. Follow these five steps.
Step 1: Define the Reporting Line
Name the person the coordinator reports to. Candidates want to know whether they support one project manager, a PMO, or the founder directly.
Step 2: List Your Real Projects
Describe the projects the coordinator will run. Include the number of active projects, team size, and typical project length. A coordinator who runs 3 large implementations needs different skills from one who runs 15 small client campaigns.
Step 3: Name Your Tools
List your project management, documentation, and communication tools. Experienced coordinators filter roles by the platforms they already know.
Step 4: State the Hours and Location
Give the exact time zone and overlap window. Remote candidates in the Philippines or South Africa plan their schedule around it.
Step 5: Add Success Measures
Include 3 to 5 KPIs from the table later in this guide. Clear targets show candidates what good work looks like in your team from day one.
Project Coordinator Duties and Responsibilities
The template lists the duties. This section explains what each one involves in practice.
Planning and Scheduling Duties
The coordinator turns goals into a schedule. The coordinator breaks the project into a work breakdown structure (WBS), then maps each task on a Gantt chart. Henry Gantt created this bar chart format in the 1910s, and it remains the standard view of a project timeline.
The coordinator also maps dependencies. A dependency is a task that must finish before another can start. The longest chain of dependent tasks forms the critical path. Any delay on the critical path delays the whole project, so the coordinator watches it every day.
Task Tracking and Follow-Up Duties
Follow-up is the core of the role. The coordinator checks the project board each morning, flags overdue tasks, and messages owners before deadlines pass.
C. Northcote Parkinson wrote in 1955 that work expands to fill the time available. Coordinators counter this effect with firm due dates, early reminders and visible task boards.
Meeting and Communication Duties
The coordinator owns meeting logistics. That covers scheduling, agendas, minutes, and action items. Our guide to meeting preparation shows the system in detail.
Communication grows harder as teams grow. Fred Brooks showed in “The Mythical Man-Month” (1975) that a team of n people has n(n-1)/2 communication channels. A 12-person project has 66 channels. The coordinator keeps those channels organized with one agenda, one set of minutes and one status report.
Documentation and Reporting Duties
Coordinators produce the documents that show a project’s true state.
- Status report: Rates scope, schedule, and budget as red, amber, or green.
- RAID log: Records risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies.
- Change log: Records every scope change and who approved it.
- Lessons learned: Captures what worked and what to fix at closeout.
Budget and Vendor Duties
The project manager owns the budget. The coordinator tracks spend against it. The coordinator logs invoices, chases vendor deliverables, and flags overruns early. Our guide to expense and supplier management covers the same process for executive teams.
A Day in the Life of a Project Coordinator
Morning
The coordinator reviews the project board, checks the critical path, and sends reminders for tasks due this week.
Midday
The coordinator runs a standup or status meeting, takes minutes, and updates the RAID log.
End of Day
The coordinator sends action items, updates the timeline, and drafts notes for the weekly status report.
Project Coordinator Skills
Strong coordinators combine tool skills with communication and follow-through.
Hard Skills
- Project management software: Asana, Jira, Monday.com, ClickUp, Smartsheet, Wrike, or Microsoft Project.
- Spreadsheets: Excel or Google Sheets for trackers, budgets, and resource plans.
- Documentation tools: Confluence, Notion, SharePoint or Google Drive.
- Communication tools: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom and Loom.
- Reporting tools: Looker Studio or Power BI for project dashboards.
Our guide to project management tools compares the main platforms.
Soft Skills
PMI’s 2023 Pulse of the Profession report named four “power skills” that matter most in project work: communication, problem-solving, collaborative leadership, and strategic thinking. PMI’s 2025 report added a new focus on business acumen. For coordinators, three soft skills matter most.
- Written communication: Clear agendas, minutes, and status reports.
- Follow-through: Every action item gets an owner, a dat,e and a check-in.
- Problem-solving: Spotting a blocked task early and routing it to the right person.
AI Skills for Project Coordinators in 2026
Generative AI now drafts minutes, summaries, and first-pass status reports. PMI surveys in 2024 found that the share of project professionals using generative AI on more than half their projects rose from 20% to 37% in a few months. Coordinators in 2026 use AI meeting notes, AI summaries in Asana or Jira, and AI writing tools. The coordinator still checks every output for accuracy before it reaches the team. Read more about AI and the assistant role.
Project Coordinator Qualifications and Certifications
Employers look for a mix of education, experienc,e and credentials.
Education
Most US employers list a bachelor’s degree in business, management, or a related field. Many accept equivalent experience in operations, administration, or customer service.
Certifications
- CAPM: PMI’s Certified Associate in Project Management. It suits entry-level coordinators and needs no project experience.
- PRINCE2 Foundation: A process-based method, now owned by PeopleCert. It is common in the UK, Europe, and Australia.
- Scrum credentials: Professional Scrum Master (PSM I) or Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) suit coordinators on Agile teams. Both build on The Scrum Guide.
- Google Project Management Certificate: An entry-level online program offered through Coursera.
Some job descriptions ask coordinators for a PMP. The PMP needs 36 months of experience leading projects, which matches a project manager role. A CAPM is the better fit for most coordinator roles.
Experience Levels
Junior Project Coordinator
0 to 2 years of experience. Handles scheduling, minutes, and task follow-ups under close guidance.
Mid-Level Project Coordinator
2 to 5 years of experience. Runs several projects, owns the RAID log, and drafts status reports with little review.
Senior Project Coordinator
5+ years of experience. Supports a PMO or several project managers, builds templates and trains junior coordinators.
Project Coordinator KPIs
A job description should state how you will measure success. Use SMART goals, a framework George Doran published in 1981: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
| KPI | Target example |
|---|---|
| On-time task completion | 90% of tasks closed by due date |
| Status report cadence | Sent every Friday by 3 p.m. |
| Minutes turnaround | Sent within 24 hours of each meeting |
| RAID log currency | Reviewed and updated weekly |
| Schedule variance | Milestones within 5 working days of plan |
Schedule variance comes from earned value management (EVM), a method the US Department of Defense adopted in the 1960s. It compares planned progress with actual progress. A negative schedule variance means the project runs behind plan.
Related guide
Project Coordinator vs Project Manager: Key Differences
Not sure which role to hire first? Compare duties, authority, salary, and certifications side by side. Read the guide
Project Coordinator Salary in 2026
Pay depends on location, industry, and seniority.
US Project Coordinator Salary
Indeed reports an average project coordinator salary of about $62,350 in the United States in 2026. The figure draws on roughly 6,600 salaries from job postings. The typical range runs from about $43,000 to $90,000.
Remote Project Coordinator Salary by Country
Many US firms hire a full-time remote coordinator from the Philippines or South Africa. These coordinators work US business hours or an agreed overlap window.
| Level | Philippines | South Africa |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-level | $1,000 to $1,500 a month | $1,330 to $2,300 a month |
| Senior | $1,500 to $2,000+ a month | $2,300 to $3,300+ a month |
Need a coordinator who already knows these duties? Exec Assistants recruits vetted, full-time remote project coordinators. You pay your coordinator’s salary directly, from $1,000 a month, plus a one-time $1,997 recruitment fee. See pricing or hire a project coordinator.
Different Views on the Project Coordinator Role
Hiring managers approach this role in three main ways.
The In-House View
Some firms keep the coordinator on-site, next to the delivery team. This view values hallway conversations and fast access to physical sites. It suits construction, manufacturing and events.
The Remote View
Many firms now hire remote coordinators. The work already lives in cloud tools such as Asana, Jira and Slack, so location matters less. A remote coordinator from the Philippines or South Africa works your hours at a lower total cost. Our guide to managing a remote assistant covers the setup.
The Combined Executive Assistant View
Small firms often fold project coordination into an executive assistant role. One assistant manages the founder’s calendar and inbox and also runs project follow-ups. See our virtual executive assistant job description if you need both in one hire.
PMI’s 2025 Global Project Management Talent Gap report projects a shortfall of up to 29.8 million project professionals by 2035. That gap makes a clear, specific job description more important. Strong candidates choose the roles that explain the work best.
Common Mistakes in a Project Coordinator Job Description
- Asking for a PMP: The PMP fits project managers. It shrinks your coordinator candidate pool.
- Mixing in decision rights: Budget approval and scope decisions belong to the project manager.
- Leaving out tools: Candidates want to know which platforms they will use.
- Skipping KPIs: Candidates perform better when they know how you measure success.
- Vague hours: Remote candidates need the exact overlap window.
Project Coordinator Job Description Examples by Industry
Marketing Agency Project Coordinator
Manages 10 to 15 client projects at once. Tracks deliverables in Asana or Monday.com, books client calls and sends weekly client reports. See how this works for agency owners.
Software Project Coordinator
Supports Agile teams in Jira. Prepares sprint planning, updates the Scrum board, tracks velocity, and records retrospective notes.
Construction Project Coordinator
Tracks submittals, RFIs, and subcontractor schedules in Procore or Smartsheet. Logs site risks and coordinates inspections.
Event Project Coordinator
Manages vendors, venue timelines,s and attendee lists. Runs a countdown schedule and a RAID log for event-day risks.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a project coordinator do?
A project coordinator builds project schedules, tracks tasks, runs meetings, writes status reports, and keeps project documents current. The coordinator supports the project manager.
What skills does a project coordinator need?
A project coordinator needs strong written communication, organization and follow-through, plus skills in tools such as Asana, Jira, Smartsheet and Excel.
What qualifications does a project coordinator need?
Most employers ask for a bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience. The CAPM, PRINCE2 Foundation, and Scrum certifications strengthen an application.
Is a project coordinator an entry-level job?
Junior project coordinator roles are entry-level. Mid-level and senior roles need 2 to 5+ years of experience.
Can a project coordinator work remotely?
Yes. Most coordination work happens in cloud tools. Remote coordinators from the Philippines and South Africa work US business hours or an agreed overlap window.
Hire a Project Coordinator in 7 to 10 Days
Tell us about your projects, tools, and hours, and we send a shortlist of vetted coordinators from the Philippines and South Africa. Our guide to interview questions that predict performance helps you pick the right one.