Project Coordinator job description

Project management — Project Coordinator
Keeps plans, logs and meetings current on projects run by others.

RESPONSIBILITIES
- Pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it.
- Break a small project's scope into deliverables and work packages yourself, each with a named owner and a clear definition of done.
- Build a schedule for a small project with its dependencies, and name the tasks on the critical path that set the finish date.
- Write your project's status report from a comparison with the baseline, naming milestones at risk, a RAG rating and the decisions you need.
- Chair your project's regular meetings so they finish on time with decisions made and actions assigned.
- Agree acceptance criteria for a deliverable before work starts, and get sign-off against them once it is done.

REQUIREMENTS
- No earlier level needed: this is the first level of the ladder

REQUIRED SKILLS
Project Planning
- Scope and Requirements Definition — You can record what a sponsor says the project must deliver in the scope template, and list the questions you could not get answered.
- Work Breakdown Structure Development — You can break a small project's scope into deliverables and work packages yourself, each with a named owner and a clear definition of done.
- Schedule Building and Critical Path Analysis — You can build a schedule for a small project with its dependencies, and name the tasks on the critical path that set the finish date.
- Resource Planning and Allocation — You can keep the project's resource list current, noting who is assigned to what and when they are away.
- Project Budgeting and Cost Control — You can record project costs against the budget lines they belong to, and query a charge that looks misplaced.

Delivery Control
- Progress Tracking and Status Reporting — You can write your project's status report from a comparison with the baseline, naming milestones at risk, a RAG rating and the decisions you need.
- Change Control and Scope Management — You can log a change request with its requester and description, and route it to whoever assesses it.
- Delivery Methodology Selection — You can describe the delivery approach your project uses, and follow its routines and documents correctly.
- Project Meeting and Workshop Facilitation — You can chair your project's regular meetings so they finish on time with decisions made and actions assigned.
- Project Closure and Lessons Learned — You can work through the closure checklist, archive the project documents, and record the lessons people raise.
- Delivery Cadence and Flow — You can chase each blocked item on your team board to its owner, with guidance from your delivery lead, and note the agreed date.

Risk & Governance
- Project Risk and Issue Management — You can record risks and issues in the project log with a description and an owner, and update them when told of a change.
- Cross-Project Dependency Mapping — You can list the inputs your project receives from other teams, with the date each one is needed.
- Project Governance and Assurance — You can prepare the documents a stage gate requires and make sure they reach the approvers on time.
- Supplier and Contractor Delivery Management — You can track what a supplier has delivered against the dates in their contract, and report a late delivery.
- Deliverable Acceptance and Sign-Off — You can agree acceptance criteria for a deliverable before work starts, and get sign-off against them once it is done.

Stakeholders & Teams
- Sponsor and Steering Committee Engagement — You can prepare papers for steering meetings, and record the decisions and actions they produce.
- Project Team Mobilization and Dynamics — You can set up the practical side of a new project team, such as access, tools, contact lists and meeting invitations.
- Business Change and Adoption Planning — You can help deliver training and communications to users at go-live, following a plan someone else wrote.

Portfolio & PMO
- Business Case and Benefits Management — You can state the benefits your project is meant to deliver, as written in its business case.
- Portfolio Prioritization and Capacity Balancing — You can keep the list of active and proposed projects current, with each one's status and sponsor.
- PMO Standards and Tooling — You can use the organization's project templates and tools correctly, and point out where one gets in the way.

Delivery
- Project Management — You can keep your own tasks and deadlines in a current to-do list, and tell your manager as soon as work you own will be late.
- Planning & Estimation — You can estimate how long a task will take once the approach is clear, and you say promptly when the estimate turns out to be wrong.
- Ownership & Accountability — You can stay responsible after you hand work over: you check it did what it was meant to, fix your own mistakes, and give updates before anyone asks.
- Quality Focus — You can choose checks that suit the task in front of you, catch your own mistakes before anyone else sees them, and confirm the result works once people start using it.

Craft
- Problem Solving — You can work out what is wrong in work you did not create, and you fix the underlying cause instead of working around the symptom.
- Domain Expertise — You can apply the basics of your field to the work you are given, and ask an expert when a task goes beyond what you have learned.
- Continuous Learning — You can pick up an unfamiliar area fast enough to be useful in it, and you turn what you learned into something others can reuse.

Communication
- Communication — You can explain your work so your team can act on it, and play a request back in your own words before you act on it.
- Collaboration — You can work well with people in other roles, share context and credit, and take criticism of your work without defending territory.
- Writing & Documentation — You can document your own work well enough for a colleague to follow it unaided, such as a how-to guide or a handover, and keep it current as things change.
- Stakeholder Management — You can keep your manager and immediate team informed of your progress, and you raise an issue before someone else discovers it.

Leadership
- Leadership — You can act on direction well, seek feedback on how you work, and be open about what you need help with.
- Mentoring — You can share what you have just learned with your peers and help a newer colleague find their way around.
- Strategic Thinking — You can explain why the work you were given matters and who it is for.