Project administrator vs contract project manager

The differences between project administrators and contract project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a contract project manager has an average salary of $81,263, which is higher than the $52,862 average annual salary of a project administrator.

The top three skills for a project administrator include project management, purchase orders and customer service. The most important skills for a contract project manager are project management, project scope, and contract project.

Project administrator vs contract project manager overview

	Project Administrator	Contract Project Manager
Yearly salary	$52,862	$81,263
Hourly rate	$25.41	$39.07
Growth rate	-8%	8%
Number of jobs	141,253	159,765
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	47	46
Years of experience	-	8

What does a project administrator do?

A project administrator is an individual who assists the project manager in the preparation, reporting, and analysis of projects. Project administrators are given tasks with administrative responsibilities such as managing the budget for supply orders, coordinating meetings with contractors, and doing site visits. They are involved with hiring staff members for a project and creating employee guidelines based on talents, skills, and abilities. Project administrators are also responsible for providing reports on the project's progress to the top management.

What does a contract project manager do?

A contract project manager is an executive professional who provides project management and business analysis to fill the needs of an organization. Contract project managers are required to monitor and inspect contract projects to maintain a high level of safety and quality traffic control in highly variable conditions. They assist contract project administration with the review of project progress reports. Contract project managers must also manage the relationship between clients and the organization while monitoring the progress of the project to ensure that it complies with the terms of the corporate contract.

Project administrator vs contract project manager salary

Project administrators and contract project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Project Administrator	Contract Project Manager
Average salary	$52,862	$81,263
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $83,000	Between $53,000 And $124,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Maryland	Massachusetts
Best paying company	Urban Institute	PRO Unlimited
Best paying industry	Construction	Health Care

Differences between project administrator and contract project manager education

There are a few differences between a project administrator and a contract project manager in terms of educational background:

	Project Administrator	Contract Project Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo

Project administrator vs contract project manager demographics

Here are the differences between project administrators' and contract project managers' demographics:

	Project Administrator	Contract Project Manager
Average age	47	46
Gender ratio	Male, 25.0% Female, 75.0%	Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 2.8% White, 70.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	10%	4%

Differences between project administrator and contract project manager duties and responsibilities

Project administrator example responsibilities.

Lead organization in achieving ISO 9000 certification, which lead to future certification under both ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001.
Manage and execute the SharePoint business integration implementation project and become the corporate governance portal administrator.
Manage quality assurance checks for FDA and internal audits which result in no documentation/information error and successful completion of the audits.
Create and execute SQL to query DB2 databases.
Compose, prepare, proofread, edit and publish department correspondence.
Coordinate in creation and execution of QA and testing processes, test strategies and plans.

Contract project manager example responsibilities.

Manage weekly CMS build outs from feature prioritization through implementation including test cases and training documentation.
Manage RFI's, field directives, construction changes, payments, and billing associate with project.
Manage the day to day duties of the turn-key/design build/plan and specification and retrofit-installation of the HVAC contracting department.
Manage, monitors and measures project portfolio status, recommending corrective action as necessary and communicate portfolio status to their management.
Install hundreds of replacement windows and doors.
Install windows, doors, and hardware for commercial and residential projects.

Project administrator vs contract project manager skills

Common project administrator skills

Project Management, 12%
Purchase Orders, 8%
Customer Service, 7%
PowerPoint, 6%
Data Entry, 5%
Assist Project, 4%

Common contract project manager skills

Project Management, 21%
Project Scope, 7%
Contract Project, 5%
HR, 4%
Infrastructure, 4%
Project Budget, 4%

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Project Administrator
Project Administrator vs Contract Project Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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