Project administrator vs project engineering manager

The differences between project administrators and project engineering managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project engineering manager has an average salary of $110,534, 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 project engineering manager are project management, project scope, and engineering design.

Project administrator vs project engineering manager overview

	Project Administrator	Project Engineering Manager
Yearly salary	$52,862	$110,534
Hourly rate	$25.41	$53.14
Growth rate	-8%	2%
Number of jobs	141,253	171,897
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Average age	47	48
Years of experience	-	-

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 project engineering manager do?

A project engineering manager's job is to oversee engineering projects in diverse industries, including transportation, software development, and utility industries. They are responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of intricate designs and evaluating and approving changes that may affect the scope, budget, and completion of a project. They also perform other essential tasks, including monitoring the project's progress and performance, developing maintenance plans, and preparing expenditure reports. Project engineering managers are also expected to resolve any issues that may arise from operations.

Project administrator vs project engineering manager salary

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

	Project Administrator	Project Engineering Manager
Average salary	$52,862	$110,534
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $83,000	Between $79,000 And $153,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Maryland	California
Best paying company	Urban Institute	Apple
Best paying industry	Construction	Technology

Differences between project administrator and project engineering manager education

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

	Project Administrator	Project Engineering Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 72%
Most common major	Business	Mechanical Engineering
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Project administrator vs project engineering manager demographics

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

	Project Administrator	Project Engineering Manager
Average age	47	48
Gender ratio	Male, 25.0% Female, 75.0%	Male, 87.8% Female, 12.2%
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, 3.1% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 12.0% White, 71.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	10%	9%

Differences between project administrator and project engineering 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.

Project engineering manager example responsibilities.

Interview, hire and manage engineering and cad teams to accomplish all projects acquire with quality and on-time delivery.
Manage APQP tasks and submit documentation to customer.
Lead an engineering team that develop a vision technology product resulting in winning multiple DOD awards.
Manage UL, FCC and ANSI testing of new products and product production with contract manufacturers.
Establish SharePoint site to manage all records to ensure facility is built codes and standards if audit by regulators.
Manage desktop, server and network teams' projects, and fill in as Unix support for tape backup management.

Project administrator vs project engineering manager skills

Common project administrator skills

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

Common project engineering manager skills

Project Management, 22%
Project Scope, 6%
Engineering Design, 4%
Autocad, 4%
Capital Projects, 4%
Project Execution, 3%

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Project Administrator
Project Administrator vs Project Engineering Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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