Project administrator vs project specialist

The differences between project administrators and project specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project specialist has an average salary of $65,993, 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 specialist are customer service, project management, and project proposals.

Project administrator vs project specialist overview

	Project Administrator	Project Specialist
Yearly salary	$52,862	$65,993
Hourly rate	$25.41	$31.73
Growth rate	-8%	10%
Number of jobs	141,253	99,583
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Average age	47	44
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 specialist do?

A project specialist's role is to ensure that a project or program's completion is within the allotted time and budget. They are primarily responsible for devising plans and strategies to quicken the pace of production or processes involved, creating a comprehensive schedule, monitoring the progress and producing reports, tracking the budget and expenditures, and coordinating with all department personnel. Moreover, a project specialist may also schedule and attend meetings, all while adhering to the company's policies and standards.

Project administrator vs project specialist salary

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

	Project Administrator	Project Specialist
Average salary	$52,862	$65,993
Salary range	Between $33,000 And $83,000	Between $41,000 And $103,000
Highest paying City	Baltimore, MD	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Maryland	California
Best paying company	Urban Institute	Meta
Best paying industry	Construction	Professional

Differences between project administrator and project specialist education

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

	Project Administrator	Project Specialist
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 64%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Western Carolina University

Project administrator vs project specialist demographics

Here are the differences between project administrators' and project specialists' demographics:

	Project Administrator	Project Specialist
Average age	47	44
Gender ratio	Male, 25.0% Female, 75.0%	Male, 46.7% Female, 53.3%
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, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	10%	11%

Differences between project administrator and project specialist 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 specialist example responsibilities.

Manage all phases of SDLC.
Manage SDLC so that all controls are followed.
Manage tracking and resolution of defects and reporting of UAT execution results.
Purchase and manage inventory for aircraft LCD displays across all Rockwell sites.
Manage relational database through SQL programming, as well as ERP and MRP.
Design screen layouts and fields in the ERP system to accomplish above goals as well as enhance end user experience.

Project administrator vs project specialist skills

Common project administrator skills

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

Common project specialist skills

Customer Service, 25%
Project Management, 17%
Project Proposals, 10%
Telemarketing, 7%
PowerPoint, 4%
Patients, 2%

Project Administrator vs. similar jobs

Project Administrator related careers

Project Administrator related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Executive Management Industry
Project Administrator
Project Administrator vs Project Specialist

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse executive management jobs