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.

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Project Specialist Responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real project specialist resumes representing typical tasks they are likely to perform in their roles.

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.
Maximize sales of windows, fencing, siding, roofing, HVAC, and generators.
Create and update project timelines in VISIO.
Design and implement knowledge areas of PMBOK standard.
Request all POs and process goods receipts against customer orders.
Create drawings for fabricate components and BOM's for commercial parts.
Reduce ramp-up times for new QA staff by streamlining procedures for systems access.
Develop organization charts, procedure flow diagrams and other documents in Microsoft Visio.
Establish reputation for proactive management of QA issues resulting in reduce development cycle times.
Handle day-to-day support of PC's, servers, printers, and other peripheral devices.

Project Specialist Job Description

Between the years 2018 and 2028, project specialist jobs are expected to undergo a growth rate described as "faster than average" at 10%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So if the thought "should I become a project specialist?" Has crossed your mind, maybe you should take the growth rate into account. In addition, the number of project specialist opportunities that are projected to become available by 2028 is 83,100.

On average, the project specialist annual salary is $65,993 per year, which translates to $31.73 an hour. Generally speaking, project specialists earn anywhere from $41,000 to $103,000 a year, which means that the top-earning project specialists make $58,000 more than the ones at the lower end of the spectrum.

It's hard work to become a project specialist, but even the most dedicated employees consider switching careers from time to time. Whether you're interested in a more challenging position or just looking for a fresh start, we've compiled extensive information on becoming a specialist-small business, project officer, project consultant, and business development specialist.

Learn More About Project Specialist Job Descriptions

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12 Project Specialist Resume Examples

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Dylan Kelly Project Specialist Contact Information Peoria, IL (240) 555-3045 dkelly@example.com Skills Project Management Product Development Procedures Raw Materials Purchase Orders GM Supplier Performance Consultants Strategic Sourcing WBS Employment History Project Specialist 2013 - Present Caterpillar Peoria, IL Counseled users on procedures and cost-avoidance strategy; drove immediate and lasting results for users. Followed all compliance, regulatory, legal, and policies and procedures. Project management for short term, yet highly critical projects on a national and regional basis. Develop project plans and charters for manufacturing engineering projects. Planner/Buyer 2006 - 2013 Caterpillar Peoria, IL Interact with vendors/suppliers to submit purchase orders and confirm accurate delivery dates into SAP. Issued purchase orders to suppliers including domestic, overseas and third party. Purchasing Assistant 2004 - 2006 ManpowerGroup Las Vegas, NV Prepare RFQ (Request for Quotation) packages and submit to suppliers. Issue, type, receive and close purchase orders for the New Orleans and Goodyear Plants. Initiate RFQs for competitive bidding on government contracts; interface with various vendors/suppliers via telephone or in plant survey. Filed purchase orders, updated file folders and binders as needed. Create i-Buy Purchase orders in ERP. Education Bachelor's Degree Business 2001 - 2004 Ashford University San Diego, CA


Ronald Hall Project Specialist Contact Info Avondale, LA (620) 555-3160 rhall@example.com Skills Sales SupportProject ManagementEngineering DepartmentPowerpointHRCRMPMPProceduresNdasQA Employment History Project Specialist 2020 - Present Northrop Grumman Avondale, LA Updated change management processes and related processes and procedures for identifying and maintaining configuration items. Published instruction sheets and trained staff on software and operating systems ensuring procedures were followed. Performed preliminary data analysis and worked with Data Analysts to finalize agency asset inventories. Extract meta data from Teradata Metadata Management System, Store procedures for end-to-end lineage. Contracts Administrator 2019 - 2020 Northrop Grumman Avondale, LA Championed "cradle to grave" contract cycle, and proposed manager liaison with all internal and external customers. Facilitate the return or buyout of assets with business units and suppliers. Reported to external customers and internal Business Managers, Business area Managers, and Program Managers. Advise Program Managers regarding legal requirements, customer specifications and Government Regulations. Sales Administrator 2010 - 2013 CSCenters San Marcos, TX Expanded on daily communication to brokers on status updates of transactions and projects. Maintained calendar for East Region Sales Manager and coordinated logistics for sales team. Allied Electronics, AUSTIN, Texas Sales Support/Administrative Support Update individual CRM systems with all contact information and all conversational notes. Respond to requests for product information verbally and with data from literature library. Trained customer service reps including tasks such as order processing, order verification and understanding products and software applications. Education Master's Degree Communication 2013 - 2014 Texas State University San Marcos, TX Bachelor's Degree Communication 2002 - 2005 Texas State University San Marcos, TX


Walter Gibson Project Specialist Atlanta, GA (630) 555-6637 wgibson@example.com Experience Project Specialist2016 - Present Best Buy•Atlanta, GA Educated both store employees and customers with product knowledge, generating interest in the product to achieve sales. Set new and relocated planograms and graphics to merchandising standards, completes planogram checklist and proper filing procedures. Trained and mentored colleague(s) on project management best practices to help guide them through the SDLC process. Processing Specialist2013 - 2016 General Electric•Charlotte, NC Maintained safety and environmental equipment, standards, recordkeeping, and procedures for department. Maintained customer accounts and necessary correspondence for past due payments. Obtain legalized documents and prepare communication with foreign associates Serve as lead instructor for the company's three-stage Carnegie Way Lean Six Sigma and change management training course. Loan Specialist2011 - 2013 Wells Fargo•Charlotte, NC Approved HUD's, cleared closing conditions, sent wires to the Title Companies and finalized the loan. Processed hazard insurance claims during the foreclosure process. Hired as a short sale negotiator to review both proprietary and Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternative loan files. Skills High VolumeInformation TechnologyLoan ApplicationsProject ManagementFinancial StatementsQuality StandardsConsultantsHUDSupport ProjectDatabase Education Bachelor's Degree Business2003 - 2006 Strayer University•Washington, DC

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Project Specialist Skills and Personality Traits

We calculated that 25% of Project Specialists are proficient in Customer Service, Project Management, and Project Proposals. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Speaking skills.

We break down the percentage of Project Specialists that have these skills listed on their resume here:

Customer Service, 25%
Resolved wireless hardware, application and network issues by providing technical customer service support, troubleshooting and remote testing solutions.
Project Management, 17%
Worked directly with Project Management coordinating computer hardware installations and other deployment and repair functions for various customer contract project work.
Project Proposals, 10%
Estimated project costs, performed take-offs, and developed project proposals working directly with the General Contractor of the project.
Telemarketing, 7%
Managed coordination, implementation and installation of next generation telemarketing system, an NT-based, client server environment.
PowerPoint, 4%
Conducted audit of company activities and evaluated various compliance options/strategies * Presented project findings to departmental heads using Microsoft PowerPoint.
Patients, 2%
Conduct face-to-face or phone interviews of sampled patients to collect behavioral information relevant to medical care and clinical outcomes.

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Some of the skills we found on project specialist resumes included "customer service," "project management," and "project proposals." We have detailed the most important project specialist responsibilities below.

Customer-service skills can be considered to be the most important personality trait for a project specialist to have. According to a project specialist resume, "computer support specialists must be patient and sympathetic" project specialists are able to use customer-service skills in the following example we gathered from a resume: "generate customer-specific solutions for issues & concerns while ensuring timely product updates in accordance with fda regulations. "

Another commonly found skill for being able to perform project specialist duties is the following: listening skills. According to a project specialist resume, "support workers must be able to understand the problems that their customers are describing and know when to ask questions to clarify the situation." Check out this example of how project specialists use listening skills: "created sales orders, purchase orders, communicated with vendors, and performed order and data entry. "

Another skill that is quite popular among project specialists is speaking skills. This skill is very critical to fulfilling every day responsibilities as is shown in this example from a project specialist resume: "support workers must describe the solutions to computer problems in a way that a nontechnical person can understand." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assist in the data entry, indexing, and general processing of various projects and contracts presented to the company. "

A project specialist responsibilities sometimes require "writing skills." The responsibilities that rely on this skills are shown by this resume excerpt: "strong writing skills are useful for preparing instructions and email responses for employees and customers, as well as for real-time web chat interactions." This resume example shows how this skill is used by project specialists: "assisted in developing and writing policies/procedures, along with training materials relating to project/portfolio management process and the clarity ppm tool. "

Yet another important skill that a project specialist must demonstrate is "problem-solving skills." Support workers must identify both simple and complex computer problems, analyze them, and solve them. This is clearly demonstrated in this example from a project specialist who stated: "performed quality control reviews of financial reports to senior management, accounts receivable analysis, and w-2 research and error resolution. "

See the full list of project specialist skills.

Before becoming a project specialist, 63.7% earned their bachelor's degree. When it comes down to graduating with a master's degree, 12.1% project specialists went for the extra education. If you're wanting to pursue this career, it may be possible to be successful with a high school degree. In fact, most project specialists have a college degree. But about one out of every eight project specialists didn't attend college at all.

The project specialists who went onto college to earn a more in-depth education generally studied business and communication, while a small population of project specialists studied psychology and accounting.

Once you're ready to become a project specialist, you should explore the companies that typically hire project specialists. According to project specialist resumes that we searched through, project specialists are hired the most by Anderson Merchandisers, Oracle, and Best Buy. Currently, Anderson Merchandisers has 147 project specialist job openings, while there are 124 at Oracle and 63 at Best Buy.

If you're interested in companies where project specialists make the most money, you'll want to apply for positions at Meta, Apple, and Ernst & Young. We found that at Meta, the average project specialist salary is $123,575. Whereas at Apple, project specialists earn roughly $118,322. And at Ernst & Young, they make an average salary of $108,968.

View more details on project specialist salaries across the United States.

Some other companies you might be interested in as a project specialist include Bank of America, Arnold Motor Supply, and Wells Fargo. These three companies were found to hire the most project specialists from the top 100 U.S. educational institutions.

The industries that project specialists fulfill the most roles in are the technology and health care industries. But the highest project specialist annual salary is in the professional industry, averaging $77,221. In the technology industry they make $75,348 and average about $68,724 in the manufacturing industry. In conclusion, project specialists who work in the professional industry earn a 29.8% higher salary than project specialists in the finance industry.

The three companies that hire the most prestigious project specialists are:

Anderson Merchandisers147 Project Specialists Jobs
Oracle124 Project Specialists Jobs
Best Buy63 Project Specialists Jobs

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What Specialist-Small Businesss Do

A small business specialist develops new business programs to meet changing customer demands. They are responsible for ensuring integrity and consistency in the domain of business. They analyze causes of a business issue, obtain business data, and make enquiries. They are responsible for making purchase agreements, confidentiality arrangements, and joint venture arrangement.

We looked at the average project specialist annual salary and compared it with the average of a specialist-small business. Generally speaking, specialist-small businesses receive $6,325 higher pay than project specialists per year.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A project specialist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "project management," "project proposals," "strong customer service," and "telemarketing." Whereas a specialist-small business requires skills like "customer relationships," "business development," "business portfolio," and "business administration." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

The education levels that specialist-small businesses earn is a bit different than that of project specialists. In particular, specialist-small businesses are 4.2% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a project specialist. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What Are The Duties Of a Project Officer?

A project officer provides vital support to a project by monitoring deadlines for each project task and closely monitors the project schedule. They work with the project manager and other team members to reach the project target. They can work in almost every field of industry, such as construction, communications, education, and even sales. They can also do administrative tasks, including arranging team meetings, file project documents to the database, and technological skills, and they report directly to the Project Manager to assess project progress and to discuss future steps.

The next role we're going to look at is the project officer profession. Typically, this position earns a lower pay. In fact, they earn a $6,702 lower salary than project specialists per year.

A similarity between the two careers of project specialists and project officers are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "project management," "project proposals," and "powerpoint. "

But both careers also use different skills, according to real project specialist resumes. While project specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "customer service," "strong customer service," "telemarketing," and "pre sales," some project officers use skills like "press releases," "logistical support," "dod," and "infrastructure."

It's been discovered that project officers earn lower salaries compared to project specialists, but we wanted to find out where project officers earned the most pay. The answer? The health care industry. The average salary in the industry is $60,687. Additionally, project specialists earn the highest paychecks in the professional with an average salary of $77,221.

On the topic of education, project officers earn higher levels of education than project specialists. In general, they're 9.7% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

How a Project Consultant Compares

A project consultant is responsible for communicating with the clients for their specific needs, develop strategic plans, and determine project resources to achieve their business goals and objectives. Project consultants are employed across various industries, offering their knowledge and expertise to facilitate clients' requests and propositions. They also collaborate with different development teams to discuss project parameters and analyze opportunities to improve plans and progress efficiency. A project consultant must have excellent communication and critical-thinking skills, responding to clients' inquiries and concerns, and providing recommendations to ensure successful project completion.

The project consultant profession generally makes a higher amount of money when compared to the average salary of project specialists. The difference in salaries is project consultants making $20,661 higher than project specialists.

While looking through the resumes of several project specialists and project consultants we discovered that both professions have similar skills. These similarities include skills such as "customer service," "project management," and "data analysis," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers as shown by resumes from each profession. Some of those differences include the skills required to complete responsibilities within each role. As an example of this, a project specialist is likely to be skilled in "project proposals," "strong customer service," "telemarketing," and "powerpoint," while a typical project consultant is skilled in "healthcare," "financial statements," "business process," and "strategic plan."

Project consultants typically study at higher levels compared with project specialists. For example, they're 8.4% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Description Of a Business Development Specialist

A business development specialist is an expert who determines opportunities for marketing strategy optimization and business growth. The specialists perform business process and financial analysis, effective network creation, and business plan implementation. Being a good business development specialist requires knowledge and experience in managing a business. The skillset for the position includes a strong command in English, information technology, attention to detail, and written and verbal communication.

Now, we'll look at business development specialists, who generally average a lower pay when compared to project specialists annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $8,583 per year.

While their salaries may vary, project specialists and business development specialists both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "customer service," "project management," and "telemarketing. "

While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "project proposals," "strong customer service," "depot," and "post sales" are skills that have shown up on project specialists resumes. Additionally, business development specialist uses skills like work ethic, crm, strong work ethic, and healthcare on their resumes.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The finance industry tends to pay more for business development specialists with an average of $63,094. While the highest project specialist annual salary comes from the professional industry.

In general, business development specialists reach similar levels of education when compared to project specialists resumes. Business development specialists are 1.0% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

What a Project Specialist Does FAQs

Project Sponsor Vs. Project Manager

A project sponsor is the point of connection between the organization's executive team and the project manager, while the project manager is the point of connection between the project sponsor and the project team.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Be A Project Manager?

The qualifications required to become a project manager depend on the industry you're working in.

Because of the large scope of responsibilities, the project manager needs to have had a relevant education. Typically candidates have a minimum of a bachelor's degree in computer science or business.

Have more questions? See all answers to common business and financial questions.

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Updated October 2, 2020