How To Become A Senior Project Administrator: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior project administrator and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted experts

Matthew Gilbert,

Brian Starr Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior project administrator. For example, did you know that they make an average of $38.17 an hour? That's $79,389 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What general advice would you give to a senior project administrator?

Matthew Gilbert

Lecturer of Marketing, Coastal Carolina University

The unique circumstances caused by COVID-19 have impacted every area of our lives. New graduates will likely find themselves in a more challenging situation than was the case previously. Given this, I encourage graduates who are just beginning their careers to be ACES: adaptive, communicative, effective, and supportive. ACES is a slang term meaning being highly regarded; in the context of the suggested acronym, consider the following explanation.

Adaptive: Remain open to top unexpected opportunities. Venturing into a new normal requires flexibility and openness; this could mean taking a job that wasn't considered, but recognizing it could yield skills, connections, and experience that could be useful in future endeavors.

Communicative: Leverage LinkedIn to network professionally and politely for opportunities, but don't connect with someone and immediately ask for a job. Call your contacts and catch up without a specific agenda; you never know what ideas might emerge. Email individuals, you respect for insights and advice.

Effective: Make use of your time to learn new skills or acquire certifications that demonstrate the value you can add to an organization. Consider volunteering for a cause close to your heart; it makes you feel better, but you could connect personally and/or professionally with new people.

Supportive: Finding a job in a normal year is challenging enough, but in a pandemic, it's an entirely different experience. Keep in contact with your friends and fellow graduates; even a short message asking how they're doing or inviting them to a social distance coffee together could brighten a day you didn't know was dark for someone else.

ScoreSenior Project AdministratorUS Average

Salary

6.2

Avg. Salary $79,389

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.66%

Asian 8.83%

Black or African American 7.47%

Hispanic or Latino 12.50%

Unknown 4.69%

White 65.86%

Gender

female 66.67%

male 33.33%

Age - 47

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 47

Stress level

6.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

1.8

Complexity level is simple

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.6

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior project administrator

Explore senior project administrator education requirements

Most common senior project administrator degrees

Bachelor's

60.1 %

Associate

21.0 %

Master's

9.4 %

Start to develop specific senior project administrator skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	20.60%
Purchase Orders	7.49%
SharePoint	6.92%
Financial Reports	5.56%
SQL	4.94%

Research senior project administrator duties and responsibilities

Implement a repeatable process methodology base on the PMI PMBOK defining a systematic approach to delivering solutions and achieving customer objectives.
Review and process submittals and RFI's.
Prepare proposals in response to government or industry RFP's.
Prepare contracts, maintain critical files, track RFI's, pre qualify contractors.

Get senior project administrator experience

Prepare your senior project administrator resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior project administrator resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior project administrator resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior project administrator resume templates

Build a professional senior project administrator resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior project administrator resume.

Apply for senior project administrator jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a senior project administrator job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do senior project administrators rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

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1 star

Senior project administrator reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2023

Pros

I like to work with a team. Satisfaction of seeing the successful completion of a project

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020

Pros

Interaction with a varied group of PhD students in STEM tracks

Cons

cyclical nature of the job

A zippia user wrote a review on Jun 2020