Project Assistant

Job Description

The candidate coordinates project activities, monitors project progress, tracks deadlines and deliverables, identifies outstanding requirements, and follows projects through established funding and project milestones. Although the position does not directly supervise Project Supervisors or Engineers, it serves in a lead coordination role by organizing project workflow, monitoring completion of required actions, conducting project status follow-up, and elevating significant delays, risks, or unresolved issues to the Program Administrator.

Project and Portfolio Coordination

• Serve as the central coordination point for approximately 40 active infrastructure projects.
• Coordinate with Project Supervisors/Engineers to establish and monitor project priorities, milestones, schedules, deadlines, deliverables, and outstanding requirements.
• Maintain comprehensive project and portfolio tracking systems.
• Provide routine portfolio-level project status reports and updates to the Program Administrator.
• Track projects throughout the project lifecycle, including funding approval, loan closing, design, bidding, construction, disbursement, and project completion.
• Conduct regular project status reviews with Project Supervisors/Engineers.
• Identify projects that are inactive, delayed, approaching critical deadlines, or otherwise at risk.
• Initiate and coordinate follow-up necessary to maintain project progress.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong project management, project coordination, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Ability to coordinate a large portfolio of infrastructure projects, deadlines, deliverables, and competing priorities.
• Ability to provide day-to-day workflow coordination and leadership without direct supervisory authority.
• Ability to monitor work progress and professionally hold internal and external stakeholders accountable for established deadlines and requirements.
• Ability to identify project risks, delays, missing information, and potential barriers to project progress.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment regarding when issues should be resolved independently and when they require escalation.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to prepare professional correspondence, memoranda, project narratives, reports, and other formal documentation.
• Strong attention to detail and demonstrated follow-through.
• Strong customer service and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with engineers, municipalities, consultants, contractors, government agencies, and members of the public.
• Ability to independently research project status and provide accurate information.
• Ability to understand and consistently apply complex program procedures and requirements.
• Ability to learn and apply technical, financial, engineering, construction, and public-financing terminology.
• Strong project tracking, documentation, file-management, and recordkeeping skills.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel and the ability to organize, sort, filter, track, and analyze project information.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (including Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, and Power BI), Adobe Acrobat, and similar electronic document-management and collaboration systems.
• Ability to work independently while maintaining effective communication with Project Supervisors/Engineers, management, and external stakeholders.
• Ability to handle sensitive project, financial, and program information appropriately.
• Ability to balance long-term project and portfolio responsibilities with routine program and office operational needs.