Project Coordinator

ABOUT THE ROLE

The Project Coordinator is a critical execution engine within the PMO, responsible for translating strategic project plans into daily operational reality. With 1–3 years of project experience and a mandatory engineering foundation, this role sits at the crossroads of technical delivery, stakeholder management, and process governance.

You will work alongside Project Managers and cross-functional engineering teams to drive on-time, on-budget delivery of complex projects, while building the expertise to grow into a fully-fledged Project Manager.

This role is designed for professionals who are detail-oriented yet commercially aware, technically fluent yet people-centric, and process-driven yet creative in problem-solving.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

1. Project Planning & Schedule Management

- Develop, maintain, and control detailed project schedules using MS Project, Primavera P6, or Smartsheet, covering scope, WBS, milestones, and critical path. - Support the creation and maintenance of Project Charters, Scope Statements, and Project Management Plans in alignment with PMI/PMBOK standards. - Monitor schedule performance indicators (SPI, CPI) and proactively flag deviations; recommend corrective actions to the Project Manager. - Manage project baseline changes through formal change control processes, assessing the scope, cost, and schedule impact of change requests.

2. Engineering & Technical Coordination

- Serve as the liaison between engineering disciplines (mechanical, electrical, civil, or relevant domain) and the Project Manager, translating technical progress into project-level reporting. - Track technical deliverables, design approvals, and engineering milestones against the project plan; escalate risks proactively. - Coordinate reviews of technical documents, drawings, specifications, and inspection reports with internal and external stakeholders. - Support constructability reviews, technical risk assessments, and engineering change management processes.

3. Risk, Issue & Quality Management

- Own and maintain the RAID Log (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies), facilitating regular reviews and driving resolution ownership. - Conduct structured risk identification workshops; support quantitative and qualitative risk analysis using probability-impact matrices. - Monitor quality control checkpoints and ensure deliverables meet contractual, regulatory, and client specifications. - Prepare non-conformance reports (NCRs) and track corrective and preventive action (CAPA) closure.

4. Stakeholder Communication & Reporting

- Prepare and distribute stakeholder-ready project status reports, dashboards, and executive summaries on weekly and monthly cadences. - Facilitate project meetings, workshops, and technical reviews, including agendas, minutes, action tracking, and follow-ups. - Build and maintain strong working relationships with internal teams, vendors, contractors, and clients, including international accounts where applicable. - Translate complex technical and project information into clear, concise communication tailored to executive, technical, and client audiences.

5. Cost, Procurement & Contract Coordination

- Support project cost tracking and budget variance analysis; maintain up-to-date cost reports and earned value data. - Coordinate with procurement and supply chain teams on vendor or subcontractor onboarding, PO issuance, and delivery tracking. - Assist in contract administration, including monitoring deliverable obligations, tracking milestones tied to payments, and flagging contractual risks. - Maintain procurement trackers and support invoice verification and approval workflows.

6. Agile, Hybrid & Continuous Improvement

- Actively participate in Agile ceremonies where applicable, including sprint planning, stand-ups, retrospectives, and backlog grooming. - Contribute to process improvement initiatives by identifying inefficiencies, mapping current-state workflows, and proposing optimized future-state solutions. - Support lessons-learned sessions and ensure outputs are captured and incorporated into the PMO knowledge base. - Champion digital adoption of PM tools, automation, and AI-assisted workflows to improve team productivity.

REQUIREMENTS

Mandatory: Education

- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Engineering. Relevant disciplines include Mechanical, Electronics, Electrical, Mechatronics, or related fields.

Mandatory: Relevant Industry Knowledge

- 1–3 years of hands-on experience in a project environment within a relevant industry.

Experience & Certifications

Mandatory

- 1–3 years of project coordination or project management experience in a technical or engineering environment. - Demonstrated ability to independently manage project scope, schedules, risks, costs, action logs, and multi-stakeholder communication. - Proficiency in at least one project scheduling tool such as Jira, Smartsheet, or equivalent. - Strong command of the MS Office Suite, including advanced Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP, dashboards) and PowerPoint.

Nice to Have

- PMI CAPM, PMP, PRINCE2 Foundation, or PMI-ACP certification.

Preferred

- Experience with Agile or Scrum frameworks alongside traditional waterfall or hybrid delivery models. - Familiarity with Earned Value Management (EVM) concepts and cost-schedule integration.

Nice to Have

- International project or customer exposure, including coordination across geographies, time zones, or regulatory environments. - Experience with Power BI, Tableau, or similar data visualization platforms for project reporting.

SOFT SKILLS — MANDATORY & NON-NEGOTIABLE

Communication Excellence

- Articulates project status, risks, and changes with precision and confidence to both technical and executive audiences. Demonstrates active listening; written communication is clear, structured, and error-free.

Stakeholder Management

- Builds credibility and trust across organizational levels. Manages competing stakeholder interests with diplomacy, tact, and data-backed reasoning.

Negotiation & Influencing

- Negotiates timelines, resource commitments, and scope boundaries without escalating conflict. Influences without authority by earning buy-in through preparation and empathy.

Conflict Resolution

- Identifies tensions early and facilitates constructive resolution. Remains calm, objective, and solution-oriented under pressure or ambiguity.

Accountability & Ownership

- Takes full ownership of assigned workstreams. Proactively flags risks, proposes solutions, and closes actions on time.

Cross-cultural Sensitivity

- Demonstrates awareness and respect for diverse cultural norms, essential for international customer engagement and global team collaboration.

Structured Problem-Solving

- Applies logical frameworks such as 5-Why, Fishbone, and PDCA to diagnose root causes and drive sustainable corrective actions.

Adaptability & Resilience

- Maintains high performance through scope changes, ambiguity, and shifting priorities. Reframes setbacks as learning opportunities.

INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMER EXPOSURE

Nice to Have — Differentiating Advantage

Candidates with international exposure will be prioritized when all other factors are equal. This includes:

- Managing or coordinating deliverables for customers across multiple geographies or time zones - Interfacing directly with international client project teams, including attending reviews, resolving issues, and managing expectations - Navigating cross-cultural communication dynamics and adapting stakeholder engagement styles accordingly - Understanding international project standards, export compliance, or multi-currency project environments - Language skills beyond the native tongue are an advantage (Arabic, French, Spanish, Mandarin, or German preferred)