Engineering Project Administrator

ABOUT THE POSITION

Project Administrator - Civil Engineering Project Support | Richmond, VA | Williamsburg, VA | Virginia Beach, VA

Are you ready to work with a great team, feel valued, and have opportunities to learn and grow professionally? We are seeking a highly organized and detail-oriented Project Administrator to support our Virginia and Metro DC projects. This role partners closely with Project Managers (PMs) in the setup, financial tracking, and administration of design and construction projects across public and private sector clients.

This position provides critical support in project budgeting, contract administration, subconsultant agreements, scheduling, and financial tracking. The ideal candidate is highly proficient in Excel, understands project cost structures, and is comfortable interpreting contracts, labor rates, and financial multipliers to support accurate project setup and ongoing financial management.

You may also serve as a point of contact with clients on administrative and contractual matters, ensuring accuracy, responsiveness, and consistency in project documentation and communication.

Responsibilities

Helps track logs for proposals, project contracts, subconsultant agreements, and amendments, including client approval and authorization status
• Assists PMs with creation and maintenance of the business development and project pipeline tracking
• Prepares contracts, subagreements, and contract amendments for PM and Managing Director review and signature
• Reviews contract documents for completeness, accuracy, and compliance with internal standards
• Coordinates with legal teams for review and preparation of contract terms and conditions
• Supports PMs in developing and maintaining project budgets, including labor, subconsultant, and expense allocations across project phases and tasks
• Interprets contract terms to support proper budget setup, including labor categories, billing rates, overhead, profit multipliers, rate escalations, and client-specific billing requirements
• Uses advanced Excel skills to prepare, structure, and maintain detailed project budgets, cost breakdowns, and financial tracking models
• Allocates and distributes budgets by task, phase, and resource type and inputs finalized data into systems of record
• Assists PMs with project schedules, milestones, and deliverable tracking
• Monitors project progress and prepares status reports for internal and external stakeholders
• Prepares client-facing documentation such as progress reports, cover letters, and administrative deliverables
• Schedules and coordinates internal and external project meetings to support collaboration across disciplines
• Maintains accurate and organized project records, ensuring documentation is complete, current, and compliant with company standards
• Ensures adherence to company policies, procedures, and applicable federal, state, and local regulations
• Maintains confidentiality of financial, contractual, and project information

Skills and Abilities

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel, including financial tracking, budget templates, and multi-tab workbooks
• Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Outlook, PowerPoint) and Adobe Acrobat
• Strong understanding of project financial structures, including labor rates, billing multipliers, cost allocations, and contract-based budgeting
• Experience maintaining and updating electronic project management and filing systems
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret contracts and translate requirements into financial and operational workflows
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills
• Strong customer service orientation with a focus on responsiveness and accuracy
• Highly organized with exceptional attention to detail and ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities
• Critical thinking and problem-solving skills with a proactive, solutions-oriented approach
• Ability to work independently while collaborating effectively with project teams and leadership

Qualifications

• 4+ years of project administration experience, preferably in the architecture, engineering, or construction industry
• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Experience supporting project management functions including budgeting, contracts, scheduling, and financial tracking
• Strong preference for candidates with experience managing project budgets in Excel and/or project accounting systems
• Experience working with both public and private sector clients preferred
• Familiarity with project financial concepts such as labor allocation, billing rates, overhead, and contract multipliers preferred
• Ability to support multiple projects across Virginia and Metro DC regions

Building what's next, together.

Our people make the difference. We foster a technology-empowered, peopledriven, futureready culture where agility, innovation, and collaboration shape how we work every day.

When you join VHB, you'll find:

• Meaningful work on complex projects with real community impact
• A collaborative, inclusive culture that values curiosity and shared success
• Support to grow your skills and lead through change
• Learning and development supported by evolving tools and technologies, including AI
• Best-in-class benefits and a flexible, hybrid work environment

We're growing across the East Coast and are consistently recognized as a great place to work. Ready to shape what's next? Learn more about what sets our employee experience apart and connect with us.

VHB is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Since our founding, we have intentionally fostered a culture of inclusion and belonging, supported by deep-rooted core values, one of which is diversity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law.

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