Project Assistant

Virginia Tech•Blacksburg, VA

About The Position

Support VTTI’s research programs by providing project coordination and research assistance across multiple projects with varying complexity and performance periods. Working under project managers, the Project Assistant supports day-to-day coordination, communication, documentation, scheduling, budgeting, data gathering, data reduction and analysis, and follow-up activities. The primary focus is project coordination and administrative support, with a secondary focus on research, information gathering, and basic analysis. The position offers opportunities to develop foundational project management skills and contribute to research, analysis, and materials that support project planning and decision-making. Work relates to vehicle technologies and other areas of transportation policy and technology intended to improve convenience and safety for drivers. The position requires a driver's license check and criminal conviction check, occasional travel, and willingness to work some nights and weekends. The average schedule is 30 hours per week, with flexibility to increase to 40 hours during high-volume periods; hours are adjusted during slower periods to maintain the 30-hour weekly average.

Requirements

Demonstrated project coordination experience conducting projects in an academic or research environment.
Demonstrated experience with MS Office software, including Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint.
Ability to identify and apply practical solutions to routine challenges, communicate effectively, and work independently and collaboratively.
Ability to coordinate multiple tasks and administrative duties.
Evidence of effective documentation habits.
Must be willing to work some nights and weekends.
Must be willing to travel sporadically.
Must have a driver's license check and a criminal conviction check.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Business Management or a related field.
Internship, coursework, volunteer experience, or previous employment involving project coordination, research, program support, business operations, or administration.
Experience with business-oriented software applications, including Power BI, Power Apps, and Teams.
Experience preparing professional reports, presentations, meeting materials, or summaries.
Experience using spreadsheets to organize or analyze information.

Responsibilities

Assist project managers and project teams with coordination and execution of assigned projects and initiatives.
Track and maintain project schedules, task lists, action items, and status updates.
Monitor project expenditures, resources, timelines, and contractual obligations to help deliver projects on time and within budget.
Complete day-to-day fiscal activities, including personnel labor allocations, procurement activities, and monthly expenditure reviews.
Organize and attend project meetings and prepare meeting notes and action-item summaries.
Support communication and coordination among project team members and stakeholders.
Document, organize, and disseminate project records, communications, and milestones.
Help prepare reports, presentations, spreadsheets, proposals, and other project materials.
Identify routine issues, missing information, or potential delays and raise them with the project manager or appropriate staff member.
Interact with research faculty on project execution tasks, including data collection, data reduction, and data analysis.
Assist with research tasks as needed, including human-subjects coordination, preparing experimental settings, supporting data collection, maintaining records, supporting data quality assurance, and contributing to data reduction and analysis.
Adhere to applicable data security, confidentiality, and research compliance requirements.