Standard Org Chart and Role Descriptions
Introduction
This job aid supports completion of the Human Resources Plan section of a Project Plan,
which calls for an organization chart and role descriptions for different team members.
If you are writing a Project Plan, this job aid provides some materials to get you started.
 The generic organization chart can be your starting point – just customize the
organization chart to reflect the size and structure of your project
 Like the organization chart, the role descriptions provided here can be customized to
develop role descriptions for project team members
 If you are unfamiliar with Project Sponsors, Steering Committees, Advisory
Committees, and Project Management Offices, some introductory information is
provided for basic orientation
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Standard Organization Chart for a Project
(Insert Name)
Project Sponsor
Steering Committee
(Insert Member Names
or Titles)
Advisory Committee
(Insert Member Names
or Titles and Orgs)
(Insert Name)
Project Manager
Project Management Office
(Insert Name of Team)
(Insert Name of Team)
(Insert Name)
PMO Lead
(Insert Name)
Team Lead
(Insert Name)
Team Lead
(Insert Name)
Administrative Assistant
(Insert Name)
Team Member
(Insert Name)
Team Member
(Insert Name)
Team Member
(Insert Name)
Team Member
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Example Organization Chart for a Project
Advisory Committee
Mr. R Al-Muhannadi, MOH
Mr. S Al Rashed, MOI
Ms. T Al-Sada, SEC
Mr. H Al-Rumaihi, SCFA
Mr. S AlAmmar, MOF
Shiekh Faisal Al-Thani
Secretary General
Project Sponsor
Steering Committee
Dr. M Al-Asiri, Director of Finance
Ms. A Al-Qadi, Director of HR
Mr. H Al-Humaidi, Director of IT
Mr. K Al-Mannai, Director of Policy
Dr. Nawal Al-Taweel
Project Manager
Project Management Office
Design Team
Research Team
Mr. Rashed Al-Ammari
PMO Lead
Ms. Hind Al-Naama
Design Team Lead
Dr. Hamad Al-Kulfi
Research Team Lead
Mrs. Hanna Gahl
Administrative Assistant
Ms. Sarah Al-Malki
Team Member
Mr. Jabor Al-Kuwari
Researcher
Mr. Ali Al-Kaabi
Team Member
Mr. Mohammed Al-Qadi
Researcher
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Sponsor
Sponsor Background:
The Project Sponsor is the manager or executive within
an organization who oversees a project and delegates
authority to the Project Manager.
Sponsor Characteristics:
 Generally provides the project budget
 Has sufficient authority to direct all the staff
involved in a project – or as many as possible
 Has sufficient authority or influence to get the
cooperation of key stakeholders
Sponsor Role Description:
 Approves Plan, Schedule, and Budget
 Ensures project is aligned with organizational
strategy and compliant with policy
 Ensures project makes good use of assets
 Maintains project focus on its goal and outcomes
 Verifies project progress against its Plan
 Monitors effectiveness of Project Manager
 Chairs the Steering Committee
 Approves final deliverables
 Removes any roadblocks to project success
 Approves significant changes to the project scope,
timeline, budget, or quality
 Communicates about the project inside the agency
and with external stakeholders
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Steering Committee
Steering Committee:
Steering Committee Role Description:
A group of senior managers responsible for business
issues affecting the project
 Ensures project is aligned with organizational
strategy and compliant with policy
They may:
 Ensures project makes good use of assets
 Have budget approval authority
 Assist with resolving strategic level issues and risks
 Make decisions about changes in goals and scope
 Approve or reject changes to the project with a high
impact on timelines and budget
 Be the highest authority to resolve issues or
disputes
 Assess project progress and report on project to
senior management and higher authorities
 Provide advice and guidance on business issues
facing the project
 Use influence and authority to assist the project in
achieving its outcomes
 Review and approve final project deliverables
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How do Sponsors and Steering
Committees “Govern” Projects?
What is Governance?
Oversight to ensure that Directors and Managers
 Act in the interests of the organization
 Are accountable for their use of assets
How is project governance carried out?
 Review project documents, such as Plans and
Status Reports, looking for evidence that the
project is in the interests of the organization and
uses assets responsibly
 In discussions and decisions, advocate for what
you believe is best for the organization and its
stakeholders
 Require that the Project Manager and team
demonstrate competence, ethics, and compliance
with organizational policy
Who can govern a project?
 Senior manager of the funding organization as a
SPONSOR
 Senior mangers of the funding organization or
stakeholder representatives as STEERING
COMMTITEE MEMBERS
Who cannot govern a project?
 Project Manager or other team member

They will not be seen as objective judges of
their own work and conduct
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Advisory Committee
Advisory Committee Background
An Advisory Committee is a group of people who
represent key project stakeholders and provide
advice to the Project.
Like Steering Committees, Advisory Committees
are generally made up of Managers – often quite
senior ones. Unlike Steering Committees,
Advisory Committees do not make decisions
regarding a project.
Advisory Committee Role
 Provide insights to the team regarding

Stakeholder interests

Technical advice

Other relevant initiatives
 Assist with resolving issues and risks
 Use influence and authority to assist the
project in achieving its outcomes
 Communicate about the project in their
organizations
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Role of a Project Manager
Project Manager Background
Project Manager Role Description
Project Managers have overall responsibility for meeting
project requirements within the agreed to time, cost,
scope and quality constraints outlined in the Project
Plan.
 Supervise and provide technical direction to project
team
Project Managers report to Project Sponsors, who have
delegated their authority to the Project Manager.
 Chair Advisory Committee meetings
 Provide weekly Project Status Reports to the
Project Sponsor
 Chair weekly team status meetings
 Chair Risk and Change Control Committees (if
these exist for a project)
 Attend Steering Committee meetings and prepare
supporting materials with the Project Sponsor
(agendas, presentations)
 Execute project management processes: risk,
issues, change, quality, and document management
 Ensure Project Plan, Schedule, and Budget are upto-date; detect and manage variances
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Team Lead
Team Lead Background
Team Lead Role Description
A Team Lead is a person responsible for managing one
part of a project, or a “subproject.” This position only
exists on larger projects.
 Supervise and provide technical direction to subteam members
Team Leads ideally have project management skills,
including human resource management, in addition to
relevant technical skills.
 Hold regular sub-team status meetings
 Review all sub-team deliverables
 Provide regular status reports to Project Manager
 Attend Team Lead meetings and Project Status
Meetings
 Manage and resolve team-level risks, issues, and
changes
 Ensure team is using the project management
processes outlined by the PMO in its Process Plans
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Team Member
Team Member Background
A person assigned to a team who is responsible for
performing some of the project activities.
Team members may:
 Report directly or indirectly to the project manager
 Be assigned to work part-time or full-time on the
project
Team Member Role Description
In your role description for a team members, list the:
 Major activities they will do
 Deliverables they will produce
You can list other responsibilities and expectations, such
as:
 Attendance at status meetings or other meetings
 Compliance with standards
 Participation in project management processes
such as risk, issue, and document management
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Why are PMOs are Needed on Large
Projects?
 Frees time of Project Manager to focus on

Priority risks

Priority issues

Stakeholder alignment

Technical challenges
 Ensures administrative tasks are completed

Projects often have trouble competing for the time of administrative support staff
in the permanent organization
 Brings Subject Matter Experts needed in larger, more complex projects

Financial management

Human resource management
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A PMO Can Have Two Roles
A PMO can have two roles: (i) project management support and (ii) administration. Every time a PMO is established,
it must define its role. Use the lists below as a checklist or menu to choose from when determining the role for your
PMO.
1. Project Management Role
2. Administrative Role
 Support Project Manager by helping:
 Maintain budget/bookkeeping
 Mobilize the team (project start up)
 Process expenses
 Write and update PM deliverables:
 Arrange travel

Project Definition Document
 Manage facilities

Project Plan, Schedule, Budget
 Procure supplies and equipment

Project Manual
 Manage contracts

Status Reports
 Manage documents – filing project deliverables,
meeting minutes, contracts, logs
 Manage project management processes:

Risk management

Issue management

Change control

Quality management

Document management

Configuration management

Project evaluation
 Support and track approvals
 Support status meeting for team, Steering and
Advisory Committee – facilities, agenda, minutes
 Managing HR -- recruiting, orienting, and arranging
training for team members, keeping vacation
schedules, conducting exit interviews
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Project Management Office (PMO) Lead
PMO Lead Background
The PMO Lead supervises the team that provides
project management and administrative support to the
Project Manager.
The PMO should have strong project management
technical skills, including the human resources
management skills to supervise others working in the
PMO effectively.
PMO Lead Role Description
To construct the PMO Lead role description:
 Select from the menu of potential PMO
responsibilities on the “PMOs Have Two Roles”
slide
 If the PMO has a team working in it, include the
responsibilities found in the “Team Leader” slide
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Other Project Role Descriptions 1 of 2
Project Director
The Project Director reports to the Project Sponsor and
supervises the Project Manager. This position is
normally held by a senior manager with responsibility for
more than one project.
It is common to use Project Directors when the Project
Manager is an External Consultant.
Responsibilities are as follows:
 Oversee projects and work of Project Manager
 Ensure integration of project with other projects
and organizational priorities
Change Control Committee
A committee responsible for approving or rejecting
changes to the Project Plan. It is typically seen on IT
projects, and members typically represent program and
project management; software and hardware
engineering; testing; documentation; customer support;
and marketing.
Responsibilities are as follows:
 Review and approve the Change Control Plan
 Ensure the change control process is executed
effectively
 Review changes and make decisions within the
limits of authority (re budget and timeline)
 Escalate changes to senior management that
require decisions above the committee’s level of
authority
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Other Project Role Descriptions 2 of 2
Risk Manager
Risk Control Committee
The Risk Manager reports either to the Project Manager
or PMO Lead and takes responsibility for executing the
risk management process for a project. This role is
usually only seen on large and sensitive projects.
A committee responsible for overseeing and
participating in the project’s risk management process.
Members should have business knowledge relevant to
the project and should represent key stakeholders.
Responsibilities are as follows:
Responsibilities are as follows:
 Identifying risks
 Review and approve the Risk Management Plan
 Analyzing (quantifying and prioritizing) risks
 Ensure the Risk Management Plan is executed
effectively
 Planning responses to risks
 Ensures response plans are executed
 Documenting and tracking risks
 Assist with identification of risks
 Advise on how to respond to risks
 Writing Contingency Plans
 Involving the team and external stakeholders in
the process as required
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