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Project Roles

A project role defines what a member can do within a specific project. Members can have different roles in different projects — for example, a senior engineer might be a Project Admin in their primary project and a Reviewer in three other projects they support.

Role overview​

RoleForKey capability
project_adminProject managers, lead document controllersFull project control
initiatorDocument controllers, engineers who submit documentsCreate, upload, send, start workflows
reviewerTechnical reviewers, approval authoritiesRespond to assigned workflow steps
viewerStakeholders, clients, read-only auditorsRead-only access to all project content

project_admin​

The Project Admin has full control over the project — they can do everything an Initiator can do, plus manage the project itself.

Capabilities:

  • All Initiator capabilities
  • Invite and manage project team members
  • Configure project settings (metadata, mail, storage)
  • Create, edit, and activate workflow templates
  • Configure the review matrix
  • Create and manage access control groups
  • Create and revoke guest shares
  • View and export the audit log
  • Cancel, recall, reassign, and terminate any workflow
  • Lock/unlock documents and set confidentiality
  • Archive and close projects

When to assign: The lead document controller, project manager, or PMO representative who owns the project's document management setup.

initiator​

The Initiator is the primary working role for team members who produce and submit documents.

Capabilities:

  • Upload documents and create document records
  • Start new workflow instances from active templates
  • Send correspondence (RFI, NCR, TQ, General) and manage responses
  • Create and issue transmittals
  • Manage work packages
  • View reports and analytics
  • View the project team and their roles
  • View all non-confidential documents, correspondence, and transmittals in the project

Cannot do:

  • Manage project settings or member roles
  • Create or edit workflow templates
  • Configure review matrix rules
  • Lock or set confidentiality on documents (unless manage_documents permission is overridden)
  • View the audit log

When to assign: Document controllers, engineers, and project coordinators who regularly upload and submit documents for review.

reviewer​

The Reviewer is for team members whose primary interaction is responding to workflow steps.

Capabilities:

  • View and respond to workflow steps assigned to them (approve, review, acknowledge, sign, delegate)
  • View documents linked to their assigned steps
  • View reports
  • View project content (documents, correspondence, transmittals) in read mode
  • Leave comments on workflow steps and items

Cannot do:

  • Upload documents or create document records
  • Start workflow instances
  • Send correspondence or create transmittals
  • Manage project settings

When to assign: Technical reviewers, approval authorities, specialist consultants who respond to submissions but don't produce documents themselves.

viewer​

The Viewer has read-only access to all non-confidential project content.

Capabilities:

  • View all documents, revisions, and document activity (non-confidential)
  • View all correspondence and transmittals
  • View workflow instances and their history
  • View reports
  • Download documents

Cannot do:

  • Upload, create, or edit any content
  • Respond to workflow steps
  • Send correspondence or transmittals
  • Access confidential documents (unless in an appropriate Access Control Group)

When to assign: Client stakeholders, auditors, regulatory inspectors, or any party who needs to monitor project progress without contributing content.

Assigning project roles​

  1. Go to the project.
  2. Open the Team tab.
  3. Click Add Member to invite a new member to the project, or click an existing member's role to change it.
  4. Select the project role.
  5. Save.

Role changes take effect immediately. Members see new permissions on their next page load.

Default roles​

When a new member joins the organisation, they are assigned the default organisation role (configured in org settings). When added to a project without a specified role, they are assigned the default project role (also configurable in org settings).

Check Settings → Security → Default Roles to see and change the defaults.

What's next​