Project Manager Job Description

A project manager controls the different efforts or projects of the enterprise, monitors their development and completion, and assures that they satisfy the client’s expectations. However, generally, a project manager does not have to carry out the real-time tasks of a project; they should have a degree related to the different aspects of the project.

The job description of a project manager varies from IT project manager to Construction Project Manager or junior project manager. So, job description plays a crucial role for a project manager. Thus, we have designed this project manager job description blog to help you master all the roles and responsibilities of a project manager. It also tells you the project manager's role in making a successful project.

Project Manager Job Description - Table of Contents

• What is Project Manager?
• Project Manager Job Description
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Skills
• Qualifications and Requirements
• Certifications
• Salary
• Companies That Hire Project Managers
• How To Take Project Management Skills To Next Level?
• Project Manager FAQs
• Conclusion

What is Project Manager?

A project manager is a professional who drives the team using the project life cycle by budgeting, planning, tracking, and scheduling the plan. The project plan completely describes how the project will be implemented and includes the budget, schedule, roles, timeline, and responsibilities, among other things. 

To make a project successful, project managers require proper tools. Project Manager enables the project managers to plan, track, and schedule their projects in real-world tools like Gantt Charts, Project Dashboards, and Kanban boards. They ensure that the project is good and report daily on its growth and monitor it to ensure that its execution remains within the approved schedules and budget.

If you want to enrich your career and become a professional in Project Management, then enroll in "PMP Certification Training". This course will help you to achieve excellence in this domain.

Project Manager Job Description

A project manager plays a vital role in successfully completing any program or projects your enterprise is doing. Their regular responsibilities contain coordinating projects with the business objectives, building work plans, handling teams, achieving teams, and giving the results to the stakeholders. 

A project manager is responsible for allocating and planning resources, monitoring progress, preparing budgets, and keeping stakeholders advised across the project lifecycle. Several projects, like information technology, human resources, marketing, and construction, need project managers. Project Manager roles and responsibilities may vary from one project to another. Actually, it differs as per the industry and company size. But these are the most general project manager duties for any company:

• Assure every project is delivered on time in the prescribed budget and time.
• Guide the beginning and planning of the project and ensure the technical possibility.
• Assure the resource allocation and availability.
• Build a thorough plan for tracking and monitoring the project's progress.
• Collaborate with external and internal parties for the perfect execution of projects.
• Handle the relationships between stakeholders and clients.
• Assess the project performance through proper project management tools.
• Carry out the risk management analysis for reducing the project risks.
• Reporting and escalating the upper management as and when required.
• Creating and Maintaining extensive project documentation.

[Related Article: Assistant Project Manager Job Description]

Project Manager Roles and Responsibilities

A project manager’s responsibility is to handle a project or various projects in an organization. They are responsible for planning, monitoring, budgeting, and reporting the project with the utilization of different project management tools like Lean Six Sigma and Blockchain. Sometimes, they may have to give the project idea and drive it until its completion.

The main responsibility of a project manager is to connect the upper management and people responsible for project execution. They require to ensure that the project works smoothly and works on schedule. 

Responsibility #1. Planning and Developing the Project Idea

Every project starts with an idea. A project manager will identify the concept and develop the procedure to implement it in coordination with the internal stakeholders and external clients. Setting and Handling the Client Expectations, building the extensive project plan, allocating the duties, and specifying the scope of the project to the members who are part of the project manager's responsibilities.

Responsibility #2. Developing and Leading the Team of your Dreams

Project Managers control the team for satisfying the client’s vision and achieving or exceeding expectations. They are accountable for bringing together and handling their team for creating a loaded project machine. Establishing the team for success needs a project manager to provide guidelines, guidance, or training as and when required.

Responsibility #3. Resource Management

good funds for the project is the responsibility of the project manager. After getting the funds and creating the budget, a project manager has to keep the project within that budget. If the project exceeds the budget, the project will be considered as a project failure.

Responsibility #4. Time Management

Time is consistently clocking toward the project deadline. Although the interaction is essential for handling the changes and assuring that everyone is doing what they have to do, the project manager should also define, plan, and precisely predict the task span for developing and maintaining a realistic project schedule.

Responsibility #5. Stakeholder Management

You must deliver to your stakeholders what they want and ensure they are pleased with the output. But that does not mean neglecting them to concentrate on the project. Instead, you must continuously interact with them, report progress, and collect feedback.

Responsibility #6. Progress Monitoring

To ensure that the project is progressing as per the schedule, you should continuously assess it and compare the metrics against the created plan. It is vital to collect the project data, like status reports from the team, for seeing if the progress of the project is fulfilled what you had planned originally.

Responsibility #7. Reporting and Documentation

Reporting is the best way to communicate with your team and stakeholders. Although teams require thorough information and stakeholders are trying for wider data for checking the progress of the project, both are crucial for the project manager. The documentation and paperwork must be gathered, accepted, and stored by the project end, which offers a history that is useful in the future.

Responsibility #8. Establish a Deadline and Monitor the Project's Progress

The responsibilities of a project manager include project planning and execution. A project manager should continuously examine how the project is progressing. The project manager handles everything from developing the project deadline of the project completion to getting the activities finished within the assigned parameters. 

Responsibility #9. Identifying and Resolving the Issues

All the projects will have problems that have to be resolved. It is the responsibility of the project manager to anticipate the issues before they arise because it is their responsibility to handle problems when they arise. The capability to adjust and resolve problems is crucial for controlling the project.

Responsibility #10. Managing the Financial Resources

Another essential responsibility of a project manager is to handle the budget. The project managers should ensure the project is finished efficiently within the budget. A project manager will be an expert at cost-effectiveness. Project managers should be open and honest about costs, so clients know what they have to expect.

Project Manager Skills

There is no particular skill for project managers that suits all. For leading a project, a project manager has to be skilled in all fields - from technology to human resources. Thus, it is a complicated but lucrative field. Some of the most desirable skills that a project manager should have:

• An in-depth understanding of risk management processes and real-world scenarios.
• Good Management skills.
• Demonstrated Team-Management and Self-Management skills.
• Expertise in controlling and monitoring project budgets.
• Aptitude to make decisions under pressure.

A project manager also should have good communication and social skills. Their responsibilities will span from co-workers, supervisors, and team leaders. They will be the first person everyone looks at whenever any problem occurs.

[ Check out Top Project Management Methodologies ]

Project Manager Qualifications and Requirements

Almost Every project manager will start their career as a software engineer, sales representative, or marketing expert. Generally, a successful project manager will have more than five years in the related field with various conventional qualifications for a project manager. Some of the essential capabilities of a project manager are:

• Communication Skills
• Leadership and Problem-Solving Skills
• PMP Certifications
• Expertise in Risk Management, Change Management, and Strategic Planning
• Understanding of project management tools
• Conflict Resolution Experience
• Contract Negotiation
• IT and Business Strategy Experience
• Customer-Focused
• Working with stakeholders.

Project Manager Requirements

All project managers must have business skills, budgeting, analysis, and management. You must be a fantastic communicator and able to handle multiple tasks. Some other requirements are:

• Demonstrated experience in project management.
• Great internal communication and client-facing skills.
• Good Verbal and Written communication skills.
• Good enterprise skills like multitasking and attention to detail skills.
• Excellent Knowledge of Microsoft Office.
• PMP (Project Management Professional) / PRINCE II Certification.
• Bachelor’s Degree in a relevant field or similar working experience.

Project Manager Certifications

PMP(Project Manager Professional) certification is a well-known certification in project management. The following are the primary project management certifications provided by PMI:

• Project Management Professional (PMP): This certification validates your agile and waterfall project management skills. It will be provided by the Project Management Insitute(PMI) and establishes the standards for project management. The PMBOK standards and guide include important guidelines and features for project management. 

So, the PMBOK guide acts as the main study resource, but you can also use other materials that concentrate on the PMP certification exam. This exam includes 200 MCQs and needs three years of experience as a project manager.

• Agile Certifications: Agile Certifications are suitable for project managers who want to be in agile environments as agile value stream consultants, agile certified practitioners, and Scrum Master.
• Certified Associate in Project Management: This project management certification is the first step in getting the PMP certification. Different employers identify it for subordinate project positions.
• Program Management Professional: As the name indicates, this certification suits those who want to become project managers. Project Managers are designated to handle the group of closely associated projects that are part of the program.
• Portfolio Management Professional: The project management training will enable you to apply for the project management responsibilities that need handling multiple projects at a time.

Project Manager Salary

Project Managers are very skillful with a good skill set, and because of that, they will get high salaries. In the United States, the average salary of a Project Manager is $93K. Depending on the skills and the industry, a project manager's salary can range from $35k to $231k per annum.

Learn Top Project Management Interview Questions and Answers that help you grab high paying jobs

Companies That Hire Project Managers

Following are the top companies that hire project managers:

• Accenture
• IBM
• Wipro
• Tech Mahindra
• Tata Consultancy Services
• Capgemini
• HCLTech
• Honeywell
• DXC Technology
• Oracle.

How To Take Your Project Management Skills To The Next Level?

Project Management is a steady career choice. Well-qualified and experienced professionals always manage projects. Many people enter the profession and continue there because it is a high-paying and rewarded job. 

But many of us will make the error of being more comfortable. Our career deteriorates when we make this error and reach a dead end. If you are sensing that your project management career has stopped, go through the following tips to improve your project management career:

1. Identify the Options Available

You will have a lot of options to advance your project manager career. A project manager imparts plenty of conversible skills, and the more experience you have, the more worthwhile you are. Don’t hesitate to take an exciting turn in your project management career.

You can get the opportunity to teach others how to manage projects, and you can be a freelancer or consultant, or professional trainer.

2. Discover the Sector or Industry

If you want a new role or promotion, search for the industry or sector. Different sectors and industries need additional qualifications and experience. There are some specified variations from industry to industry; thus, it is good to do research. 

For example, if you want a project management job in the technology sector, like engineering, you should have a related degree. Similarly, some industries also require it.

3. Build a Career Plan

When you know what kind of role and what type of industry you want, you should build a career development plan. The Career development plan will be simple, and it will include your personal career goals and how to achieve them. You can set time limits for achieving every part of it. 

4. Improve Your Soft Skills

Every project manager requires soft skills. You should be a definitive leader with excellent organizational, communication, and problem-solving skills. So, it is crucial that we exhibit these qualities in interviews.

Potential clients, Partners, or Employers will want to see your qualifications. Thus, if you feel your soft skills are weak, you have to improve them.

5. Acquire Professional Certification

There are various professional project management qualifications. While browsing the jobs, you can see that PRINCE2 or agile methods knowledge is required. Moreover, some roles need APM or PMP qualifications.

PMP, APM, and PRINCE2 are famous in all sectors, while agile qualifications are general in the creative or IT industries. In any event, acquiring professional certification demonstrates that you have the understanding and will help you advance your career.

6. Using Social Media to Develop a Role

As the project manager, you should understand project management tools in-depth. To improve your career, you must have a solid social media network to find the latest opportunities. Social Media Platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter are helpful for this.

On Twitter and LinkedIn, you can share your knowledge and opinions. On LinkedIn, you can exhibit your achievements and link with your employers, colleagues, organizations, and others in your sector.

7. Evade Awkwardness While Networking

Networking occasions are always uncomfortable. But, it is crucial to attend and take part. For reducing the awkwardness, we can identify some key participants in advance. In that way, we can simply meet them when we know a bit about each other. 

8. Get Some Rest

It can be miserable when we feel our career is unproductive. When we are stuck on track at work, it is vital to recognize that there is a world outside the profession. Take a break and stay positive, which is very important while planning to build networking and apply for jobs.

9. Look Into Other Fields

If you feel the project management is not your thing, then look at some other options. Find a promising career that involves challenges, rewards, and growth.

Most Common Project Manager FAQs

1. What does a Project Manager do?

The project manager's role is to manage the daily activities of a project. It should be an expert in handling the six aspects of the project, i.e., schedule, finance, quality, risk, scope, and resources.

2. How to become a Project Manager?

Follow these steps to become a project manager:

• Understand the project management skills that you already have
• Develop Project Management Experience
• Build Project Management Skills
• Improve your Project Management Resume
• Search for entry-level positions
• Crack the Project Management certifications.

3. What are the requirements of a Project Manager?

Generally, the project manager's requirements include three years of relevant experience, communication skills, PMP certification, and training.

4. What do project managers do on a daily basis?

The daily activities of a project manager include procurement, planning, execution, and completion of the project. The project manager is responsible for the entire project and handles every aspect of the project.

5. What makes a good project manager?

A project manager will be called a good project manager when he understands and knows the market and the sector of the projects. A project manager must analyze the competition and assess the alternatives.

6. Who does a project manager work with?

A project manager works with PMO Administrator, Programme Manager, Portfolio Manager, PMO manager, and Project coordinator. 

7. Is Project Manager a promising career?

Yes, Project Manager is a good and rewarding career selection that provides huge salaries and variety in the workplace. It is also the most in-demand profession.

Conclusion

Project Manager's responsibility is to manage the project activities like budget control, resource management, time management, stakeholder management, etc. Apart from a formal degree, we need relevant experience and certifications to become a project managers. I hope this Project Manager job description blog helps you get familiarised with all the activities of the Project Management. If you have any queries, let us know by commenting below.