Project managers coordinate tasks to complete a plan of action for their employer. Working on a team, the project manager oversees production from the planning stages through completion. Companies typically have project managers on staff, but some businesses may choose to hire an independent contractor to handle the job. As a project manager, you create plans, delegate responsibilities, supervise employees, and implement the project. Other job duties include creating a timeline and budget; once the project is underway, you monitor each step to ensure the project runs on time and does not overspend. You may also be responsible for handling communication with public agencies when necessary and providing status reports to upper management.

Project managers oversee a project from start to finish. They meet with upper management and their project team before the project begins to establish expectations and goals, set timelines, and review budgets. Once the project starts, project managers delegate tasks and monitor the staff's progress on a daily basis, and discusses accomplishments and setbacks with their team regularly. They remind employees of their roles and what tasks they need to complete. This oversight ensures the project meets deadlines and budgets, and also allows the project manager to handle problems as they arise. Excellent leadership and both written and verbal communication skills are essential to the job.

A PMO consultant provides project management office services for a company or organization. As a PMO consultant, your job duties include helping set project strategy and goals, developing standards and processes, and advising team members on projects needs and weaknesses. You may also track project progress, identify and manage resources, and implement documentation procedures. A career as a PMO consultant typically requires a bachelor’s degree in business administration or a related field and extensive work experience in a project management role. You may also pursue voluntary certification to demonstrate your expertise to potential employers. Additional qualifications include excellent communication, analytical, and organizational skills.

A project executive is the head of a company’s project management team, responsible for implementing strategic planning and monitoring the progress of ongoing projects. As a project executive, your job duties are to evaluate staff, assess project progress against timelines and budget considerations, prepare regular reports for senior management to inform staffing decisions and project priorities, and check in with clients regarding project specifications and their expectations. To pursue a career as a project executive, you need 10 to 15 years of experience in project management and leadership roles.

A change management consultant helps a business minimize any effects that changes in business strategy or company structure may have on employee performance. Job duties include training and preparing employees for these changes that might impact their productivity. They usually travel to a site to work with clients, although some employers have a change management consultant on staff. They may also work with managers and other departments on developing new implementation strategies.

A project controls manager oversees construction and engineering projects to make sure the team makes progress and meets goals. As a project controls manager, your duties include project planning, scheduling planning meetings and progress check-ins, estimating and monitoring project costs, sticking to a budget, and reviewing project quality compared to the desired objective. Your responsibilities include collaborating with project managers, crew leaders, superintendents, and engineering professionals working on the project. You must also develop or update operating policies for team communication and safety and risk mitigation.

A project director handles all aspects of project management for a business or organization. As a project director, your job duties may include hiring members of project teams and project managers, negotiating with contractors and vendors, overseeing budget allocations for multiple projects, making sure projects stay on schedule, and checking in with project managers regarding client and stakeholder meetings. You may also meet with management to pitch project proposals and explain how ongoing or future projects align with business goals.

A PMO manager coordinates the operation of a PMO, or a product management office. Job duties include overseeing the office, which provides technical support and helps an organization develop a strategy for completing IT projects. They ensure that all work is done quickly and according to best business practices as well as internal company policies. Career qualifications of a PMO manager often include post-secondary education in business administration or a subject related to the specific field you want to work in, and work experience.

A global project manager supervises team collaboration to ensure project completion across national and international boundaries. As a global project manager, your job duties include coordinating efforts from team members in different time zones and countries, handling issues such as cultural differences and language barriers, publishing regular updates, and using technology to keep the team connected. The qualifications for a career as a global project manager include a bachelor’s degree in business management, international relations, or a relevant field to your industry. It’s also preferable to have experience leading teams and working with foreign associates as well as excellent interpersonal skills.

A senior project manager oversees work on projects from the initial idea phase through to completion. In large companies, a senior project manager supervises junior and mid-level project managers who are directly involved with ongoing projects. A senior project manager serves as a liaison between different departments and outside vendors and suppliers. Other senior project manager duties include troubleshooting problems and ensuring that projects adhere to timelines and budgets.

A PMO lead is a project management professional who is responsible for monitoring, reporting, and overseeing projects or accounts at a company or organization. A PMO lead works within the project management office (PMO) and provides guidance and support to executives, project managers, and staff. As a PMO lead, your duties may involve tracking the status of projects, monitoring for adherence to PMO standards, and handling financial reports. To pursue a career as a PMO lead, you typically need at least a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field and extensive work experience in a similar role. Some employers prefer candidates with a master’s degree and professional certification. Additional qualifications include excellent interpersonal and managerial skills, as well as proven expertise in project management.

A scrum master is an information technology (IT) professional who helps manage information exchange among their team in an Agile environment. A scrum master is not the leader of a team. They are the facilitator of exchanges and interactions with the team. They help build consensus regarding next steps on the team, keep everyone on task following the agreed upon rules, and do everything they can to maximize the team’s performance.

A project management consultant, or PM consultant, provides support for strategic planning, financial planning, and organizational or operational goals. As a project management consultant, your employer is a consulting firm, and you work with client companies and organizations on a contract basis. Your job duties include meeting with clients to identify their objectives and needs, formulating a project plan to accomplish goals, and overseeing the progress of your client’s project teams. You participate in check-in meetings and status updates, providing feedback and suggestions to help the project stay on track.

Agile project management is an approach to software development that emphasizes incremental steps and efficient communication methods. An Agile project manager utilizes this philosophy to oversee a team of software developers and designers. In this role, your job duties involve coordinating the different development teams, as well as organizing and executing "sprints." Sprints are plans to complete pieces of the project, such as specific tasks or solving a problem. You also ensure each stage of the project meets deadlines and does not exceed the budget. Agile managers are sometimes known as Scrum masters; Scrum is a methodology that uses the Agile approach.

PMO stands for Project or Program Management Office, a department that oversees projects in a company. A PMO analyst tracks data that streams through the department and ensures that every phase of company projects run smoothly. As a PMO analyst, you examine reported data and determine whether or not the procedures used at the company should be improved to increase efficiency. You also monitor expenses to ensure projects stay within budget. Many who have several years of experience in project management move into this management position.

As a healthcare project manager, your duties are to coordinate and manage healthcare projects, monitor operations, train team members, and report to other clinicians and healthcare professionals. You may oversee many different types of projects, such as hospital construction, changing supply vendors, developing strategies to improve a hospital’s emergency response rates or customer approval, or transitioning a healthcare facility to using new software or electronic records systems. You also have significant supervisory responsibilities and must keep multiple teams on track throughout a project.

A financial project manager plans and administers finance-related projects. Your duties include building teams for projects through hiring or internal promotion, consulting with managers and stakeholders to determine the scheduling, budget, and scope of the projects, and preparing the team to begin. During projects, your responsibilities include tracking progress, preparing reports for other members of the company, and ensuring the project remains within the budget.

An eDiscovery project manager drives the process of eDiscovery, which involves identifying, collecting, and producing electronically stored information (ESI). Electronic discovery can be complicated because it includes both data and metadata. These professionals most commonly work with law firms in litigation to help process complex data. As an eDiscovery project manager, your duties include closely following the Electronic Discovery Resources Model (EDRM), which is a guideline for the process of recovering and discovering data. Other responsibilities include serving as a liaison between clients and firms and retrieving documents valuable to a case.

A supply chain project manager oversees projects that deal with manufacturing operations and raw materials procurement. In this role, you develop plans for the purchase of goods, monitor tasks pertaining to supply issues on behalf of the company, and oversee the implementation of new technologies for inventory management. Many supply chain project managers also negotiate with wholesalers and other suppliers to ensure their company gets the best quality materials at a fair price. You also need to ensure you receive the correct amount of materials you order and examine the quality of the items to make sure they meet company standards.

A PMP project manager is an experienced project manager who has earned the Project Management Professional certification. The Project Management Institute (PMI) issues this credential. Typical job duties of a PMP project manager involve assigning tasks, monitoring progress, maintaining a budget, and communicating with clients. The main career qualifications, aside from certification, include project management experience and communication skills.

It’s an international project manager’s job to coordinate the efforts of cross-functional teams over broad geographic regions to ensure they deliver results in a timely fashion. As an international project manager, you oversee employees who work in different countries and regularly obtain status updates of a project’s progress. Your responsibilities are to make sure that the activities of your team lie within your company’s budget and schedule, and to report progress to upper management. You also have a role in the initiation of projects, such as determining how much of a financial risk they incur and whether the possible benefits outweigh these risks.

A project leader is similar to a project manager in that they both provide support to carry out tasks to complete a project. As a project leader, you guide and motivate the team throughout the entire project, tracking the progress of tasks, monitoring goals, and reviewing information for compliance. Where a project manager takes on duties like budgeting and scheduling, a project leader uses this information to enhance the project and help execute the work. You may also complete detailed reports, test prototypes, and attend planning meetings. This career requires keen attention to detail, the ability to analyze data, and a willingness to help the team resolve any issues.

An electrical project manager works to oversee the electrical aspects of a project. In this career, your duties often take place on construction sites. Your responsibilities may include working with various contractors involved in the project to coordinate jobs and schedules. You delegate tasks, source materials, and create an operations budget based on the needs of the client and the construction plans. You must create an overall plan or program to present to clients. You need the electrical engineering skills to troubleshoot and solve problems when other members of the team cannot.

A project officer is responsible for the administrative and organizational aspects of project management. As a project officer, your primary objective is to ensure the project’s success. It’s your job to set up meetings with the project manager and the project board, who oversee the big picture including the project’s budget and strategic goals. You must take detailed meeting minutes and share information and documents with key players who are unable to attend a meeting. Your duties also include documenting project developments, monitoring potential risks, and motivating the project team to meet deadlines.

A requirements analyst determines the needs of a project, acting as a liaison between managers, stakeholders, and software development teams. Job duties are to analyze requirements for a project, reconcile conflicting interests, and determine how to translate the designer’s vision into a plan that can be implemented by developers. Qualifications for this job include a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a similar field, experience in software production or programming, and business skills.

A manufacturing project manager works for a manufacturing business and oversees projects for the company’s clients. As a manufacturing project manager, you use project management skills to coordinate project timelines, schedules, and equipment, as well as ensure that safety guidelines are met and potential risks are eliminated. You may also provide project status reports to clients and handle any changes to project plans. The qualifications for a career as a manufacturing project manager typically include a bachelor’s degree in business, engineering, or a related field, as well as project management experience. Helpful skills for this job include strong organizational, critical thinking, and communication abilities.

A commercial project manager oversees commercial investment projects. As a commercial project manager, you identify business opportunities, develop the goals of the project, negotiate contracts, and monitor staff to ensure the project is completed on time, within budget, and is fully compliant with all applicable laws and regulations. You most commonly find commercial project managers in the real estate and construction industries. The qualifications to become a commercial project manager include a bachelor’s degree in business or project management and several years of industry experience.