What Does an IT Project Manager Do?
A large IT department often has multiple projects running at once, and it needs project managers (PM) to take charge of them. The project manager is responsible for planning and overseeing projects and ensuring they’re finished on time and on budget. They designate the resources needed, create the budget to match the scope, and keep stakeholders informed about the project’s progress. A PM must ensure that their team works coherently and swiftly to accomplish their goals.
An IT project manager needs to have some technical expertise to form a basis for their planning process on projects. However, many companies value skills like leadership, budgeting, and a knowledge of different project and program management methodologies over pure technical skills. Project managers are essential for an organization to complete both large and smaller-scale projects in a timely, organized, and efficient fashion.
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National Average Salary
IT project manager salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for an IT Project Manager is:
$121,300
IT Project Manager Job Descriptions
Crafting the perfect job description may be the key to finding an exceptional IT project manager. To help you with your recruiting search, our team has put together some examples from past openings.
Example 1
IT project managers oversee technical projects from end to end, including the planning, organization, and implementation stages. They work with internal and external stakeholders to ensure the project meets customer requirements and company goals. IT project managers need strong leadership and management skills, excellent communication skills, and extensive knowledge of hardware, operating systems, and networks. [Your Company Name] is hiring an experienced IT project manager to revolutionize our IT department and projects. If you have experience organizing, conducting, planning, and implementing technical projects, you might be a perfect fit for a role as an IT project manager.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Coordinate internal resources and third parties/vendors for the flawless execution of projects
- Ensure resource availability and allocation
- Perform risk management to minimize project risks
- Measure project performance using appropriate tools and techniques
- Coordinate cross-project activities
- Develop and control deadlines, budgets, and activities
Education and experience
This position requires a bachelor’s degree in management or a related field. Employers prefer job candidates who have a master’s degree as well as Project Management Professional (PMP) certification.
Required skills and qualifications
- Excellent client-facing and internal communication skills
- Strong working knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- Solid organizational skills including attention to detail and multitasking skills
- Thorough understanding of project/program management techniques and methods
- Working knowledge of program/project management software (Basecamp, MS Project, etc.)
Preferred qualifications
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills
- Excellent analytical skills
- Commitment to excellence and high standards
- Ability to manage priorities and increased workflow
- Acute attention to detail
- Demonstrated ability to plan and organize complex projects
Example 2
Responsibilities
- Developing and maintaining detailed project schedule, budget, and monitoring expenditures
- Developing and maintaining all required project management artifacts following guidelines
- Managing scope, resources, timelines, costs/budget, quality, communication, and procurements to meet the goals of the State
- Working closely with the team conducting alternative analysis and writing documentation
- Working with vendors to manage deliverables to ensure that all the milestones are met
- Ensuring that project plans and schedules are established and maintained, ensuring that deliverables are completed timely and accurately
- Establishing project governance, conducting formal presentations, coordinating with all project stakeholders, and ensuring that appropriate project controls are instituted
- Working with personnel within the Section’s teams and the Information Technology team that are responsible for the systems to develop necessary project management, change management, risk management, rollout, and training plans. To the extent possible, integrate this project into the existing governance processes for the systems to ensure alignment of priorities and minimal disruption to ongoing operations and other required deliverables
- Working with cross-functional business teams to develop Stakeholder communication plans to train and/or reach the 85 local agencies, 1700 retailers, and 253,000 program participants
- Working with the technical team to ensure technical readiness during implementation
- Developing and maintaining all required State CIO project documentation
- This position will be responsible for working with senior-level business executives, IT personnel, business program resources, and Vendor staff to execute project requirements and manage stakeholder expectations
Knowledge and skills
- Results-oriented individual
- Very strong work ethic
- Must be able to demonstrate excellent IT Project Management, negotiation, communication, and problem-solving skills
- Capable of leading effective project meetings that are tailored to the audience
- Ability to create simple to complex project plans, timelines, and work breakdown structures using project management tools
- Must have proficiency in project management, different project management methodologies
- Must have strategic planning skills with good understanding of roadmap development
- Ability to write and present effective project materials, including presentations, and status reports
- Ability to work effectively with all levels of staff, clients, and other IT personnel
- Proven experience with working collaboratively with business/program partners
- Ability to effectively identify and resolve system or business process/project issues
- Ability to build, influence, lead, and motivate effective teams towards end results
- Flexibility, adaptability, and ability to work in a high-demand dynamic environment
- Strong analytical skills
- Strong written and oral communication skills, including development of project
- Understanding of the fundamentals of data conversion activities
- Experience in facilitating release planning
Required skills
- 7 Years – Project management experience, preferably with large, complex automation implementation efforts involving vendor management
- 7 Years – Demonstrated Project Management experience on system deployments with multiple clients
- 7 Years – Proven track record of delivering IT projects within budget, scope and schedule
- 7 Years – Hands on experience managing project risk, cost, schedule, quality, testing, and communications
- Strong supervision, organizational, interpersonal, and time management skills
- Demonstrated presentation, training skills, oral and written communication skills
Example 3
Company ABC is seeking a Project Manager to lead strategic projects to ensure established goals and deliverables are accomplished within the required timelines. The Project Manager will work with our executive leadership, and internal departments, as well as customers from project initiation to close out. The individual will also ensure compliance with contractual expectations. The successful Project Manager will expertly monitor and ensure alignment with cost, schedule, performance, and communications on critical projects.
Responsibilities
- Develop a work breakdown structure to drive the creation of project milestones, tasks, and costs
- Prepare reports to communicate project progress, challenges, and risks
- Evaluates project status, alerting team members and management of issues likely to impact customer or internal commitments
- Utilize mature risk management techniques to identify and minimize project risks
- Drives critical thinking and problem solving when needed to create timeline opportunities or to remove barriers
- Provide guidance, present information, and respond to questions from groups of managers and users of all leadership levels
- Charged with managing task assignments team of technical professionals working on multiple, concurrent projects
Basic qualification
- Bachelor’s degree
- 2+ years of work experience managing diverse stakeholders, competing priorities, and deadlines
- Proficient using Microsoft Office suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- Excellent writing and communication skills
- Ability to read, analyze, and interpret technical requirements
Example 4
Essential duties and responsibilities
- Lead the planning and implementation of IT projects using a proven project management software such as MS Project/Project Online
- Facilitate the definition of project scope, goals, and deliverables
- Facilitate the defined project tasks and resource requirements by creation of a detailed project plan to track progress by using appropriate systems, tools, and techniques
- Understanding of software development life cycle models as well as knowledge of both Agile and traditional project management principles and practices and the ability to blend them together in the right proportions to fit a project and business environment
- Performs work that affects business operations to a substantial degree of multiple internal applications and external applications along with IT Operation designated projects by managing project timelines ensuring business operations functions at the highest level of service
- Coordinate the completion of department projects and outstanding project requests submitted via the P3 committee or Information Technology, including organizing the flow of work amongst team members
- Provide direction and support to the project team by being team player with the ability to motivate teams of various sizes
- Assist in testing of internal applications and external applications when called upon and when issues are presented to the IT staff for resolution
- Present recommendations or solutions to outstanding or potential issues under the guidance of their superior
- Ensure IT Project Requests are implemented in an uninterrupted and non-detrimental fashion by participating in releases. These assignments will directly relate to general business operations performing as expected
- Identify and assess risks and facilitate resolution to minimize project risks along with creation and maintenance of comprehensive project documentation
Skills and qualifications
- Combination of education/experience that would enable incumbent to meet essential duties and required competencies of the position is required
- Prefer a minimum of 5-7 years of progressively responsible project management experience, preferably in an information technology environment. Previously Agile methodology experience is also preferred
- PMP Certification is a plus. Agile Project Management certification is a plus (or working towards such certification) Other certifications a plus may include Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP) or Professional/Certified Scrum Master (PSM or CSM)
- Basic computer skills and proficiency of the English language
- Exceptional verbal and written communication skills
- Ability to concentrate and work independently
- Must demonstrate leadership skills, attention to detail, possess strong analytical, multitasking, and problem-solving skills
- Ability to make solid decisions and provide staff with direction
- Must be highly motivated and organized
- Ability to handle stress, exercise self-control, adhere to company policies and procedures
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- CompTIA Project+ Certification. This certification prepares entry-level IT candidates to successfully manage small to medium-sized IT projects. CompTIA, a globally recognized institution for professional certifications in IT infrastructure, cloud, and cybersecurity, designed this program to develop your skills in project basics, project constraints, communication and change management, and more. There are no prerequisites, but Comp TIA recommends that candidates have at least 1 year of experience managing or participating in small to medium-sized projects.
- Project Management Professional (PMP). The PMP certification recognizes candidates as having in-depth project management knowledge and experience. The program covers a variety of advanced project management topics, such as environments in which projects operate, initiating processes, planning processes, executing processes, and monitoring and controlling processes. To be eligible for certification, candidates must have a bachelor’s degree, three years of project management experience, 4,500 hours leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education. Candidates with a high-school diploma, qualify with five years of project management experience, 7,500 hours leading projects, and 35 hours of project management education.
Sample Interview Questions
- What was your most successful project?
- Have you ever had a project that did not meet the deadline or budget?
- Which project management software and tools are you familiar with?
- What project management methodologies are you most familiar with?
- How would you handle a customer who is not happy with the results of your project?
- What technical skills do you have that you think will benefit you as a PM?
- What does an ideal project look like to you?
- How would you get a project that is moving in the wrong direction back on track?
- Are you experienced in managing a project’s budget?
- How would you approach managing a remote team?
- What is the best way to use outsourced resources for a project?
- How would you deal with an underperforming team member?
- What is the biggest mistake that you made on a project? How did you resolve it?
- How do you go about prioritizing project tasks?
- How do you delegate tasks among your team?
