Programme manager

Description

Programme managers coordinate and oversee several projects working simultaneously. They ensure workability and compatibility among projects ensuring that overall, each one of the projects under the management of project managers, turn out profitable and leveraging one to the other.

Other titles

The following job titles also refer to programme manager:

programme director
projects portfolio manager
program director
program manager
program management coordinator
programme management coordinator

Minimum qualifications

Bachelor’s degree is generally required to work as programme manager. However, this requirement may differ in some countries.

ISCO skill level

ISCO skill level is defined as a function of the complexity and range of tasks and duties to be performed in an occupation. It is measured on a scale from 1 to 4, with 1 the lowest level and 4 the highest, by considering:

  • the nature of the work performed in an occupation in relation to the characteristic tasks and duties
  • the level of formal education required for competent performance of the tasks and duties involved and
  • the amount of informal on-the-job training and/or previous experience in a related occupation required for competent performance of these tasks and duties.

Programme manager is a Skill level 4 occupation.

Programme manager career path

Similar occupations

These occupations, although different, require a lot of knowledge and skills similar to programme manager.

project manager
security manager
facilities manager
budget manager
resource manager

Long term prospects

These occupations require some skills and knowledge of programme manager. They also require other skills and knowledge, but at a higher ISCO skill level, meaning these occupations are accessible from a position of programme manager with a significant experience and/or extensive training.

Essential knowledge and skills

Essential knowledge

This knowledge should be acquired through learning to fulfill the role of programme manager.

Corporate social responsibility: The handling or managing of business processes in a responsible and ethical manner considering the economic responsibility towards shareholders as equally important as the responsibility towards environmental and social stakeholders.
Project management: Understand project management and the activities which comprise this area. Know the variables implied in project management such as time, resources, requirements, deadlines, and responding to unexpected events.

Essential skills and competences

These skills are necessary for the role of programme manager.

Manage supplies: Monitor and control the flow of supplies that includes the purchase, storage and movement of the required quality of raw materials, and also work-in-progress inventory. Manage supply chain activities and synchronise supply with demand of production and customer.
Perform risk analysis: Identify and assess factors that may jeopardise the success of a project or threaten the organisation’s functioning. Implement procedures to avoid or minimise their impact.
Manage budgets: Plan, monitor and report on the budget.
Manage project information: Provide accurate and relevant information to all the parties involved in a project on time.
Evaluate project plans: evaluate proposals/project plans and assess feasibility issues.
Manage staff: Manage employees and subordinates, working in a team or individually, to maximise their performance and contribution. Schedule their work and activities, give instructions, motivate and direct the workers to meet the company objectives. Monitor and measure how an employee undertakes their responsibilities and how well these activities are executed. Identify areas for improvement and make suggestions to achieve this. Lead a group of people to help them achieve goals and maintain an effective working relationship among staff.
Provide cost benefit analysis reports: Prepare, compile and communicate reports with broken down cost analysis on the proposal and budget plans of the company. Analyse the financial or social costs and benefits of a project or investment in advance over a given period of time.
Establish daily priorities: Establish daily priorities for staff personnel. Effectively deal with multi-task workload.

Ensure equipment availability: Ensure that the necessary equipment is provided, ready and available for use before start of procedures.
Supervise daily information operations: Direct daily operations of different units. Coordinate program/project activities to assure the respect of costs and time.
Manage logistics: Create logistic framework for transporting goods to customers and for receiving returns, execute and follow up the logistics processes and guidelines.
Utilise economies of scale in projects: Consider the totality of projects that a company is developing in order to draw economies of scale by using volumes as needed in order to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and promote overall profitability.
Identify legal requirements: Conduct research for applicable legal and normative procedures and standards, analyse and derive legal requirements that apply to the organisation, its policies and products.
Plan health and safety procedures: Set up procedures for maintaining and improving health and safety in the workplace.
Manage project metrics: Gather, report, analyse and create key metrics for a project to help measure its success.
Manage several projects: Oversee and direct the development of several projects running independently. Ensure coherence and leveraging forces among projects in order to secure an overall success and profitability.
Ensure equipment maintenance: Ensure that the equipment required for operations is regularly checked for faults, that routine maintenance tasks are performed, and that repairs are scheduled and performed in the case of damage or flaws.
Assess financial viability: Revise and analyse financial information and requirements of projects such as their budget appraisal, expected turnover, and risk assessment for determining the benefits and costs of the project. Assess if the agreement or project will redeem its investment, and whether the potential profit is worth the financial risk.
Liaise with managers: Liaise with managers of other departments ensuring effective service and communication, i.e. sales, planning, purchasing, trading, distribution and technical.
Perform resource planning: Estimate the expected input in terms of time, human and financial resources necessary to achieve the project objectives.
Follow company standards: Lead and manage according to the organisation’s code of conduct.

Optional knowledge and skills

Optional knowledge

This knowledge is sometimes, but not always, required for the role of programme manager. However, mastering this knowledge allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Optional skills and competences

These skills and competences are sometimes, but not always, required for the role of programme manager. However, mastering these skills and competences allows you to have more opportunities for career development.

Make investment decisions: Determine whether to buy or sell financial products such as fonds, bonds or stocks in order to enhance profitability and to reach the best performance.
Integrate headquarter’s guidelines into local operations: Understand and implement the guidelines and objectives provided by the headquarters of a company into the local management of a company or subsidiary. Adapt guidelines to the regional reality.
Strive for company growth: Develop strategies and plans aiming at achieving a sustained company growth, be the company self-owned or somebody else’s. Strive with actions to increase revenues and positive cash flows.
Control financial resources: Monitor and control budgets and financial resources providing capable stewardship in company management.
Support managers: Provide support and solutions to managers and directors in regards with their business needs and requests for the running of a business or the daily operations of a business unit.
Manage profitability: Review on a regular basis sales and profit performance.
Estimate profitability: Take various factors into account to calculate the cost and potential revenues or savings gained from a product in order to evaluate the profit that could be generated by the new acquisition or by a new project.
Interpret financial statements: Read, understand, and interpret the key lines and indicators in financial statements. Extract the most important information from financial statements depending on the needs and integrate this information in the development of the department’s plans.
Analyse financial performance of a company: Based on accounts, records, financial statements and external information of the market, analyse the performance of the company in financial matters in order to identify improvement actions that could increase profit.
Advise on efficiency improvements: Analyse information and details of processes and products in order to advise on possible efficiency improvements that could be implemented and would signify a better use of resources.
Analyse internal factors of companies: Research and understand various internal factors that influence the operation of companies such as its culture, strategic foundation, products, prices, and available resources.
Impart business plans to collaborators: Diffuse, present, and communicate business plans and strategies to managers, employees making sure that objectives, actions, and important messages are properly conveyed.
Develop revenue generation strategies: Elaborate methodologies through which a company markets and sells a product or service to generate income.
Analyse external factors of companies: Perform research and analysis of the external factor pertaining to companies such as consumers, position in the market, competitors, and political situation.
Budget for financial needs: Observe the status and availability of funds for the smooth running of projects or operations in order to foresee and estimate the quantity of future financial resources.
Align efforts towards business development: Synchronise the efforts, plans, strategies, and actions carried out in departments of companies towards the growth of business and its turnover. Keep business development as the ultimate outcome of any effort of the company.
Shape organisational teams based on competencies: Study the profiles of collaborators and decide the best place for directors and collaborators following an strategic mindset and serving to the goals of the company.
Implement corporate governance: Apply a set of principles and mechanisms by which an organisation is managed and directed, set procedures of information, control flow and decision making, distribute rights and responsibilities among departments and individuals, set corporate objectives and monitor and evaluate actions and results.
Make strategic business decisions: Analyse business information and consult directors for decision making purposes in a varied array of aspects affecting the prospect, productivity and sustainable operation of a company. Consider the options and alternatives to a challenge and make sound rational decisions based on analysis and experience.

ISCO group and title

1213 – Policy and planning managers

 

 


 

 

References
  1. Programme manager – ESCO
Last updated on August 8, 2022