Technical Program Manager Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

Technical Program Manager Job Description, Key Duties and Responsibilities

This post provides exhaustive information of the job description of a technical program manager to increase your knowledge of what they do.

It presents the key tasks, duties, and responsibilities that typically make up the technical program manager work description in most organizations.

This page also presents the major requirements recruiters will want you to fulfill if you are seeking the technical program manager job.

Please, keep reading to learn more about the technical program manager career:

What Does a Technical Program Manager Do?

Technical program managers lead a team of project developers and designers and are responsible for managing all aspects of an organization’s technical projects from initiation to completion.

They play a role in the development of new products.

The technical program manager job description entails gathering business requirements from stakeholders, including engineers, product managers, and business leaders, as well as document specifications, and create project/sprint schedules which becomes a blueprint for the entire project completion and delivery.

It also involves overseeing hardware and software design teams in executing new programs that will create products, applications, and other projects.

Technical program managers coordinate project tasks and serve as a connection with management, providing constant communication, calls, and status reports to them.

They are also responsible for keeping projects on track and resolving conflicts that may arise.

The technical project manager serves as an interface with client and internal business teams with respect to business problems, issues and opportunities within the framework of the business requirements throughout the delivery lifecycle.

They also work closely with the development team to energize them and keep deliverables on track, and also provide structured software development lifecycle guidance for them to follow.

The technical program manager work description also entails monitoring the progress of projects; ensuring that projects are on schedule and within budget.

It also involves continuously tracking project statuses, resolving obstructions (resource constraints, requirement ambiguity, staff constraint, etc.), and communicating ongoing progress to stakeholders, and suggesting changes to guarantee optimal use of the company’s resources.

Technical Program Manager Job Description Example/Sample/ Template

The technical program managers performs various functions, which primarily involves initiating programs, monitoring their progress, and utilizing their technical expertise and experience in handling constraints, as well as suggesting solutions to quality problems and anticipated blocks in the project development cycle.

The technical program manager job description is majorly made up of the following tasks, duties, and responsibilities:

• Schedule time, staff, and resources to work on critical items and projects principal accountabilities
• Boost the team in the delivery and implementation of business solutions and projects
• Constantly interact with management to ensure their needs and requirements are met
• Train and guide junior team members, foster effective teamwork and support related initiatives
• Interact with clients and collaborate with consultants in leading projects, and execute the organization’s solutions
• Work together with Architects, Technical Consultants, Engineers, etc. to develop solutions to clients
• Collaborate with other units, including sales, support, and engineering, and product management, to guarantee successful conclusion of customer engagements
• Represent the company as its advocate during the engagement process
• Handle customer escalations and follow issues through to resolution
• Keep projects within budget; track project milestones, dependencies, and the entire delivery process for customer engagements.

Technical Program Manager Job Description for Resume

You can use the above sample technical program manager job description in making the professional experience section of your resume.

If you are making a resume for a new job and have worked previously as a technical program manager, or are still working in that role for your current employer, you will need to add the professional or work experience section to your resume.

This section helps boost the strength of your resume to getting you an interview with the recruiter as it shows to them the duties and responsibilities you have performed as a technical program manager, meaning that you have the needed experience to be effective on the job.

To quickly and conveniently make this section for your resume, you can use the duties and functions of the technical program manager provided in the job description example above.

Technical Program Manager Requirements – Skills, Knowledge, and Abilities for Career Success

If you are seeking the job of a technical program manager with an organization, you will definitely be asked to meet a set of requirements to be qualified for the position.

The recruiter’s goal is to find the best candidates who can perform the role of a technical program manager effectively in their organization.

So, to attract such individuals and screen out those not suitable for the job, employers generally provide a list of requirements that applicants for the job must meet to be hired.

Shown below are major requirements, which applicants for the technical program manager job are usually asked to meet by recruiters to access the role:

• Education: Applicants are required to have a minimum of Bachelor’s degree to work as a technical project manager
• Certification: The technical program manager job involves project management, hence having certifications like PMP, and Scrum Master is an added advantage to the candidate
• Knowledge: Employers are interested in individuals with cognate industry experience in a Project or Program Management role. They may also demand for practical knowledge in Archiving, eDiscovery, or FINRA regulated surveillance/supervision
• In addition to an understanding of business goals, it is also important that applicants have technical background in enterprise applications, software, and services. They must also have a thorough background of Internet protocols and how they work (HTTP, SMTP, etc.), and an understanding of networking topology, TCP/IP protocol, network configuration and components (firewalls, routers, etc.)
• Project management skills: The technical project manager must have critical skills like communication skills, leadership and coaching skills to mentor the team, as well as negotiation skills and other relevant skills required to effectively work with and through others in accomplishing projects successfully
• Communication and presentation skills: A large portion of the technical project manager’s job involves communicating with the technical team, engineers, management, and others. Hence, it is vital that they can clearly convey information to others, as well as present it in a meaningful and easy to comprehend manner
• Detail-orientation: A technical project manager must make deliberate effort to understand the nitty-gritties of a project at hand, and also understand the causes of roadblocks in a project, and ensure resolution without losing sight of the big picture
• Interpersonal skills: This job entails working with a variety of people and personalities. So it is crucial that technical program manager are approachable, able to build rapport and trust with team members to enhance cooperative working relationships, as well as possess the capacity to influence all levels of the organization. It is also vital that they have capacity for conflict resolution
• Analytical skills: This is essential for identifying and tracking dependencies, and also for keeping the long term goals in mind while handling daily project tasks. Also, the technical project manager must be resourceful and creative at managing complex challenges impacting on assign projects
• Time management: All projects are to be completed within a scheduled time-frame, and it is the responsibility of the project manager to ensure projects are completed within the stipulated time-frame. So it is important that they can effectively drive projects to completion within deadlines
• Computer skills: To perform their job successfully, technical program managers must be proficient with Microsoft Office applications, including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Visio, and Microsoft SQL basic queries.

Advancing your Technical Program Manager Career

To advance your career to a higher level of responsibility and income whether as one already in the technical program manager career or as someone moving from another career into the better paying technical program manager job, you will need to acquire the right knowledge and skills to succeed on the new job.

You can acquire the needed skills and competence to meet recruiters’ requirements for the new technical program manager job by taking the right training courses.

This is also applicable to fresh graduates and students who desire to build a rewarding career in the field of technical program management; they need to take certain training courses that can help them develop the skills and knowledge for a successful technical program manager career.

To see what training courses is right for you to take to build and advance your technical program manager career, check out the following:

>> PMP Certification Training Course
>> Best PMP Master’s Program
>> Certified ScrumMaster Certification Training

Conclusion

If you are a recruiter or HR manager hiring for the technical program manager position, you can use the sample job description above in writing the perfect description for the role for your organization, to inform prospective candidates of the duties and responsibilities they will be assigned if hired for the job.

Publishing the description of the vacant technical program manager position can increase your chances of attracting the ideal candidates for the position.

This post will also help individuals interested in the technical program manager career to learn a great deal what the role does, and so be able to make informed decisions about getting into the career or not.

Did you find this article helpful in learning about what technical program managers do? Please, leave a comment in the box below. You may also share your job description if you work as a technical program manager.