Project Manager job description: duties, skills and qualifications.

Core duties

16

O*NET task statements

Preparation

Job Zone 4 of 5

considerable preparation

Typical entry education

Bachelor's degree

BLS 2025–35

Median pay

$102,320

BLS May 2025

Data Government data groups this job as Project Management Specialists (O*NET-SOC 13-1082.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.

1. Communicate with key stakeholders to determine project requirements and objectives. importance 4.5 of 5
2. Identify project needs such as resources, staff, or finances by reviewing project objectives and schedules. importance 4.5 of 5
3. Submit project deliverables to clients, ensuring adherence to quality standards. importance 4.4 of 5
4. Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems. importance 4.3 of 5
5. Plan, schedule, or coordinate project activities to meet deadlines. importance 4.3 of 5
6. Request and review project updates to ensure deadlines are met. importance 4.3 of 5
7. Monitor project milestones and deliverables. importance 4.1 of 5
8. Assign duties or responsibilities to project personnel. importance 4.1 of 5
9. Create project status presentations for delivery to customers or project personnel. importance 3.9 of 5
10. Produce and distribute project documents. importance 3.9 of 5
11. Negotiate with project stakeholders or suppliers to obtain resources or materials. importance 3.9 of 5
12. Monitor costs incurred by project staff to identify budget issues. importance 3.8 of 5
13. Recruit or hire project personnel. importance 3.8 of 5
14. Monitor the performance of project team members to provide performance feedback. importance 3.8 of 5
15. Develop or update project plans including information such as objectives, technologies, schedules, funding, and staffing. importance 3.8 of 5
16. Report project status, such as budget, resources, technical issues, or customer satisfaction, to managers. importance 3.8 of 5

Work activities O*NET rates most important here: Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates, Getting Information, Working with Computers, Making Decisions and Solving Problems and Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work.

Knowledge areas: English Language, Administration and Management, Administrative, Customer and Personal Service and Computers and Electronics.

Software O*NET lists for this occupation: Atlassian JIRA, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft PowerPoint, Microsoft Project. These are examples O*NET records for the job, not a list of tools every employer uses or a checklist of what you must know.

• Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education.
• Experience: BLS lists no work experience in a related occupation as typical to enter.
• Training on the job: BLS lists no typical on-the-job training once hired.
• Preparation: O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations.
• Licenses and certifications: not listed here. A license is a legal requirement set by a state; a certification is a credential from a private or professional body. Rules vary by state and employer, and a missing entry on this page does not mean none is required: check with your state's licensing board and see how to become a project manager.

Most O*NET's occupation experts for this occupation (64%) name a bachelor's degree as the education the job requires.

Job title: Project Manager
[Company] · [City, State] · [Full-time or part-time] · [Pay range, where your state requires one]

About the role
[Company] is hiring a Project Manager to analyze and coordinate the schedule, timeline, procurement, staffing, and budget of a product or service on a per project basis.
[One sentence on your team and why this role matters.]

What you will do
- Communicate with key stakeholders to determine project requirements and objectives.
- Identify project needs such as resources, staff, or finances by reviewing project objectives and schedules.
- Submit project deliverables to clients, ensuring adherence to quality standards.
- Confer with project personnel to identify and resolve problems.
- Plan, schedule, or coordinate project activities to meet deadlines.
- Request and review project updates to ensure deadlines are met.
- Monitor project milestones and deliverables.
- Assign duties or responsibilities to project personnel.

What we are looking for
- [Education: BLS lists a bachelor's degree as typical for this occupation; set the level this role truly needs]
- [Experience: BLS lists no related work experience as typical to enter; set what this role needs]
- Strength in active listening, critical thinking and judgment and decision making
- Working knowledge of English Language and Administration and Management
- [Software your team uses, e.g. Atlassian JIRA or Microsoft Excel]
- [Any license or certification your state or company requires]

[Schedule, benefits and how to apply]

Illustrative: every name, employer, school, date and number in these samples is fictional or a bracketed placeholder. Replace each bracket with your own true details; never copy a result you did not achieve.

Not a real job posting. This template is TryHired's illustration built from government occupational data. It is not an opening at any employer, and no employer wrote it.

The median annual wage was $102,320 in May 2025. The median hourly wage was $49.19. BLS estimates about 1,066,670 jobs in this occupation in the U.S.

BLS projects employment of Project Management Specialists to grow 6.7% from 2025 to 2035, with about 76,500 openings a year over that period, including openings to replace workers who leave.

See the full project manager salary breakdown by percentile, state and metro.

• Read a real project manager posting next to the core duties above. Duties it repeats, such as “Communicate with key stakeholders to determine project requirements…”, tell you what that employer weighs most; anything it adds is specific to that team.
• Tailor your resume to the posting, not to this page: describe only project manager work you have actually done, with your own results.
• Prepare a story for each of the top-rated skills (active listening and critical thinking).