What is a Project Manager in Tech?
Every company in every industry has projects to manage. These could range from large projects like the construction of a new power plant to smaller projects like creating the next generation of a sneaker or developing a new feature for a mobile app.
What do all of these projects have in common?
They need someone to manage them: the project manager.
Although all project managers have some common skills and responsibilities this article will focus on Project Managers in the tech and IT industry.
Because that’s where Wahl+Case’s expertise lies.
At Wahl+Case we have supported dozens of people to find project management jobs in Japan’s tech industry in companies varying from early stage startups to large enterprises, both domestic and international.
And now, without further ado, here is everything you need to know about project managers in IT and SaaS.
What is a Project Manager in Tech?
On the broadest scope the project manager is the person in charge of a project. The project manager is responsible for the scope, schedule, budget, risk, quality and resources of a project and has to coordinate with a variety of stakeholders both internal and external.
A project in the tech industry could be the development of a new application, the launch of a new feature for an existing product or the strengthening of network security. Project timelines can vary greatly in scope from a few weeks to several years.
As the project manager your primary objective is the successful completion of the project. To accomplish this you need a broad mix of hard skills and soft skills.
In the tech and IT industry a project manager is often called a technical project manager.
Next, let’s look at a project manager’s responsibilities.
What are a Project Manager’s Responsibilities?
As a project manager you are responsible for the whole project throughout the four phases of its lifecycle: initiation, planning, execution, and closure.
In the initiation phase you set the goal of the project, define its scope and decide on the personnel you need.
In the planning phase you come up with the concrete steps, timeline, milestones and budget to achieve the goal.
Phase three execution is all about keeping your team on track and making sure that you hit the milestones defined in phase two. In this phase you also encounter quite a bit of troubleshooting because no project ever goes 100% as planned.
Finally, in the closure phase you conclude the project, hand it over to the new owners and assess the performance of the project. What went well? What needs improvement? The assessment is critical for your next project.
A project manager’s responsibilities go very far and you have a lot of tasks on hand. Your day to day work will differ quite a lot depending on the phase of the project. No project is the same, so you will always have to learn new things to effectively manage new projects.
But it’s worth it because it comes with a ton of opportunities.
What Opportunities does a Project Manager have?
Companies in every sector of the IT industry need project managers. So whether you have a FinTech background or are interested in mobile games, chances are high you can find a project to work on in your desired field.
Whether entry level or seasoned professional, there are project management jobs for all stages of your career. If you’re at the beginning of your career you will most likely start as a project coordinator and work closely with and learn from a project manager. If you are further in your professional project management career, you will be taking on bigger projects.
Unlike other professions a project manager has a clear start and finish line which leads to a sense of achievement when you complete your project. Furthermore you will have concrete milestones to track your progress and celebrate small successes. This is crucial for keeping up morale and motivation not just for yourself but also for your team.
In general, project manager jobs in tech are on the rise because of the ever increasing complexity and the tech industry growing as a whole. As a project manager you will get the chance to work together with various stakeholders from engineering to high level executives. In smaller companies or startups you will be working directly with the CEO which is a great learning experience just by itself.
There are plenty of opportunities for project managers and even if you don’t want to work as a project manager anymore, having project management experience will be useful in pretty much any future step of your career; and even in your private life (building your new house, planning your wedding, etc.)
Now let’s see if you have what it takes to become a project manager.
What are the Requirements to be a Project Manager?
As a project manager you need a mix of soft and hard skills. In general the soft skills are very similar for project managers across industries and the hard skills can vary from sector to sector and project to project.
Let’s break those skills down.
Soft skills
Communication
According to the Project Manager’s Institute 75-90% of your role as a PM is communication. You are the hub that sits between the business teams, the dev team, the design team, and any other stakeholders. This will require you to have excellent communication skills to make sure everyone understands their role and is motivated.
Keep in mind that depending on who you talk to, the what and how of your communication must change. Your CEO speaks a completely different language than your engineers. You have to tailor your communication style to different audiences. And if you are a compelling storyteller, that’s a huge plus.
Planning
Every successful project starts with a good plan. Before you do the actual work you need to map out all the steps and decide on how to achieve them in detail. You have to determine the who, what, when, where and how for every task and priority. The plan will guide you through the entire project. However there is a high chance that you have to adjust or change your plan along the way. Then you have to go back to planning. So stay flexible.
Organization
As a project manager you will almost always have too much on your plate. Tracking across various tasks, setting priorities, communicating with team members, and reporting to stakeholders will get overwhelming. You have to constantly coordinate multiple moving parts across departments and divisions. You need to be on top of your organizational game.
Leadership
As a project manager you are the leader of your project team. This means you have to articulate a clear vision and set up milestones. Then you have to provide your team members with the necessary information and tools to get there.
Along the way it is on you to keep motivation high and maneuver your team through the highs and lows that will await you. When problems arise, you have to troubleshoot and in times of conflict you have to mediate between members.
Negotiation
A successful project manager is a master negotiator. As mentioned above you will work with various stakeholders across departments and you have to negotiate budgets, timelines, resources and deliverables with all of them. Since you will be negotiating a lot with internal parties it’s better not to play hardball but rather find solutions that work for everyone.
Hard skills
IT knowledge and experience
This one is obvious but to be a good project manager in tech, you need profound knowledge and hands on experience in IT. Depending on the product and industry these skills can vary but you should be able to understand IT infrastructures and environments as well as coding languages. Usually you won’t be coding yourself but you have to effectively communicate with engineers, programmers and developers so understanding what they do helps a lot.
Project management skills & techniques
You need to know different project management methodologies in order to choose the right one for your project. The methodology defines the principles and strategies for managing a project. It’s a framework to help you manage your project effectively. Choosing the right methodology is crucial for the outcome of your project. Some of the most common methodologies are Waterfall, Agile, Scrum, Kanban, Scrumban, XP (Extreme Programming) or Lean.
Project management tools
You need to have expertise in at least one project management tool or better yet a stack of tools that all work together. These tools are needed to collaborate with your team members, track progress and stay organized throughout the project.
Some popular project management tools to check out are Asana, Notion, Jira, Monday.com or Trello.
Data & Analytics
Data-driven decisions are key in today’s business environment so you need to have a very analytical mindset. You must be able to read the data, understand what it means and see potential trends. Excel or Google Sheets skills are a must and knowing programming languages like SQL, R or Python are a huge plus.
What is the difference between a Project Manager and a Product Manager?
The difference between a product manager and a project manager comes down to the scope of the roles. As a product manager, you will be making decisions that affect the direction of the product features, updates, future products, etc.
A project manager is focused on making sure everything is moving according to the plan and ensuring that any changes to the plan are taken care of.
If product manager is more what you are looking for, check out our 5 Steps to getting more PdM Interviews.
And that’s it.
If it sounds like a job for you, get in touch with us and we will help you find a suitable position.
If not, read our Client-Facing Engineer Guide to learn more about other positions like Solutions Architects, Presales Engineers or Engagement Managers.
