What is a business program manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

5 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Trish Berg,

Dr. Daryl Green

A business program manager oversees multiple projects within a company to ensure they align with the overall business strategy. They work with various departments to define project goals, allocate resources, and identify potential risks. They also manage budgets, create timelines, and report progress to stakeholders. A successful program manager develops strong relationships with team members and maintains effective communication throughout the project lifecycle. They are responsible for ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget.

What general advice would you give to a business program manager?

Dr. Trish Berg

Associate Professor of Management, Heidelberg University, Tiffin, Ohio, Heidelberg University

Being a project manager involves constant change, learning, and interaction with diverse teams in various departments of an organization. The best parts of being a project manager include working with diverse people, building relationships, creating something new with each new project, empowering and motivating teams, gaining global knowledge, collaboration, impacting organizational culture, and delivering value with completed projects. Some of the difficult parts of working as a project manager include sometimes having accountability without the needed authority to be successful, not having diverse enough skills and having to use estimation and guesswork at times and relying on others for their knowledge. Project managers deal with a lot of uncertainty and must be resilient in how they react to each bump in the road.

ScoreBusiness Program ManagerUS Average

Salary

8.2

Avg. Salary $122,869

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.6

Growth rate 6%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.47%

Asian 6.29%

Black or African American 6.10%

Hispanic or Latino 14.91%

Unknown 4.33%

White 67.90%

Gender

female 41.31%

male 58.69%

Age - 44

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 44

Stress level

9.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.2

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.6

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

What are the pros and cons of being a business program manager?

Pros

High level of responsibility
Good salary and benefits
Opportunities to work with a diverse team
Ability to make an impact on business outcomes
Opportunities for professional growth and development

Cons

High levels of stress and pressure
Risk of burnout due to high workload and multiple responsibilities
Need for strong decision-making skills under uncertainty and ambiguity
Limited control over external factors that affect project outcomes
Potential for conflicts and tensions within the team

Key steps to become a business program manager

Explore business program manager education requirements

Most common business program manager degrees

Bachelor's

71.0 %

Master's

21.7 %

Associate

5.2 %

Start to develop specific business program manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Project Management	11.01%
Program Management	9.73%
Portfolio	6.16%
KPIs	5.29%
Customer Service	4.51%

Complete relevant business program manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New business program managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a business program manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real business program manager resumes.

Research business program manager duties and responsibilities

Lead and manage UAT planning and execution.
Manage product order-ability in ERP for all Cisco products.
Manage integration of customer accounts from merger and acquisition (300K+) and partner-centric (50K) activities into Salesforce.com.
Manage a team of 20 skil professionals supporting lean design, configuration and building a solid solution through ERP implementation.

Prepare your business program manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your business program manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a business program manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable business program manager resume templates

Build a professional business program manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your business program manager resume.

Apply for business program manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a business program manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do business program managers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Business program manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2023

Pros

I like to work with a team. Satisfaction of seeing the successful completion of a project

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2021

Cons

Juggling multiple tasks and projects was always a constant struggle. I also felt very frustrated at times working with third party vendors and consultants remotely.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2020