Client program manager vs project manager

The differences between client program managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a client program manager has an average salary of $91,794, which is higher than the $91,578 average annual salary of a project manager.

The top three skills for a client program manager include project management, client facing and program management. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Client program manager vs project manager overview

	Client Program Manager	Project Manager
Yearly salary	$91,794	$91,578
Hourly rate	$44.13	$44.03
Growth rate	6%	8%
Number of jobs	169,552	167,116
Job satisfaction	-	4.17
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age	47	47
Years of experience	-	-

What does a client program manager do?

A client program manager coordinates with the internal teams in establishing customer plans like release schedule, terms of acceptance, and program milestones. Client program managers execute, deliver, coordinate, and track customer projects from initiation through completion. The managers inform clients about the processes of business execution and the procedures for sales and marketing. They develop trusted and strong relationships with their customers through accurate and timely communications. They also evaluate the risks of customer projects to establish and execute contingency and risk management plans.

What does a project manager do?

Project managers oversee a specific project related to the organization's business. They manage the whole project from inception to evaluation. They initiate planning with involved departments, follow-through on the plans, ensure smooth execution of the plans, and evaluate the project for further improvements should these be needed. In line with this, project managers also ensure that the project is cost-efficient and well within the budget. They also manage the different work teams involved in the project and ensure that things are running smoothly on this aspect as well.

Client program manager vs project manager salary

Client program managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Client Program Manager	Project Manager
Average salary	$91,794	$91,578
Salary range	Between $61,000 And $136,000	Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Rhode Island	California
Best paying company	Meta	The Citadel
Best paying industry	Finance	Technology

Differences between client program manager and project manager education

There are a few differences between a client program manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:

	Client Program Manager	Project Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 68%	Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Pennsylvania

Client program manager vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between client program managers' and project managers' demographics:

	Client Program Manager	Project Manager
Average age	47	47
Gender ratio	Male, 42.6% Female, 57.4%	Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.5% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%	Black or African American, 7.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.9% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between client program manager and project manager duties and responsibilities

Client program manager example responsibilities.

Maintain effective fiscal management of caseload by accurately processing field payroll, monitoring caseload metrics and managing billing and pay rates.
Represent the logistics business division for all quality relate issues including process development for all ISO and Non-ISO certify warehouse locations.
Provide transportation to appointments, court dates, NA and AA meetings, amongst other resident obligations.
Support the successful deployment and maintenance of standardize financial systems solutions to improve overall business management and compliance with DoD requirements.

Project manager example responsibilities.

Schedule and manage the GCP audit process.
Define, develop and manage metrics and KPIs systems for new product business group.
Manage the application process for the FDA medical device, minority and small business certifications.
Manage multiple projects and resources simultaneously while mentoring, coaching and implementing best practices, SOX and HIPAA compliance standards.
Lead teams using the Informatica ETL tool for the design and development of multiple financial and risk enterprise data warehouses.
Administer and manage Salesforce requirements.

Client program manager vs project manager skills

Common client program manager skills

Project Management, 17%
Client Facing, 13%
Program Management, 11%
POS, 9%
Client Relationships, 8%
Client Satisfaction, 5%

Common project manager skills

Project Management, 23%
Project Scope, 6%
Customer Service, 6%
Infrastructure, 5%
Status Reports, 4%
Risk Management, 3%

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Client Program Manager
Client Program Manager vs Project Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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