What does a construction/program manager do?
Construction program managers are professionals who plan, coordinate, and budget a construction project. They create reasonable work timetables and staff schedules to finish a project. Their duties include informing the construction team on the contract details and reporting their budget, progress, and strategies to clients. These managers must have strong communication skills, knowledge in contract negotiations, and understand blueprints to perform their job well. These managers work on projects like residential homes, bridges, dams, etc., while constantly following the principles laid by project managers to ensure their success.
Construction/program manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real construction/program manager resumes:
- Manage complete design and construction coordination of company's retail properties throughout the Washington/Baltimore area market.
- Coordinate development of oversight procedures and train staff to ensure and maintain high quality consistent products to clients.
- Ensure contractor meet environmental, electrical, structural, and mechanical (piping, HVAC & process) specifications.
- Coordinate implementation of construction works completely to satisfy approve architectural, structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing design plans.
- Inspect and ensure passing of all city and county building code requirements.
Construction/program manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 11% of Construction/Program Managers are proficient in Real Estate, Construction Projects, and Oversight. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Business skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Construction/Program Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Real Estate, 11%
Led financial viability reviews of construction projects, real estate transactions, and contract executions.
- Construction Projects, 11%
Zero Lost Time Accidents on all construction projects while obtaining profitable results and timely project completions.
- Oversight, 11%
Manage third party contractors, including safety oversight, controlled inspection and environmental design specification compliance, and also direct consultants.
- Status Reports, 11%
Prepared monthly project status reports, including potential schedule / budget impacts and financial reporting, as required by the lenders.
- Project Scope, 6%
Developed, maintained and updated project scope and budget through construction.
- Retrofit, 5%
Monitored efficiency in wind turbine project retrofit as the designated representative of the owner.
Common skills that a construction/program manager uses to do their job include "real estate," "construction projects," and "oversight." You can find details on the most important construction/program manager responsibilities below.
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a construction/program manager to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what construction/program managers do because "construction managers must be able to plan strategies, investigate project cost variances, and solve problems over the course of a project." Additionally, a construction/program manager resume shows how construction/program managers use analytical skills: "key responsibilities for this position: oversight of all project phases beginning with a big picture analysis during conceptual design. "
Business skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling construction/program manager duties is business skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "construction managers need to prepare and follow project budgets, hire and manage staff, and coordinate with other workers and managers." According to a construction/program manager resume, here's how construction/program managers can utilize business skills in their job responsibilities: "contributed to staff recruitment, business development, project accounting, forecasting, and formulating proposals and contracts. "
Leadership skills. Another common skill required for construction/program manager responsibilities is "leadership skills." This skill comes up in the duties of construction/program managers all the time, as "construction managers must effectively delegate tasks to construction workers, subcontractors, and other lower level managers to ensure that projects are completed accurately and on time." An excerpt from a real construction/program manager resume shows how this skill is central to what a construction/program manager does: "provided leadership and oversight to a sub-crew of laborers. "
The three companies that hire the most construction/program managers are:
Choose from 10+ customizable construction/program manager resume templates
Build a professional construction/program manager resume in minutes. Our AI resume writing assistant will guide you through every step of the process, and you can choose from 10+ resume templates to create your construction/program manager resume.
Compare different construction/program managers
Construction/program manager vs. Project controls specialist
A project controls specialist is responsible for establishing project management procedures to achieve project goals and objectives by following clients' specifications and requirements within the budget limitations and timetable. Project controls specialists implement strategic techniques to mitigate potential project risks and promote maximum productivity by conducting regular meetings to monitor the project's progress. They also coordinate with the clients for the updates, as well as informing them of any plan adjustments. A project controls specialist maintains strict quality control processes to ensure the efficient development of the project for timely deliverables.
While similarities exist, there are also some differences between construction/program managers and project controls specialist. For instance, construction/program manager responsibilities require skills such as "real estate," "oversight," "general contractors," and "osha." Whereas a project controls specialist is skilled in "project controls," "project management," "work breakdown structure," and "primavera p6." This is part of what separates the two careers.
Project controls specialists tend to make the most money working in the professional industry, where they earn an average salary of $90,141. In contrast, construction/program managers make the biggest average salary, $106,690, in the real estate industry.project controls specialists tend to reach similar levels of education than construction/program managers. In fact, project controls specialists are 0.6% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.5% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Construction/program manager vs. Project superintendent
The construction or project superintendent's role is to oversee the operations of construction sites, from the planning phase to completion. They have varied duties and responsibilities based on specific projects that include scheduling and budgeting, communicating and negotiating with external partners, and acquiring materials and equipment. A construction superintendent also earns construction permits, resolving on-site emergencies and issues, and supervising staff. This position requires several skills, including a degree in construction management or a similar field, relevant experience, and in-depth knowledge of construction processes and operations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real construction/program manager resumes. While construction/program manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "real estate," "status reports," "project scope," and "capital projects," project superintendents use skills like "quality standards," "safety program," "project management," and "cleanliness."
On average, project superintendents earn a lower salary than construction/program managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, project superintendents earn the most pay in the construction industry with an average salary of $95,092. Whereas construction/program managers have higher pay in the real estate industry, with an average salary of $106,690.project superintendents earn lower levels of education than construction/program managers in general. They're 8.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.5% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Construction/program manager vs. Government contractor
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a construction/program manager is likely to be skilled in "real estate," "construction projects," "oversight," and "status reports," while a typical government contractor is skilled in "cost accounting standards," "financial statements," "security clearance," and "payroll."
Most government contractors achieve a similar degree level compared to construction/program managers. For example, they're 3.0% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Construction/program manager vs. Project manager/design manager
Even though a few skill sets overlap between construction/program managers and project manager/design managers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a construction/program manager might have more use for skills like "real estate," "oversight," "status reports," and "osha." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of project manager/design managers require skills like "project management," "cad," "fire protection," and "revit. "
The manufacturing industry tends to pay the highest salaries for project manager/design managers, with average annual pay of $85,725. Comparatively, the highest construction/program manager annual salary comes from the real estate industry.In general, project manager/design managers hold similar degree levels compared to construction/program managers. Project manager/design managers are 3.3% less likely to earn their Master's Degree and 1.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of construction/program manager
Updated January 8, 2025
