Contracting officer vs program manager

The differences between contracting officers and program managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a program manager has an average salary of $96,084, which is higher than the $60,007 average annual salary of a contracting officer.

The top three skills for a contracting officer include contractor proposals, contract administration and contract management. The most important skills for a program manager are project management, program management, and oversight.

Contracting officer vs program manager overview

	Contracting Officer	Program Manager
Yearly salary	$60,007	$96,084
Hourly rate	$28.85	$46.19
Growth rate	-	12%
Number of jobs	59,896	197,556
Job satisfaction	-	5
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Average age	44	47
Years of experience	-	-

What does a contracting officer do?

In government agencies, a Contracting Officer plays a vital role in securing contracts for different projects. They are responsible for liaising with internal and external parties, conducting research and analyses, developing plans to attain project requirements, negotiating contracts, and procuring materials according to standards. They are also responsible for supervising the administrative processes related to the deals, from planning to execution, ensuring that everything runs smoothly and efficiently. Moreover, it is essential to function as a contracting officer while adhering to government policies and regulations.

What does a program manager do?

A program manager is responsible for monitoring the project's progress, improving and developing new strategies, and coordinate various projects across the organization to ensure the success of the business objective. Program managers also manage the program's expenses, ensuring that the projects adhere to the budget goals without compromising the quality and accuracy of the result. A program manager should regularly connect with the different teams of every project under the program to keep track of the processes and procedures for the timely delivery of the product.

Contracting officer vs program manager salary

Contracting officers and program managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Contracting Officer	Program Manager
Average salary	$60,007	$96,084
Salary range	Between $37,000 And $95,000	Between $65,000 And $141,000
Highest paying City	Washington, DC	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Maryland	California
Best paying company	Pacific Northwest National Laboratory	Meta
Best paying industry	Government	Technology

Differences between contracting officer and program manager education

There are a few differences between a contracting officer and a program manager in terms of educational background:

	Contracting Officer	Program Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 66%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Western Carolina University	University of Pennsylvania

Contracting officer vs program manager demographics

Here are the differences between contracting officers' and program managers' demographics:

	Contracting Officer	Program Manager
Average age	44	47
Gender ratio	Male, 65.7% Female, 34.3%	Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.4% Unknown, 4.6% Hispanic or Latino, 9.4% Asian, 8.8% White, 70.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 8.9% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	11%	10%

Differences between contracting officer and program manager duties and responsibilities

Contracting officer example responsibilities.

Compile RFQ's, internet research, and manage officers.
Manage the RFQ and RFP solicitation process with campus departments to ensure legal and ethical compliance with state statutes.
Analyze requirements' effects on budget and formulate alternative logistics plans when operations or requirements change to accomplish unit's mission.
Perform market analysis of government agencies utilizing and not utilizing GSA travel services to capture undeveloped market.
Implement GSA assist acquisition service to provide task order support for federal agencies procuring ETS2 master contract.
Resolve day to day issues between personnel, contracting companies, base operations, government personnel and the DoD.

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Program manager example responsibilities.

Lead managed services provider engagement of onshore and offshore interactive development and QA for pharmaceutical marketing department.
Lead multiple team workshops and initiate RFP proposals.
Manage the work process across projects as per PMI standards.
Develop, manage, and oversee EMBA study abroad in-residencies to Asia.
Manage content updates for all salesforce marketing materials, print and digital.
Manage the service level expectations with client agencies by monitoring and assessment establish KPIs, agreements and contracts.

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Contracting officer vs program manager skills

Common contracting officer skills

Contractor Proposals, 8%
Contract Administration, 7%
Contract Management, 5%
Contract Terms, 5%
Market Research, 4%
Technical Assistance, 4%

Common program manager skills

Project Management, 11%
Program Management, 11%
Oversight, 6%
Customer Service, 4%
Infrastructure, 3%
Excellent Organizational, 3%

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Updated January 8, 2025

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