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Federal programs manager vs project manager

The differences between federal programs managers and project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a project manager has an average salary of $91,578, which is higher than the $67,453 average annual salary of a federal programs manager.

The top three skills for a federal programs manager include program management, federal government and customer satisfaction. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Federal programs manager vs project manager overview

Federal Programs ManagerProject Manager
Yearly salary$67,453$91,578
Hourly rate$32.43$44.03
Growth rate5%8%
Number of jobs63,881167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

What does a federal programs manager do?

A federal programs manager's primary responsibility is organizing activities for a company or organization. They help develop program plans, allocate budgets, manage staff, and oversee programs. They review changes to federal, state, or local legislation to ensure that a company's programs adhere to all legal guidelines.

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.

Federal programs manager vs project manager salary

Federal programs managers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Federal Programs ManagerProject Manager
Average salary$67,453$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $36,000 And $123,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-The Citadel
Best paying industry-Technology

Differences between federal programs manager and project manager education

There are a few differences between a federal programs manager and a project manager in terms of educational background:

Federal Programs ManagerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 62%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Federal programs manager vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between federal programs managers' and project managers' demographics:

Federal Programs ManagerProject Manager
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 55.6% Female, 44.4%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 13.3% Asian, 7.9% White, 65.6% 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 Percentage10%10%

Differences between federal programs manager and project manager duties and responsibilities

Federal programs manager example responsibilities.

  • Specialize in video collaboration technologies - multi-class Audio/Video bridging, manage video services and cloud video solutions.
  • Develop statements of work and formulate RFQ and RFP responses.
  • Create processes for RFP opportunity / identification and bid response, capture design, and billing.
  • Support diverse projects for international sales, science and technology, logistics, emergency management response, and mobile networks/applications.
  • Evangelize virtualization security awareness and compliance issues around transforming physical servers to virtual servers.

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.
  • Show more

Federal programs manager vs project manager skills

Common federal programs manager skills
  • Program Management, 30%
  • Federal Government, 30%
  • Customer Satisfaction, 6%
  • DOD, 4%
  • OSHA, 4%
  • PMO, 4%
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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