What does a global project manager do?
Global project managers are responsible for overseeing the technical project management and strategic business management for a global organization. They are expected to align team goals and set new benchmarks for business success. As a global project manager, you must understand the diversity and cultures of the project team to be able to work across a wide range of cultures. You must also have a good understanding of cultural nuances and how they impact how jobs are done. You are also responsible for conveying information among stakeholders and team members.
Global project manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real global project manager resumes:
- Lead global teams in creating and executing data and telephony infrastructure networking standards.
- Streamline and centralize usage of project management tools to manage dependencies and transparent delivery milestones for highly complex SaaS platforms
- Create and maintain documentation repository in SharePoint.
- Document standardization and management through SharePoint site.
- Provide oversight and coordination for internal initiatives such as server migrations, configuration upgrades and infrastructure asset tracking.
- Collaborate with departmental project managers as well as contracted partners to implement new process work flows that positively impact Medicare patients.
- Confirm hours work by employees to run payroll reports.
- Manage communications for implementation of outsource service provider for indirect sourcing activities in EMEA and APAC.
Global project manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 22% of Global Project Managers are proficient in Project Management, Strong Project Management, and Global Project. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Interpersonal skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Global Project Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Project Management, 22%
Assisted in the development of project management methodology to improve product delivery to meet strict contract delivery agreements to international customers.
- Strong Project Management, 7%
Used strong Project Management skills; designed and managed projects from inception to completion for the local and international dairy industries.
- Global Project, 5%
Managed global projects across the Process Development, Operations and Quality organizations ensuring compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices.
- Infrastructure, 4%
Led Global Configuration Management infrastructure initiative to track application platform relationships with other entities for purposes of determining system outage dependencies.
- Risk Management, 4%
Risk management, create contingency plans and implement rescue strategy where needed and ensure solutions are properly executed
- Project Scope, 4%
Create powerful presentations that represent the project scope, finding, decisions, metrics, solutions, or issues when necessary.
"project management," "strong project management," and "global project" are among the most common skills that global project managers use at work. You can find even more global project manager responsibilities below, including:
Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a global project manager to carry out their responsibilities is creativity. This skill is important for the role because "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas." Additionally, a global project manager resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "monitor ip and ancillary supplies inventories, and ensure that adequate supplies are available at sites and depots. "
Interpersonal skills. Another essential skill to perform global project manager duties is interpersonal skills. Global project managers responsibilities require that "managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization." Global project managers also use interpersonal skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "major strengths include technical aptitude and adaptability, strong analytical and problem solving proficiency, with excellent interpersonal and communications skills. "
Analytical skills. This is an important skill for global project managers to perform their duties. For an example of how global project manager responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a global project manager: "analyzed audit trends related to 2006 fda warning letters and abbott quality & regulatory global compliance audits. ".
Organizational skills. For certain global project manager responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "organizational skills." The day-to-day duties of a global project manager rely on this skill, as "advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what global project managers do: "leveraged technical expertise in productivity management to streamline and re-engineer business processes that produced organizational cost savings. "
Communication skills. A commonly-found skill in global project manager job descriptions, "communication skills" is essential to what global project managers do. Global project manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "managers must be able to communicate effectively with a broad-based team made up of other managers or staff members during the advertising, promotions, and marketing process." You can also see how global project manager duties rely on communication skills in this resume example: "planned and directed projects that provided or improved erp, business intelligence, global messaging, telecommunications and facilities management. "
The three companies that hire the most global project managers are:
- Honeywell9 global project managers jobs
- Environmental Defense Fund8 global project managers jobs
- Sanofi US6 global project managers jobs
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Compare different global project managers
Global project manager vs. Information technology project manager
An information technology project manager is responsible for supervising the technology department, ensuring that all tasks are being done by following technological strategies and solutions. Information technology project managers' duties include monitoring the technology team's daily operation, handling team members' concerns, managing customers' inquiries and complaints, helping team members' in achieving their professional growth, creating reports, sharing updates during team and board meetings, and maintaining effectivity of operational procedures. An information technology project manager must have excellent leadership and decision-making skills to decide on the best strategies in meeting the company's objectives.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, global project manager responsibilities require skills like "clinical trial management," "global project," "continuous improvement," and "digital marketing." Meanwhile a typical information technology project manager has skills in areas such as "scrum," "software development," "technical support," and "excellent organizational." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Information technology project managers earn the highest salaries when working in the technology industry, with an average yearly salary of $120,713. On the other hand, global project managers are paid more in the telecommunication industry with an average salary of $97,490.On average, information technology project managers reach similar levels of education than global project managers. Information technology project managers are 3.4% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Global project manager vs. Project engineering manager
A project engineering manager's job is to oversee engineering projects in diverse industries, including transportation, software development, and utility industries. They are responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of intricate designs and evaluating and approving changes that may affect the scope, budget, and completion of a project. They also perform other essential tasks, including monitoring the project's progress and performance, developing maintenance plans, and preparing expenditure reports. Project engineering managers are also expected to resolve any issues that may arise from operations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real global project manager resumes. While global project manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "clinical trial management," "global project," "infrastructure," and "risk management," project engineering managers use skills like "engineering design," "autocad," "capital projects," and "project execution."
Project engineering managers may earn a higher salary than global project managers, but project engineering managers earn the most pay in the technology industry with an average salary of $123,160. On the other hand, global project managers receive higher pay in the telecommunication industry, where they earn an average salary of $97,490.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Project engineering managers tend to reach lower levels of education than global project managers. In fact, they're 7.6% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Global project manager vs. Lead program manager
A lead program manager is responsible for coordinating departmental projects and ensuring that the programs adhere to the business guidelines and functions to achieve long-term goals and objectives. Lead program managers strategize techniques in developing business plans and managing budget allocation across departments. They also coordinate with clients for progress updates and modify program plans as needed. A lead program manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills to finalize program outputs and assist the team in resolving project issues and delays.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from global project manager resumes include skills like "strong project management," "clinical trial management," "global project," and "project scope," whereas a lead program manager is more likely to list skills in "program management," "portfolio," "azure," and "architecture. "
Lead program managers earn the best pay in the technology industry, where they command an average salary of $125,537. Global project managers earn the highest pay from the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $97,490.lead program managers typically earn similar educational levels compared to global project managers. Specifically, they're 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.2% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Global project manager vs. Project management lead
A project management lead is in charge of overseeing all processes involved in the planning and delivery of projects in an organization. Their responsibilities typically revolve around coordinating departments and personnel involved in every project to ensure accuracy and timeliness, managing budget and expenditures, producing progress reports and presentations, assessing risks, and delivering optimal quality results. Furthermore, as a management lead, it is crucial to lead and encourage team members, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Types of global project manager
Updated January 8, 2025
