Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between professional services project managers and contract project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a professional services project manager, becoming a contract project manager takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a professional services project manager has an average salary of $110,886, which is higher than the $81,263 average annual salary of a contract project manager.
The top three skills for a professional services project manager include project management, customer satisfaction and process improvement. The most important skills for a contract project manager are project management, project scope, and contract project.
| Professional Services Project Manager | Contract Project Manager | |
| Yearly salary | $110,886 | $81,263 |
| Hourly rate | $53.31 | $39.07 |
| Growth rate | - | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 190,133 | 159,765 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
The job of a professional services project manager is to ensure the delivery of client projects on budget and on time while maintaining your company's profit margins. You will be responsible for managing and communicating deliverables, risks, project timeline, ROI, and issues. In addition, you will be managing and overseeing complex projects, and planning team and client meetings. Other duties include counseling and disciplining consultants and internal personnel on technician and professional issues, providing leadership and technical expertise on how to design and deliver an efficient, reliable, and cost-effective technology infrastructure.
A contract project manager is an executive professional who provides project management and business analysis to fill the needs of an organization. Contract project managers are required to monitor and inspect contract projects to maintain a high level of safety and quality traffic control in highly variable conditions. They assist contract project administration with the review of project progress reports. Contract project managers must also manage the relationship between clients and the organization while monitoring the progress of the project to ensure that it complies with the terms of the corporate contract.
Professional services project managers and contract project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Professional Services Project Manager | Contract Project Manager | |
| Average salary | $110,886 | $81,263 |
| Salary range | Between $85,000 And $143,000 | Between $53,000 And $124,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Massachusetts |
| Best paying company | CME Group | PRO Unlimited |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Health Care |
There are a few differences between a professional services project manager and a contract project manager in terms of educational background:
| Professional Services Project Manager | Contract Project Manager | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 66% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo |
Here are the differences between professional services project managers' and contract project managers' demographics:
| Professional Services Project Manager | Contract Project Manager | |
| Average age | 44 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9% | Male, 66.1% Female, 33.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 6.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 8.8% Asian, 12.0% White, 67.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% | Black or African American, 3.7% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.6% Asian, 2.8% White, 70.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 11% | 4% |