What does a Program Officer do?
A program officer is an essential part of a foundation or charitable organization. It is up to program officers to supervise program progress and proposals, seek grants, manage projects, and oversee budgets. They generally guarantee that an organization's activities and programs are met with the vision and mission statements of that foundation. It is the program officer's responsibility to complete various tasks in completing the demands of this position. Moreover, their job includes developing their staff, implementation, and daily management of activities.
Program officer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real program officer resumes:
- Manage request for proposals (RFP) processes, and oversee contractors/vendors for research-relate activities.
- Manage a political party strengthening program in Colombia and a civil society strengthening program in Peru from NDI's main office.
- Lead the introduction and upgrade of wireless infrastructure at remote locations to ensure adherence with internal and international wireless standards.
- Follow privacy guidelines (HIPAA).
- Increase immunization coverage for the different age groups.
- Improve store rates for hitting all internal sales and QA goals.
- Serve as project ambassador, liaising with management, the USG and peer organizations.
- Provide early childhood training to all teaching staff in addition to parents and other agency personnel.
- Designate liaison between federal government auditors and HSD for HIPAA security and privacy policies and procedures.
- Provide programmatic leadership to co-workers and advance U.S. Government (USG) OFDA polices with donors and other stakeholders.
- Conduct direct liaison daily with senior DoD personnel on issues pertaining to defense systems, acquisition policies and procedures.
- Coordinate program security relate actions via DOD, SAF/AQ, and other private industry contractors as needed to facilitate program milestones.
- Develop integrated math program for school-wide implementation.
- Provide management oversight and direction for program operations with focus on operational optimization.
- Coordinate recruitment, logistics; negotiate venues, speaker fees, arrange speaker transportation/accommodation.
Program officer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 9% of Program Officers are proficient in Project Management, Program Management, and Excellent Interpersonal. They’re also known for soft skills such as Managerial skills, Problem-solving skills, and Analytical skills.
We break down the percentage of Program Officers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Project Management, 9%
Ensured proper and efficient use of resources, and proposed and undertook action on operational procedures affecting project management and implementation.
- Program Management, 7%
Ensured Memorandums of Agreement and delegations were fulfilled and contract management, buying personnel were responding to program management officials.
- Excellent Interpersonal, 5%
Utilized excellent interpersonal skills to collaborate and interact with internal/external customers.
- PowerPoint, 5%
Managed program budget to facilitate corporate decision making; created PowerPoint slides for Executive Steering meeting.
- Public Health, 5%
Advised contracted service agencies on existing related public health regulations and sources of administrative support.
- Professional Development, 5%
Provided Professional Development in Differentiated Instruction, Literacy Across Curriculum, Classroom Management, Understanding by Design and Project Based Learning.
"project management," "program management," and "excellent interpersonal" are among the most common skills that program officers use at work. You can find even more program officer responsibilities below, including:
Managerial skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a program officer to have is managerial skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "social and community service managers spend much of their time administering budgets and responding to a variety of issues." Program officers often use managerial skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "provided the managerial oversight for a residential facility * coordinated the recruitment, development, and training of residential staff"
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform program officer duties is problem-solving skills. Program officers responsibilities require that "social and community service managers must be able to address client, staff, and agency-related issues." Program officers also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "conducted telephone/video conference interviews with 10 in-country implementers to obtain feedback on technical assistance solutions. "
Analytical skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of program officers is analytical skills. This skill is critical to many everyday program officer duties, as "social and community service managers need to understand and evaluate data in order to provide strategic guidance to their organization." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "analyze financial reports to identify trends and opportunities, and ensure adequate workforce coverage in place and utilized efficiently. "
Time-management skills. A big part of what program officers do relies on "time-management skills." You can see how essential it is to program officer responsibilities because "social and community service managers must prioritize and handle numerous tasks, often in a short timeframe." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical program officer tasks: "program management - responsible for the annual on time delivery of over 11 million test booklets and corresponding manuals and materials. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for program officer responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of program officers all the time, as "social and community service managers must be able to speak and write clearly." An excerpt from a real program officer resume shows how this skill is central to what a program officer does: "created communications such as press releases, requests for proposals and marketing materials. "
The three companies that hire the most program officers are:
- Bank of the West
29 program officers jobs
- Wells Fargo18 program officers jobs
- State Bar of Texas17 program officers jobs
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Compare different program officers
Program officer vs. Residential manager
A residential manager coordinates and oversees all activities that happen in a residential building. They work with their employers to market their apartments and ensure all the occupants qualify to be in the building. They are often the face of the building and also manage the financials of the residential building. Their duties and responsibilities include marketing the building, encouraging tenants, and keeping financial records of all property operations.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, program officer responsibilities require skills like "project management," "program management," "excellent interpersonal," and "powerpoint." Meanwhile a typical residential manager has skills in areas such as "developmental disabilities," "related training," "oversight," and "incident reports." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Residential managers tend to make the most money working in the government industry, where they earn an average salary of $37,859. In contrast, program officers make the biggest average salary, $87,517, in the finance industry.residential managers tend to reach lower levels of education than program officers. In fact, residential managers are 16.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.9% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Program officer vs. Youth coordinator
A youth coordinator is mainly focused on developing and facilitating programs for children in various settings that enhance and support personal youth education and development. As a youth coordinator, you need to understand recreational and Educational Services and activities with strong leadership skills. It will help if you are a compelling communicator because you will be communicating with youths and various services. Youth coordinators can possess a university degree to enhance their career, but it isn't necessary for this job.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, program officer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "project management," "program management," "excellent interpersonal," and "public health." Meanwhile, a youth coordinator has duties that require skills in areas such as "youth program," "community outreach," "youth development," and "mental health." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Youth coordinators may earn a lower salary than program officers, but youth coordinators earn the most pay in the hospitality industry with an average salary of $39,966. On the other hand, program officers receive higher pay in the finance industry, where they earn an average salary of $87,517.youth coordinators earn lower levels of education than program officers in general. They're 14.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 2.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Program Officers in the next 3-5 years?
Namita Sugandhi Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Anthropology, Hartwick College
Program officer vs. Volunteer leader
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, program officers are more likely to have skills like "project management," "program management," "excellent interpersonal," and "public health." But a volunteer leader is more likely to have skills like "leadership," "community outreach," "role model," and "leadership meetings."
Most volunteer leaders achieve a lower degree level compared to program officers. For example, they're 17.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 2.4% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Program officer vs. Member/volunteer
Even though a few skill sets overlap between program officers and member/volunteers, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a program officer might have more use for skills like "project management," "program management," "excellent interpersonal," and "public health." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of member/volunteers require skills like "community outreach," "emergency calls," "cpr," and "local community. "
The average resume of member/volunteers showed that they earn lower levels of education compared to program officers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 16.0% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 1.3%.Types of program officer
Updated January 8, 2025
