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Project manager/design manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

6 min read

Quoted experts

David Rockwood,

David Rockwood

Project manager/design manager example skills

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical project manager/design manager skills. We ranked the top skills for project manager/design managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 19.7% of project manager/design manager resumes contained project management as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills a project manager/design manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 project manager/design manager skills for your resume and career

1. Project Management

Here's how project manager/design managers use project management:

Provided project management, conceptual design, and preliminary engineering expertise for large-scale, environmental graphic design and public art projects.
Conducted residential inspections for individual home owners in support of project renovations and provided project management consultation to home owners.

2. CAD

Here's how project manager/design managers use cad:

Design fully functional and coordinated fire protection system drawings utilizing 3-Dimensional CAD Software.
Worked on Computerized Integrated Facility Management software integrated into CAD.

3. Construction Management

Here's how project manager/design managers use construction management:

Provide leadership in design and construction management through all phases of commercial and residential renovation projects.
Prepare documents for design-build bid process and complete documentation in collaboration with construction management team.

4. Fire Protection

Here's how project manager/design managers use fire protection:

Coordinated with National Fire Protection Agency and Federal Department of Transportation to insure all federal safety and standards where achieved.
Diversified Fire Protection offered design and installation of residential and commercial fire suppression systems.

5. Project Scope

Here's how project manager/design managers use project scope:

Established schedules, assessed project scope and budgets, prepared and made presentations to secure all project internal and civic approvals.
Consulted with clients to determine project scope, including space planning, FF&E utilization, and color schemes.

6. Revit

Revit, also known as Autodesk Revit, is computer software used by architects, structural engineers, and designers to perform building modeling tasks. Revit was designed to facilitate users, draw building modeling structures in a 2D and 3D format. Creating such models allows architects and engineers to pre-planning, scheduling, estimating the life of the structure and the entire cost of construction.

Here's how project manager/design managers use revit:

Performed Revit modeling and rendering.
Drafted Project's layouts and produced furniture and lighting plans using AutoCAD and Revit.

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7. Design Projects

Design projects are used to create a product or service to serve a specific customer or client need. They may entail thinking about the ideas, materials necessary for the idea and the steps that will be followed to realize the idea.

Here's how project manager/design managers use design projects:

Coordinated, executed and supervised large architectural design projects for this company specializing in the design and development of commercial kitchens.
Project managed learning and performance development, technical documentation and information design projects from inception to release.

8. Sub Contractors

A subcontractor works on a contractual basis wherein they perform duties intended only for a particular client or customer. It is done to agree on terms with the contractor and not with a client. Typically, it is a specific type of concentration where they meant to partner with different contractors depending on the project to be implemented.

Here's how project manager/design managers use sub contractors:

Identify resources necessary and assign individual responsibilities to sub contractors.
Coordinated sub contractors, inspections and delivery of materials.

9. General Contractors

A general contractor is a person who has the job of overseeing a construction project after a contract has been signed between the property owner and the contractor. A general contractor is also called a direct contractor and provides all of the labor, material, equipment like tools, and transport. Most of the time, a general contractor also hires multiple subcontractors to do all or different parts of the construction work.

Here's how project manager/design managers use general contractors:

Assist RBC project managers with solicitation of general contractors for construction projects that included development of project schedules and bid evaluation.
Prepared and provided bid documents to selected general contractors, analyzed, negotiated and awarded scheduled received bids.

10. Construction Projects

A construction project is an organized process of constructing, redeveloping, renovating, or otherwise improving a building, or structure. The project phase begins usually as a broad criterion that is then made with the help of a brief, feasibility analysis, funding, and planning. The majority of construction projects are one-time jobs.

Here's how project manager/design managers use construction projects:

Coordinated capital improvement construction projects and led implementation of new sign, furniture and finish standards achieving a uniform, improved image
Managed a variety of commercial construction projects involving material estimates/purchases, bid preparation, design layout and detail drawing creation.

11. Business Development

Business development is the ideas or initiatives that work to make business work better. Selling, advertising, product development, supply chain management, and vendor management are only a few of the divisions involved with it. There is still a lot of networking, negotiating, forming alliances, and trying to save money. The goals set for business development guide and coordinate with all of these various operations and sectors.

Here's how project manager/design managers use business development:

Participated in business development and evaluated contractors.
Participated in the company Business development and growth by introducing potential clients such us Church of the Holy Apostles

12. Cost Estimates

Here's how project manager/design managers use cost estimates:

Write school property inspection report including cost estimates to correct physical deficiencies and to implement renovation/modernization plans.
Prepared construction cost estimates and quality assurance/control reviews for design drawings and construction practices.

13. Design Concepts

Here's how project manager/design managers use design concepts:

Provide creative support by developing and utilizing design concepts to reinforce brand positioning or further product development.
Developed engineering feasibility studies of various design concepts.

14. Construction Process

Here's how project manager/design managers use construction process:

Consulted with contractors during construction process, selecting finishes and architectural elements.
Streamlined operations, manufacturing, and construction processes.

15. Graphic Design

Graphic design is the art of making visual content to communicate messages. Designers apply different page layout methods and visual hierarchy by using letters and pictures to meet the need of end-users. Most companies use graphic design to sell their product or services and to convey complicated information by using infographics.

Here's how project manager/design managers use graphic design:

Provided leadership in all creative discussions with television network producers to pitch in-house graphic design ideas for generated revenue.
Provide graphic design for various marketing and/or advertising materials as well as hand-drawn and hand-colored renderings of various concepts/proposals/projects.

5 Project Manager/Design Manager resume examples

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What skills help Project Manager/Design Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on project manager/design manager resumes?

David Rockwood

Architect, Professor, DArch Program Director, University of Hawaii at Manoa

-prior relevant experience
-prior related experience
-scope/complexity of projects

What soft skills should all project manager/design managers possess?

David Rockwood

Architect, Professor, DArch Program Director, University of Hawaii at Manoa

-communication
-team building
-accuracy
-responsibility

What hard/technical skills are most important for project manager/design managers?

David Rockwood

Architect, Professor, DArch Program Director, University of Hawaii at Manoa

-construction process/sequencing
-structural and MEP systems knowledge
-scheduling and workflow

What project manager/design manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Neil Opfer

Assoc. Professor - UNLV Civil & Environmental Engineering & Construction Department, Website

First off, know what competitive salaries are in your area of the country for the type of job you want as you never have to recover from a good start. Some companies, for instance, will offer salaries that are simply not competitive. As an example, a few years ago, we had one CM graduate starting at $70K per year at one firm (heavy-highway contractor) whereas another grad had been offered $42K per year for a commercial flooring contractor. That $42K was simply not competitive with the market whether that employer offering that salary knew it or not. Also, compare offers versus area living costs. Use cost-of-living calculators such as at bankrate.com If you, using this bankrate.com tool, were offered one job in Las Vegas NV at $80,000 per year versus another job opportunity in Los Angeles CA, you would need $122,000 per year as a comparable salary. Remember to measure yourself as to earning that salary on a regular basis. Don't take jobs where a bonus is promised to make up for a bad salary. Example here is taking a Superintendent Job where your Job ended up profitable but other jobs run by others overall didn't so taking that lower salary and not getting that bonus didn't work out so well. Again, benchmark yourself against what others in the industry in that same area are actually getting paid. If you truly feel you deserve a raise where you're at but can't get it you may need to change jobs to get to a higher salary scale. But that firm offering above-market salaries may be doing so because of internal problems (bad bosses, poor working conditions, insane hours, insane understaffing, etc.) so look before you leap. It's a given that to be successful as a working professional in construction, one cannot just work a 40-hour week. But you shouldn't be working 7-10s or more on a regular basis either. Again, through networking you perhaps can find out who are the 'bad employers.'

What type of skills will young project manager/design managers need?

Ben F. Bigelow Ph.D.

Director, University of Oklahoma

Construction companies want someone who can "speak the language" when they arrive, so instead of teaching about the industry; they are teaching about their company and its processes, etc. While there are technical skills graduates should have, construction companies are far more concerned with graduate's soft skills; can they communicate clearly and effectively in writing and speaking?

What technical skills for a project manager/design manager stand out to employers?

Kristen Parrish Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Arizona State University

This is pretty dependent on the job that you're going for, but I think that one technical skill that employers in construction look for is the ability to communicate technical information clearly and concisely. This will be critical onsite and in the office -- you need to demonstrate an understanding of how a project comes together, and this requires the ability to communicate clearly. Beyond the communication, a technical understanding of material behavior (i.e., concrete curing, crane picks, etc.).

Do you want to know more?

List of project manager/design manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for a project manager/design manager resume and required skills for a project manager/design manager to have include:

Project Management
CAD
Construction Management
Fire Protection
Project Scope
Revit
Design Projects
Sub Contractors
General Contractors
Construction Projects
Business Development
Cost Estimates
Design Concepts
Construction Process
Graphic Design
Design Development

Design Process
Shop Drawings
PowerPoint
Space Planning
Architectural Design
Design Services
Sketch
Construction Administration
Cash Flow
Project Completion
Construction Drawings
Project Specifications
Project Budget
Schematic Design
MEP
BIM

Design Management
Design Drawings
HVAC
SketchUp
Industrial Design
Adobe Photoshop
Solidworks
Client Satisfaction
FF
Retrofit
NYC
RFI
Client Relations
Conceptual Development
Residential Projects

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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