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Project officer vs project manager

The differences between project officers 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 $59,291 average annual salary of a project officer.

The top three skills for a project officer include project management, technical assistance and press releases. The most important skills for a project manager are project management, project scope, and customer service.

Project officer vs project manager overview

Project OfficerProject Manager
Yearly salary$59,291$91,578
Hourly rate$28.51$44.03
Growth rate-8%8%
Number of jobs127,352167,116
Job satisfaction-4.17
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4747
Years of experience--

What does a project officer do?

A project officer provides vital support to a project by monitoring deadlines for each project task and closely monitors the project schedule. They work with the project manager and other team members to reach the project target. They can work in almost every field of industry, such as construction, communications, education, and even sales. They can also do administrative tasks, including arranging team meetings, file project documents to the database, and technological skills, and they report directly to the Project Manager to assess project progress and to discuss future steps.

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.

Project officer vs project manager salary

Project officers and project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Project OfficerProject Manager
Average salary$59,291$91,578
Salary rangeBetween $41,000 And $84,000Between $64,000 And $129,000
Highest paying CityBaltimore, MDSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateRhode IslandCalifornia
Best paying companyMorgan StanleyThe Citadel
Best paying industryHealth CareTechnology

Differences between project officer and project manager education

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

Project OfficerProject Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 63%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaUniversity of Pennsylvania

Project officer vs project manager demographics

Here are the differences between project officers' and project managers' demographics:

Project OfficerProject Manager
Average age4747
Gender ratioMale, 65.5% Female, 34.5%Male, 68.9% Female, 31.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 7.6% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.7% Asian, 9.0% White, 65.3% 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 project officer and project manager duties and responsibilities

Project officer example responsibilities.

  • Lead project to create a PMO data warehouse for analysts to track, validate, analyze and manage day-to-day portfolio activities.
  • Manage repository of SharePoint site to update and monitor inventory.
  • Lead multiple projects, including developing a SharePoint information portal.
  • Manage quality assurance checks for FDA and internal audits which result in no documentation/information error and successful completion of the audits.
  • Review and provide analysis statements on RFP and subsequent contractor responses to RFP.
  • Design and implement an algorithm to crawl over LinkedIn API and merge them using python program.
  • Show more

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.
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Project officer vs project manager skills

Common project officer skills
  • Project Management, 18%
  • Technical Assistance, 9%
  • Press Releases, 7%
  • Project Proposals, 7%
  • Logistical Support, 6%
  • Financial Reports, 6%
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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