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Senior technical program manager vs information technology project manager

The differences between senior technical program managers and information technology project managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a senior technical program manager, becoming an information technology project manager takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a senior technical program manager has an average salary of $137,188, which is higher than the $106,981 average annual salary of an information technology project manager.

The top three skills for a senior technical program manager include technical program, program management and project management. The most important skills for an information technology project manager are project management, infrastructure, and scrum.

Senior technical program manager vs information technology project manager overview

Senior Technical Program ManagerInformation Technology Project Manager
Yearly salary$137,188$106,981
Hourly rate$65.96$51.43
Growth rate16%-
Number of jobs252,894207,249
Job satisfaction-3
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Average age4744
Years of experience86

What does a senior technical program manager do?

A senior technical program manager is responsible for handling the overall development of technical project processes from the initial conceptualization to the completion. Senior technical program managers lead the development team, implementing strategic procedures to maintain the efficiency and accuracy of the output, as well as developing quality control techniques to spot inconsistencies and system failures. They also monitor the current technology trends, identify cost-reduction resources, and research on technical opportunities that would bring more revenues and increase the company's profitability.

What does an information technology project manager do?

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.

Senior technical program manager vs information technology project manager salary

Senior technical program managers and information technology project managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Technical Program ManagerInformation Technology Project Manager
Average salary$137,188$106,981
Salary rangeBetween $102,000 And $184,000Between $76,000 And $149,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAMenlo Park, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyRokuReed Smith
Best paying industryReal EstateTechnology

Differences between senior technical program manager and information technology project manager education

There are a few differences between a senior technical program manager and an information technology project manager in terms of educational background:

Senior Technical Program ManagerInformation Technology Project Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 67%Bachelor's Degree, 68%
Most common majorBusinessBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Senior technical program manager vs information technology project manager demographics

Here are the differences between senior technical program managers' and information technology project managers' demographics:

Senior Technical Program ManagerInformation Technology Project Manager
Average age4744
Gender ratioMale, 74.7% Female, 25.3%Male, 66.4% Female, 33.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 8.9% Asian, 18.7% White, 61.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%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%
LGBT Percentage11%11%

Differences between senior technical program manager and information technology project manager duties and responsibilities

Senior technical program manager example responsibilities.

  • Lead application development and architecture in a large scale environment that manage company's mortgage financial data.
  • Conduct daily scrum meetings with agile teams to manage scope, schedules, and budgets.
  • Manage deployment of DynMRO SaaS solution to every program which include the overall release and versioning control.
  • Plan, manage, and contribute to full SDLC of transaction processing tools (e-Commerce and POS).
  • Manage test execution across all stages of testing (QA, integration, performance, UAT and for operational readiness).
  • Manage integration of bank acquisition ATM infrastructure into corporate core.
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Information technology project manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage schedules, payroll, and customer relations for all subordinates.
  • Prepare detailed work breakdown structures (WBS) and instill shared accountability for achieving project milestones.
  • Project hardware and software resources are manage through accurate control of notebook, desktop and remote server master build configurations.
  • Manage change windows and verify impact to production environment.
  • Manage Java development team in translating functional specifications into J2EE application.
  • Manage approximately twenty small/medium EDI projects simultaneously for national medical insurance providers for transportation.
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Senior technical program manager vs information technology project manager skills

Common senior technical program manager skills
  • Technical Program, 10%
  • Program Management, 9%
  • Project Management, 8%
  • Cloud, 7%
  • Software Development, 6%
  • Infrastructure, 5%
Common information technology project manager skills
  • Project Management, 16%
  • Infrastructure, 7%
  • Scrum, 5%
  • Software Development, 4%
  • Project Scope, 4%
  • Risk Management, 3%

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