How To Become A Survey Project Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a survey project manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

For individuals who enjoy building things, and have a knack for math and design, a position as a survey project manager can be a rewarding career choice. A survey project manager is responsible for managing survey crews who map out engineering and construction plans. Surveyors do all of the ground-work for construction projects, and this entails taking exact measurements of elevation, property boundaries, and providing data regarding the location, shape, elevation, or dimension of land features in preparation for construction projects.

A survey project manager oversees the collection of data used for mapmaking and design for not only construction projects, but for mining, land evaluation, and other projects as well. A survey project manager is responsible for preparing proposals, contracts, and reports, meeting with clients, performing survey work in the field, as well as supervising in-office and field employees and tasks. These individuals should be familiar with computers and design software and be able to generate cost estimates and project plans. A survey project manager also supervises and organizes survey crews, technicians, and other staff members, and meets with clients regarding project budgets, contracts, and timelines.

A survey project manager is skilled in maintaining accurate documentation, records, and project designs and should be able to oversee the successful and accurate completion of field projects. This individual should also have strong written, computer, communication, and interpersonal skills, and be capable of interacting with clients and managing multiple projects. Although an advanced degree is not required for this field, most survey project managers have experience in field surveying, and many states do require licensing. Most survey project managers make up to $29 an hour, or $60,000 a year, and US job growth in this area is projected at 6% by 2029.

ScoreSurvey Project ManagerUS Average

Salary

4.7

Avg. Salary $60,193

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.8

Growth rate 1%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.5

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.52%

Asian 5.01%

Black or African American 3.36%

Hispanic or Latino 10.92%

Unknown 4.84%

White 75.35%

Gender

female 7.84%

male 92.16%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

7.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.9

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a survey project manager

Explore survey project manager education requirements

Most common survey project manager degrees

Bachelor's

57.2 %

Associate

23.7 %

Diploma

5.6 %

Start to develop specific survey project manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Civil 3D	11.56%
GPS	10.63%
Project Management	7.65%
Survey Data	5.75%
Survey Projects	5.08%

Complete relevant survey project manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 2-4 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New survey project managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a survey project manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real survey project manager resumes.

Obtain the necessary licensing

Becoming a licensed survey project manager usually doesn't require a college degree. However, you need to pass an exam to become a licensed survey project manager in most of states. 44 states require survey project managers to have license for their work. You can see the list of states below.

State	Education	Exam	License url
Alabama	Degree required	Both state and third-party exams required	Licensed Land Surveyor
Maryland	Degree required	State exam required	PROFESSIONAL LAND SURVEYOR
Alaska	-	-	Land Surveyor
Arkansas	-	State exam required	Professional Surveyor
California	Degree required	Both state and third-party exams required	Land Surveyor

Research survey project manager duties and responsibilities

Manage a variety of construction, boundary, right-of-way and easement surveys.
Lead team as point of reference for plat interpretation and schedule requirements for ALTA certify surveys.
Manage and direct a team of 10 for a Lidar analysis and 3D spatial modeling contract through FSU.
Manage overall SAP/ERP software application development life-cycle and assure completion of ERP readiness tasks.

Prepare your survey project manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your survey project manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a survey project manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable survey project manager resume templates

Build a professional survey project manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your survey project manager resume.