How To Become A Test Program Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a test program manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Meaghan Goodman Ph.D.

The average test program manager salary is $107,287. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an electrical engineering major. It usually takes 2-4 years of experience to become a test program manager. Test program managers with a Project Management Professional (PMP) certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 11% and produce 108,400 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for a test program manager?

Meaghan Goodman Ph.D.

Program Director & Assistant Professor, Maryville University

A bachelor's in communication sciences and disorders can prepare you for three different tracks. First, it can prepare you to become a licensed Speech-Language Pathology Assistant (SLPA). This is someone who works under a fully credential speech-language pathologist. Often times, they carryout intervention plans developed by a fully credentialed speech-language pathologist. If graduate school is on your horizon, a bachelor's degree in communication sciences and disorders will prepare you for acceptance into a Speech-Language Pathology program, or an Audiology program. If you are not accepted into a graduate program right away, working as a speech-language pathology assistant (SLPA) is a great way to get experience in the field!

ScoreTest Program ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.8

Avg. Salary $107,287

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

5.1

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 8.82%

Unknown 4.70%

White 67.73%

Gender

female 34.76%

male 65.24%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

5.1

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

6.1

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a test program manager

Explore test program manager education requirements

Most common test program manager degrees

Bachelor's

62.4 %

Master's

19.5 %

Associate

11.1 %

Start to develop specific test program manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Life Cycle	5.69%
SQL	5.44%
Test Coverage	4.72%
Status Reports	4.19%
QA	4.17%

Complete relevant test program manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New test program 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 test program manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real test program manager resumes.

Research test program manager duties and responsibilities

Lead development of custom quoting tool build in Salesforce from requirements definition to implementation.
Utilize Unix shell scripting to maintain the bug tracking database.
Conduct vendor audits for performance, process issues, and ROI.
Assist in creation and testing of programs using Java, HTML and C++ languages.

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