Who are Technical Project Managers and Why are They in High Demand?

The 2021 Research and Markets Report highlights a stupendous 10.67 per cent CAGR growth in the project management software industry. Recent years have witnessed a growing demand for all-inclusive technologists with enviable soft skills, such as managerial and leadership qualities. This intelligent mix of talents is found in technical project managers as they pilot their company in a landscape of boundless digital transformation. Rising demand also means lucrative technical project manager salary packages. This article walks you through the reasons behind technical managers’ popularity, their crucial mix of skills, and the top salary packages they attract for the challenging portfolio. Give it a read! 

Introduction to Technical Project Management

Technical project management is a hybrid offshoot of the project management field. Technical project managers bridge the gap between an envisioned project and its technical possibility in the real world. They define the technical possibilities of a project and also elucidate the resources necessary for execution. A technical project manager may be informally defined as a tech guru with leadership experience. They are the driving force behind organizational development with the ability to lead with data-driven decisions, an innovative mindset, and a strong sense of collaborative leadership.  

Are Technical Project Managers in Demand and Why?

A specialized mix of leadership, organizational, and communication skills enable technical project managers to lead complex development projects. Technical project managers are in heavy demand across industries because:

1. They are effective communicators between technical and non-technical professionals. This ensures every department of a company is on the same page regarding a project’s vision and understands the problems they need to address.
2. Technical project managers today are extremely data-literate and leverage advances in human-machine interaction to further company goals, which makes them instruments of innovation.
3. Due to their hybrid portfolio, technical project managers also foster a flexible culture that can align themselves with modern disruptive technologies, such as blockchain and data science. 

The 2021 Talent Gap report by Project Management Institute (PMI) highlights that the technical management field will attract up to 2.3 million new jobs every year up to 2030, reflecting the worldwide demand for technical project managers.

Average Technical Project Manager Salary

The portfolio of a technical project manager is diverse and involves furnishing an entire array of roles. A typical day of a technical manager involves swapping through the following roles:

• Lead Technical Project Manager
• Assistant Technical Project Manager
• Technical Director of Program Management
• Technical Project Coordinator
• Technical Project Accountant
• Technical Project Scheduler

The median pay for technical project manager salary packages in the US is currently USD 102,286.

ALSO READ: 5 Best Software for Project Management That Can Be Used by Anyone

Average Salary Range Based on Knowledge and Experience

The role of a junior technical project expert involves monitoring ongoing projects, reporting project discrepancies, and their net daily progress to supervisors. After four years of experience, junior experts graduate to intermediate technical project managers and deal with complex risk mitigation and change management processes. Technical managers with over eight years of experience become eligible to segregate and delegate project roles. They also communicate current project status to senior executives and act as liaisons between the management and business units. 

Here’s a list of the average technical project manager salary packages:

ALSO READ: What is Project Management and How to Become a Successful PM

Build New Skills in Technical Project Management

As discussed before, one of the core competencies of technical project managers today is the ability to integrate all the different departments along a single vision and merge it with the defining technologies of our times. Let’s find out what are the different areas of expertise of a technical project manager:

Soft Skills

Flexibility and Adaptability

As a technical manager, it is essential to bend pre-determined work structures and strategize newer ways to furnish project goals.

Strong Communication Skills

They are the important bridge between various participants of a project, within and outside the organization. 

Problem-solving and Business Management Skills

The project development process involves numerous technical roadblocks or practical obstacles requiring strong logical and critical thinking skills.

Change Management Skills

Change management is the skill of tactfully navigating the transformation of organizational goals and technologies within a given period of time. As companies increasingly endorse digital transformation, developing this skill is central to a technical manager’s portfolio.

Efficient Team Player

To successfully turn a vision into reality, one has to simultaneously be a constant source of motivation and also anchor the present developmental stage/s with the long-term vision.

Technical Skills

Data Science

Data management, analytics, and big data are some of the most important resources behind a realistic project vision and determining its future success.

Business Analytics

Strong business acumen will be the most important asset for a technical project manager as each organizational goal stands on the best business practices.

Machine Learning  

Machine learning helps in project optimization, risk management, and detecting code deviations in advance, making them indispensable tools for technical success.

Software Development

This is a must for managers to help them gauge the architecture of programs involved in the product development lifecycle. 

Coding Skills

Being a technical manager requires proficiency in the most common programming languages, such as Python, C++, and JavaScript.

Practical Skills

Budgeting and Scheduling

Technical managers collaborate with accountants to relay all the technical and non-technical details relevant to the budget.

Construction Management

A thorough understanding of agile project management tools, such as Scrum and JIRA, is a cornerstone of a technical manager’s career.

ALSO READ: What Coding Language Should I Learn to Succeed in Life?

Technical Project Manager Salary – By Location

Here are the average technical project manager salary packages of different countries:

Source: Glassdoor.com

What is the Highest Salary for a Technical Project Manager in the USA?

Here is a list of the highest annual blockchain developer salary packages in the USA:

Source: Glassdoor.com

Learn with Emeritus

A BLS report projects the job growth for project management specialists by 7 per cent every year between 2021 and 2031. This data is in alignment with the PMI report that predicted a whopping 88 million individuals in project management-associated jobs by 2027. So, if you are planning a major career shift or thinking about increasing your skill set, check out the latest project management courses from Emeritus. 

By Bishwadeep Mitra

Write to us at content@emeritus.org