IT project manager

IT project manager is an employee whose purpose is to support a specific project from planning to implementation. The criterion for success here is the correspondence of the result to the tasks set.

The essence of the project may be the development of a new information system or the implementation of an existing system in the company. At one time, an IT project manager can be involved in one large project or several small ones. In any case, his work is versatile, he has to constantly switch from one task to another and at the same time keep the big picture in front of his eyes.

Qualifications

An IT project manager must be familiar with the basics of systems analysis, understand modern software and information systems, know the basics of budgeting and be able to manage people. He should be fluent in project management standards and best practices. An IT project manager must understand the essence of the business processes of companies in which an information system is being implemented.

This employee usually has a higher education in the field of information technology, and also takes advanced courses in the field of project management. You can grow to this position by gradually moving up the career ladder in the IT department of one organization.

To take this position from scratch, experience in a similar position is usually required. Moreover, the new employer will be interested not only in formal work experience, but also in examples of successfully implemented tasks. It is better to describe your successes in advance in your resume.

Functional responsibilities

Project management in the IT field includes the following job responsibilities:

• Determination of deadlines for completion of various stages of work;
• Development of an action plan;
• Calculation of financial costs for the purchase of equipment, wages, other necessary purposes;
• Daily management of the personnel involved in the work;
• Quality control;
• Identification of possible risks and their minimization;
• Hiring subcontractors to perform certain functions;
• Timely introduction of changes to plans and deadlines, if the situation requires it;
• Ensuring communication between all participants in the implementation of the project, reducing their efforts to a single result.

Professional skills

The official professional standard "Project Manager in the field of information technology" was approved in Russia in 2014. The basic requirements set out in the document are supplemented and specified in the job descriptions of organizations. Usually the main requirements are indicated in the job description.

The IT project manager must be familiar with modern management tools (such as network diagrams and analysis of alternatives) and be familiar with the IT field. IT is a dynamic, rapidly developing area. Therefore, an employee must be ready to constantly improve their skills, learn about new software products and new generation equipment. To study technical documentation and articles in professional media, in most cases, you will need a confident knowledge of English.

To manage projects, it is necessary to navigate in economic issues, be able to calculate the budget and control its execution. The IT project manager must understand how to minimize costs and in what cases cost reduction is undesirable due to the negative impact on the timing and quality of work. A good IT project manager is able to fully explain his position to the customer.

The IT project manager must correctly select employees for various tasks and correctly build communications between them. Moreover, we are talking not only about establishing ties between people, but also about the technical support of this process. Sometimes a chat in a messenger created on time directly affects the success of a common work.

An important part of IT project management is documentation. Sometimes the IT project manager has to conclude legal contracts with suppliers and subcontractors, draw up transparent reporting for the customer and regulatory authorities. At the same time, errors in documents sometimes force you to start all over again and bring large losses.

The opportunity to improve the qualifications for IT project managers, confirmed by a diploma from the Higher School of Economics, was implemented at the Higher School of Economics at the Higher School of Economics as part of a professional retraining program "IT and IT Project Management" or program