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Business Management and Operations

Business Management and Operations | Program Manager (General)

Program Manager (General)

What Does a Professional in this Career Do?

A Program Manager manages ongoing program activity, or a group of related projects, for a company or organization. May work in production, administration, advertising/marketing, human resources, technology, finance and other technical areas such as engineering.

Job Outlook

There were 762 Program Manager (General) job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 32262 in the United States.

In combination with other careers in the Program Manager industry, which includes the Program Manager (General) career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2015:

Salary

Many new Program Manager (General) jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.

National

The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $130,064.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $128,324.

Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Program Manager (General) postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $102,445.

Education and Experience

Posted Program Manager (General) jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.

Education LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree63.74%
Master's Degree29.64%
Doctoral Degree3.77%
Other7.31%

Posted Program Manager (General) jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.

Years of ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years17.23%
3 to 5 years41.57%
6 to 8 years17.72%
9+ years23.48%

Skills

Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Program Manager (General) positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.

Baseline Skills

A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.

  • Program Management (79.14%)
  • Communication (52.77%)
  • Management (52.55%)
  • Leadership (46.15%)
  • Operations (34.63%)
  • Planning (34.29%)
  • Coordinating (25.43%)
  • Problem Solving (20.96%)
  • Writing (19.16%)
  • Presentations (17.55%)

Defining Skills

A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.

  • Project Management (56.12%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Program Development (6.33%)
  • Agile Methodology (10.08%)
  • Change Management (10.08%)
  • Business Development (10.5%)
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (7.74%)
  • Social Work (6.41%)
  • Finance (15.53%)
  • Data Analysis (10.36%)
  • Risk Management (11.6%)
  • Milestones (Project Management) (14.94%)
  • Procurement (7.9%)
  • Marketing (14.85%)
  • Process Improvement (13.31%)
  • Stakeholder Management (4.6%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Program Manager (General) skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Program Manager
  • Deputy Program Manager
  • Program Leader
  • Lead Program Manager
  • Program Operations Manager
  • Acquisition Program Manager
  • Assistant Program Manager
  • Research Program Manager
  • Associate Program Manager
  • After School Program Leader

Similar Occupations

If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.

Common Employers

Here are the employers that have posted the most Program Manager (General) jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.

United States

  • Amazon (817)
  • Lumen Technologies (363)
  • Meta (292)
  • L3Harris Technologies (247)
  • BCforward (186)
  • Northrop Grumman (179)
  • CDM Smith (169)
  • General Dynamics (162)
  • Syms Strategic Group (160)
  • Leidos (158)

North Carolina

  • Goodwill (58)
  • Duke University (19)
  • General Dynamics (10)
  • PharMerica (10)
  • Bountiful Life (10)
  • University of North Carolina (9)
  • Eaton Corporation (8)
  • RHA Health Services (8)
  • Lumen Technologies (7)
  • AECOM (7)

NC State Programs Relevant to this Career

If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!