Program Manager resume examples & templates

The best program manager resumes highlight a candidate’s ability to work with various departments and lead strategic initiatives. That’s because program managers are the overseers of the entire lifecycle of their programs. 

This is distinct from a product manager. The Program Manager Institute says the program manager can be thought of as a “super project manager” in that they manage all the projects with a business program. 

When looking for a job, your program is your entire job search. A big part of that is the resume writing project. Use our free resume examples and this guide, which is full of resume tips, to help you along the way.

Resume guide for a program manager resume

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This resume guide and corresponding program manager resume example will cover the following:

• How to write a program manager resume
• Choosing the right resume format for program management
• How to add your contact information
• Using summaries
• Adding your program manager experience
• Listing education and relevant experience
• Picking the right resume design/layout
• What the program manager market looks like, and what salary you can expect

How to write a program manager resume

Before you start on your program manager resume, you need to know what to include. Here’s a breakdown of the main elements: 

• The resume header
• The resume summary (aka profile or personal statement)
• The employment history section
• The resume skills section
• The education section

Your job is to convince hiring managers that you are the right person for the job. Being a program manager requires great attention to detail as well as deep knowledge of the types of program you are managing. That’s a lot to get across in your program manager resume. 

How do you do that? By detailing the strongest examples from your work history and using vivid  descriptive language, without crossing the line into bragging territory. Let’s take a look at some of the strategies you might employ when writing your program manager resume: 

• Pinpoint your unique selling proposition and lead with it. This is the talent, trait, or characteristic that sets you apart from the crowd. Consider what specific strategies you use to manage teams and how each one leads you toward ultimate success.
• Don’t simply list your duties. Instead, highlight accomplishments that you have made throughout your career. For example, you might want to cover any successful program launches or your talents in program optimization. In each case, include statistics and facts to back up the claims that you have made.
• Always customize your resume to align with the job at hand. You can do this by going back to the original job posting and looking at the core criteria there.
• If you’re submitting your resume online, be sure to optimize your resume with appropriate keywords to get past the ATS screening software. You could also consider using an ATS resume template.

Choosing the right resume format for a program manager 

Next, you need to choose the best resume format for your document. Unless you have a great reason to do otherwise, you should organize your program manager resume using reverse chronological order. The goal of any resume is to make it easy for recruiters and Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) to parse your experience and they both favor this format.

Many career paths can lead to a role as a program manager. If your career has not taken a straight path, you may think about a hybrid resume format in which your skills have equal standing to your work history. This may also work if you have taken a sabbatical or have a gap in your career for another reason.

We have a whole range of field-tested resume templates in our resume builder. Simply choose the one that suits your career level and needs. It’s also smart to use a straightforward, modern layout that is easy for the hiring manager to read.

Include your contact information

If your program manager resume does its job, the hiring manager will want to contact you. Your header is your resume’s business card. It includes all of your contact details.

Make sure that this part of your resume is well-presented and easy to read. It should include the following details: 

• Full name & title. Start with your first and last name, plus the title of the role you are pursuing.
• Professional email address. Add an email address that is suitable for work. For example, one that includes your first and last name.
• Phone number. Next, add a phone number where you can be reached. Make sure that you check the answer phone message first.
• Location. You only need to include your city and state. Adding a full address is outdated. You can also add ' Willing to Relocate' here, if applicable.
• LinkedIn. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is active and relevant. If so, you can include it here as a hyperlink.

Don’t include:

• Date of birth. This is not needed and can lead to age discrimination.
• Personal details. Don’t include your marital status, social security number, passport number, etc.
• Photo headshot. There is no need to include a headshot on this type of application.

Make use of a summary

The goal of the summary section of your program manager resume is to show off both your professional achievements and your personality in 3-5 sentences. If a recruiter is impressed with your credentials, they will definitely read this for more information.

Describe one or two of your career highlights that best illustrate the skills you will need in your targeted job. Use a sentence or two to explain why your professional demeanor makes you a great fit for the job. Try to strike a balance between being modest and overplaying your hand.

Wherever possible, use action verbs in the simple past or present tense. Examples include led, managed, spearheaded, delivered, optimized, and transformed. 

Don’t make the mistake of simply repeating information that can be found elsewhere on your resume. Instead, figure out what makes you unique as a candidate and focus on that point. You can highlight your track record, any niche programs you’ve worked on, or your success rate. For example, you might write “Program manager confident in executing complex programs using Jira and Confluence to streamline processes and ensure timely delivery.” 

Remember, this is all about selling yourself to the hiring manager. With that in mind, you should focus on what makes you different from the sea of other candidates out there. You only get one shot to make the right first impression—don’t waste it. 

You can find adaptable program manager resume examples summary below:

Outline your program management work experience

The employment history section of your program manager resume takes up the bulk of your document. Having said that, only go back the last 10-15 years. Including any positions older than that won’t do you any favors. The goal here is to show a pattern of growth and achievement in your career.

How do you do that? Spend more of your precious space on your most current one or two jobs —the ones where you performed duties that make you a great candidate for the positions you are eyeing. Beneath the main details, include bullet points that showcase your achievements. 

Once again, you don’t want to merely include the duties of the role. Instead, you should focus on the results you gained. For example, the following points are lacking detail: 

• “Led strategic program developments”
• “Refined project management methodologies”
• “Built strong relationships with key stakeholders”

You can improve the above by adding details and making them into results-based points. Start by saying what you did and then follow into what the result of that was. That way, the hiring manager can see how your actions impacted the business positively. Let’s look at how some of the above points could be improved instantly. 

• “Led strategic program developments, resulting in a 20% increase in operational efficiency”
• “Refined project management methodologies cutting project completion times by 12%”
• “Achieved a 95% stakeholder satisfaction rate via continuous engagement”

Take a look at the program manager employment history resume sample below:

Include the relevant key skills that make you a great program manager

The skills section of your program manager resume offers recruiters a quick way to see whether your abilities match the position they want to fill. You should offer a mix of hard skills and soft skills and aim to list your higher level skills.

Hard skills are the ones that align directly with the role. For example, they may include “Jira and Confluence” or “Analytics”. Soft skills are more transferable such as communication skills. 

Our resume builder delivers several pre-written key skills to choose from plus proficiency ranges you can set. You can also write in your skills when creating your resume.

Here’s what the skills box looks like in our program manager resume template. 

While you should list your key skills in this section, consider the other ways that you can draw attention to them. For example, you might do the following: 

• Highlight your leadership skills by detailing the teams that you’ve managed and the results that you have gained together
• Showcase your communication skills by producing a well-written and concise program manager resume
• Explain how you used either Jira or Confluence when reporting on systems

Always look to the job description as a guide for what key skills to include.

Detail your education & relevant program management certifications

Next up, let’s deal with your education section. Many program managers have earned college degrees in a business field or another area as some employers may require a degree in the specific field in which you work. List all your academic achievements in the education section of your program manager resume.

Any honors or distinctions should be noted here as well. If you hold a degree higher than a bachelor’s, you may omit your high school diploma. Here are some other certificates you may include in this section of your resume:

• Program management certification. You may have completed the Program Management Professional (PgMP)® certificate from the Program Management Institute.
• Methodology certificates. Depending on the methods and strategies you use, you may have a certificate to prove your processes. For example, some program managers may be a Certified ScrumMaster(CSM).
• Project management certificates. Since project management is a central part of your position, you may also have certificates in this field. One popular certificate is the CompTIA Project+ award.
• On-the-job training. Aside from these specific certificates, you may have completed on-the-job training at a previous company. You can include information about that here.

Should your education be more dazzling than your career history, you may want to switch things up. Opting for a functional resume could be a simple way to position yourself for success. 

Pick the right resume layout and design for a program manager resume

Your position as a program manager requires great organizational skills. Your program manager resume should echo those skills by being crispy organized with neat margins, legible fonts, and obvious section headings for easy reading.

Here are program manager resume design and formatting guidelines to follow to ensure you make a great first impression:

• Try choosing a sans serif type such as Arial or Calibri for display text and a serif type such as Garamond or Constantia for your descriptions. Or try the opposite.
• Allow your contact information to stand out, but avoid a profile picture
• Proofread carefully to avoid any spelling, grammatical, or punctuation errors
• Create white space by varying your line lengths
• If you spill over to a second page, try not to break up sections

Don’t panic if you’re not a design whiz. Our resume templates do the hard work for you. Choose a design that reflects your professional prowess and fill out each section. 

Program manager text-only resume example

Program manager job market and outlook

The program manager job market is set to soar. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, this sector is growing “faster than average”. It is expected to continue to grow at a rate of 6% between 2022 and 2032. Back in 2022, there were 881,300 roles of this nature in the US.

What type of salary you can expect in program management

Program managers have excellent earning potential. You can expect to make around $98,580 per year or $47.39 per hour in this role, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics. Of course, how much you make will depend greatly on your level and where you work.

Key takeaways for building a program manager resume

When building your program manager resume, choose a crisply organized resume format and wow recruiters with the highlights of your career in your profile. Feature achievements in your employment history section that illustrate that you are already doing the job, and match your skills to the job listing to get you past the ATS. 

Supercharge your program manager job search with our online resume builder, then supercharge it with Resume.io.