Elena Prokopets
Claire Briggs Webber, CPRW
Operationally, every business is a panoply of programs and projects that must be executed successfully within their allotted budgets. In practice, however, many of the ambitious corporate initiatives get side-tracked. According to PMI, over 36% of projects suffer budget losses and 33% experience scope creep.
Program managers try to prevent the above scenarios by bringing strong leadership abilities and business acumen to the table. Experienced program managers combine knowledge in project management, process optimization, and risk management to help teams deliver the expected outcomes. These are the strengths you should bring forward in your resume.
But how do you do that? Use our sample program manager resume for initial guidance. Then apply extra customization tips.
Program Manager Resume (plain text)
Professional Summary
Certified Agile program manager with experience coordinating enterprise digitization and product development projects. In search of an opportunity to apply my expertise at a tech startup or media company.
Skills
- Scaled Agile (SAFe) & Scrum practitioner
- Program risk management
- Change management
- Business Analysis
- User Requirements Gathering
- RAM (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability)
- Capacity planning
- P&L analysis
- Conflict resolution
- Team management
Job Experience
The Digital Creative
Senior Program Manager
October 2019 – Present
Currently serving as the senior program manager at a digital agency, servicing enterprise-level customers in North America, Europe, and Asia. I am responsible for ensuring that large clients with multiple digital campaigns have a single inquiry point for project coordination. Additionally, the senior project management team reports to me as do the senior account managers.
- Acquired over 15 new customer accounts with an average annual valuation of 5.7 million each.
- Assembled and coached a team of 30 cross-functional professionals, distributed across NA and APAC
- Maintained an average project-on-time delivery rate of 92%.
Spotlight Films
Program/Project Manager
September 2016 – October 2019
Served as the program and project manager for a film and video production studio specializing in training films, K12 video productions, and digital marketing content. Ensured that production teams had access to the resources they needed, and helped to resolve conflicts that occurred when attempting to execute multiple campaigns for different clients.
- Implemented workflow optimization techniques, increasing team productivity velocity by 55% within 3 months
- Led new business development activities including ECPs and participated in pre-proposal strategic reviews, risk assessments, and proposal writing.
- Established a “Voice of Customer” feedback loop, which allowed to the production of more effective educational content for an Ivy League university.
Education
University of Southern Florida
May 2016
Bachelor of Arts Project & Program Management
Summa Cum Laude
Dean’s List
Association of Business Student – Honors Graduate
SAFe Certification by Scaled Agile, issued in 2018.
Scrum Master Certification by Scrum Alliance, issued in 2017.
Awards & Memberships
- Miami Chamber of Commerce
- Program Management Professionals Gold Award Winner
- Kiwanis Club Treasurer
Program Manager Resume Example (Word)
How to Write a Program Manager Resume
Program managers need to present a good mix of hard (technical) skills, as well as strong soft skills including organizational, analytical, and conceptual skills. This is a challenging task when you have just one page to work with.
Your best option is to focus on your achievements in previous roles (rather than duties) and describe the successful outcomes. These could include examples of process improvements, prudent budget management, or high team performance.
To create a compelling resume for a program manager position, apply the following extra tips.
Balance Depth and Breadth of Work Experience
It’s fairly common for a program manager to have worked in several different industries — from construction and manufacturing to telecom and tech. Diverse work experience is always a bonus, but not all of it deserves a prominent spotlight on your resume.
Use the job listing as your guide. First, highlight your skills and experiences directly related to the new role. For example, if you’re applying to a digital media agency, focus on your experience in delivering content programs (rather than say infrastructure products). Mention these competencies in your resume summary and allocate more bullet points for them in the work experience section.
Provide Data
Your accomplishments are important, but meaningless if you don’t provide any sort of evidence. So, avoid speaking in generalities. Be specific instead, and use numbers or other hard data to quantify your claims.
For example:
I implemented process automation steps for several workflows to ensure a higher task completion rate. After six months, the quality control metrics increased by 35%.
Inexperienced? Go Skills First
Many new program managers have backgrounds in project or product management. This is a good thing. Even if you haven’t held the position of program manager before now, you likely have many of the required skills. Get the hiring manager focused on those instead of your lack of direct experience.
Consider using a functional resume format. This leads off with a list of your skills rather than your job history. This is useful because skills may be obtained in a variety of jobs, schools, or even volunteer positions. Just be sure your most important skills are also demonstrated in your work history or education.
Final Tip: Stand Out With an Attractive Resume Design
Hiring managers may receive dozens of resumes each day. Unfortunately, many of those are scrapped right away. Simply put, they are difficult to read or unattractive. A resume should use a font that is ideal for readability, have plenty of white space, and use bold print to make certain elements stand out, and have plenty of white space. Fortunately, you don’t have to rely on your design skills. Instead, you can download the ideal resume template for your goals.
