A Programme Manager (or Program Manager, if you’re on the other side of the pond to me), is the key person for “setting up of the programme through to delivery of the new capabilities and realisation of benefits,” according to the MSP guide.  That’s a lot of responsibility.  But what does it actually involve?

A Programme Manager’s role includes:


  • Appointing project managers and project team members to the individual projects, or facilitating this with input from the PMO and line managers.
  • General management of the programme from initiation through to closure.
  • Being the point of contact for the Senior Responsible Owner and other senior stakeholders as appropriate.
  • Coordinating the individual projects and managing the dependencies between them.
  • Being the point of contact for escalated project risks and issues; helping to resolve these effectively.
  • Monitoring expenditure and managing the programme budget
  • Keeping an eye on the programme’s predicted benefits to check these are in line with the business case and expectations.
  • Creating an environment where everyone knows what to do and how to do it; providing the cultural direction for the programme team.
  • Planning the programme, which could involve using a tool like Seavus ProjectPlanner , or an equivalent scheduling tool.
  • Instigating an effective governance framework and ensuring this is adhered to.
  • Ensuring that programme deliverables are achieved on time, to the desired quality and within the acceptable budget.
  • Allocating resources to tasks and managing resource conflicts.
  • Being the point of contact for third parties such as contractors.
  • Coordinating and/or leading programme communications to all stakeholder groups.
  • Receiving project progress reports and consolidating these into programme-level reports for the Senior Responsible Owner and other senior stakeholders.