How to Write a Senior Project Manager Resume (With Skills)

A senior project manager is an experienced professional who oversees a project or multiple projects, depending on their employment. They can technically gain employment in any industry that requires project management, from digital media projects to civil engineering projects. By reviewing a sample resume for this managerial position, you can identify the appropriate credentials to highlight on your resume. In this article, we define a senior project manager resume, discuss how to write one, list skills to include on your resume, provide a resume template and share a resume example.

What's a senior project manager resume?

A senior project manager resume details your primary credentials, achievements, aspirations and motives. Your potential hiring manager may view your resume to determine if you're a suitable candidate for the job vacancy. If you're applying for a senior project management position, your resume might vary based on the hiring organisation and its industry. Project management roles usually share core skills and several job responsibilities, but there may be unique employment requirements depending on the industry and business operation. For example, when applying for a position in a civil construction company, you may require additional safety tickets and construction-specific certifications.

Related: How to Create a Project Manager Resume (With Example)

How to write a senior project manager resume

Below, you can explore a helpful guide on how to write a resume for a senior project manager:

1. Write an impressive professional summary

A professional summary is usually the first section of your resume that details your suitability for a senior project manager position. It's usually a good idea to identify the primary employment requirements and candidate expectations for the vacant job. This can help you identify the credentials for your summary that might impress the hiring manager. For a senior management role, recruiters may prioritise you as a candidate if you possess extensive work experience and qualifications. Focusing your summary on these credentials can be an excellent method for highlighting your competency in a senior management role.

2. Highlight your certifications and licences

Depending on the industry you gain employment in, you may require industry-specific licences or certifications. For example, if you're applying for a senior project management role in the education industry, you may require a police clearance or a working with children check. If you're applying for a role in the construction industry, you might require a white card to gain access to development sites. If you identify these additional employment requirements, you can reference them on your resume.

3. Detail your skills

Including your technical and soft skills on your resume can be a great way to display your personality, which can highlight your management style and approach to project management. Interpersonal qualities are usually crucial for proving your competencies in people management and conflict resolution. Your technical skills typically refer to your ability to conduct specific processes and procedures relative to the job, such as utilising management software, creating budgets and developing project activity structures.

Related: Different Types of Software for Project Management

4. Reference your qualifications

Your qualifications are typically important to include on your resume because senior project management roles usually require extensive knowledge and expertise in the field. Including qualifications related to project management or the project's industry can be a good idea. For example, to become a senior project manager for a large scale civil engineering project, you typically require a university degree related to engineering or project management. If you don't have any qualifications regarding project management or the specific industry, you may focus your resume on your work experience.

Related: What Is Engineering Project Management? (Including FAQs)

5. Include your work experience

Industry and project management experience are usually the main employment requirements for becoming a senior project manager. Referencing your experiences on your resume can be an excellent way of proving your competence and knowledge of industry procedures and management methodologies. Some hiring managers may prioritise you as a candidate if you have substantial work experience rather than extensive qualifications. This is because work experience can help you develop practical skills and knowledge, while qualifications may only involve theoretical practices and understandings.

Skills to include on your resume

Below, you can review several skills that may be beneficial to include on your resume for a senior project management position:

• Leadership: As a senior project manager, you're usually in a leadership position where team members and project managers may utilise your guidance during project operations. If you possess excellent leadership qualities, you can motivate, inspire and encourage team members to work productively and professionally.

• Conflict management: Depending on your future employment as a senior project manager, some projects might involve interpersonal challenges that can impede project progression. If you have conflict management skills, you can quickly resolve these workplace issues to ensure a streamlined operation.

• Problem solving: Projects in most industries often involve variables that impact project progression, deadlines and deliverables. With excellent problem-solving skills, you can identify these variables and devise an appropriate solution.

• Time management: Depending on the type of project you manage, some might involve multiple deadlines for the entire project or individual project deliverables. If you have good time-management skills, you can assign time-lines to project dependencies and operations to ensure work is complete before relevant deadlines.

• Organisation: As a senior project manager, you may oversee multiple projects simultaneously, which can involve an abundance of responsibilities. Excellent organisation skills can help you multi-task and plan your duties effectively.

• Software knowledge: There are many aspects of a project that require management, recording and analysis. You typically complete these duties using management software, so having a foundational knowledge of management programs is usually a good attribute.

• Communication: As a senior project manager, there are many primary stakeholders, such as company executives or investors, who you may communicate with regularly. Your communication skills can help you discuss project elements, such as its progression and performance, with clarity and accuracy.

Related: How to Improve Project Management Skills in 9 Steps

Resume template for a senior project management position

Here, you can explore a detailed resume template for a senior project management job application:

[Full name]

[Email address] | [Phone number] | [City, State]

Professional Summary

[You can include your professional summary here in a paragraph format. Your summary doesn't usually require extensive content. It may be a good idea to write your summary using three to five sentences. This can ensure you don't repeat your credentials throughout your resume.]

Certificates and Licences

[You can list your certificates and licenses here using bullet-point formatting.]

Skills

[Underneath this heading, you may detail your technical skills, such as subject expertise and competency with management software. You can list your technical skills on a single line with a comma or pipe character separating each skill. You may also list your core skills and interpersonal qualities.]

Work Experience

[Here, you can list your most recent employment job title. If you're including more employment experience, you can list them in descending order of employment dates. So, the first job you list can either be your current employment or your most recent.]

[Organisation's name]
[Organisation's location]
[Employment duration]

• [job responsibility]

• [job responsibility]

• [job responsibility]

• [job responsibility]

• [job responsibility]

[Job title]
[Organisation's name]
[Organisation's location]
[Employment duration]

• [job responsibility]

• [job responsibility]

• [job responsibility]

Qualifications

[The name of your qualification]
[Institute name and date of graduation]

Resume example for a senior project management position

Here, you can find an example resume for a senior project manager candidate applying for a position with a civil construction firm:

Jasper Frazier

Frazier@email.com.au | 049 486 2965 | Perth, WA

Professional Summary

Experienced project manager with a Master of Project Management (Engineering), hoping to gain employment with Civil Works Co. as a senior project manager. Has experience managing varying civil construction projects, including the Westside Stadium project for the state government. Developed extensive managerial skills during master's studies and strong experience as a lead project manager with Denton Constructions. Hoping to enter a challenging role and contribute professional expertise to the team at Civil Works Co.

Certificates and Licences

• Construction White Card

• High-Risk Work Ticket

• PM 101

• Managing Engineering Projects

• Agile Management Techniques

• Certified Project Manager Course.

Skills

Risk assessment | Monitoring project performance | Identifying dependencies | Operating management software | Creating work breakdown structures | Analysing performance data | Facilitating project operations | Advanced knowledge of engineering principles | Time management | Strategic Thinking | Organisation | Communication | Motivation | Leadership | Conflict management | Teamwork | Collaboration | Diligence.

Work Experience

Project Manager
Denton Constructions
Hansil, WA
February 2019-January 2020

• Monitored project performance and progression

• Identified project dependencies

• Developed work breakdown structures for the project team

• Liaised with clients to ensure project deliverables were accurate

• Conducted performance evaluations.

Project Manager
Sihn Projects
Mondary, WA
January 2018-January 2019

• Liaised with estimators and architects to determine budget allocations

• Monitored project progression and reviewed timeline expectations

• Analysed project performance to identify areas of improvement.

Qualifications

Master of Project Management (Engineering)
Torris University, 2022.

Bachelor of Engineering
Torris University, 2018.