Allison McMullenR&D Project Manager| SAS InstituteChapel Hill, Nc, United States
I am currently a Project Manager at my company and am considering applying for a Project Portfolio Manager position. Is this considered a promotion in the field, or is it a lateral move? Should I consider a PMO Manager opportunity instead, or could this (PPM) be a stepping stone to the PMO Manager role? Saving Changes...
Titles are meaningless - look at what you will be responsible for and then decide. PMOs come in many flavors - an oversight, governance focused PMO wouldn't require experience managing a portfolio for example.
When I got my first PMO leadership role, it was after having managed a number of progressively more complex projects, not having managed a portfolio...
PPM is quite often above PMO managers, so it's more about what role you want to take (enjoy) and how that fits into your career goals. Saving Changes...
Anton OosthuizenSenior Business Analyst / Project Manager| Self EmployedPretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
I guess from the responses thus far you can see that the answer might be a bit more complex than anticipated but I agree with both Kiron and Sante. In practice, whether PPM is a stepping stone to PMO would be largely dependant on your org structure but in theory, the ability to manage a portfolio would be considered a requirement for PMO. The big difference I believe is that the PMO manager becomes more administrative overseeing portfolios at a high level of governance while the PPM is more focused in a subset of the PMO responsibility but at a more detailed level, but higher than the PM obviously. But I think you will find a wide variety of job descriptions for both out there. For me personally, the question I would ask myself is whether I wanted a more managerial job than a hands on. Saving Changes...
Allison McMullenR&D Project Manager| SAS InstituteChapel Hill, Nc, United States
Thanks, all! This is very helpful information, and I appreciate your replies. Saving Changes...
