As the title suggests, an engineering project manager is often involved in leading various projects, from building houses to renovating buildings. Unlike engineering managers, you get to enjoy the challenges of new work all the time, exercising your engineering creativity and leading a team.
Here’s what an engineering project manager does in a nutshell:
- Plans overall project management
- Directs all project engineers and drafters
- Manages the overall development and implementation of engineering projects
- Evaluates complex designs
- Oversees construction and safety protocols
Career path of an engineering project manager
Based on Singapore’s SkillsFuture engineering career map, there are six career paths to consider: Operations and maintenance, engineering construction and commissioning, engineering design, engineering procurement, project financing, and project development.
Engineering project managers can exist in either of these professional channels. These are the jobs and levels engineering project managers may go through:
Junior Level (1-3 years of experience)
- Assistant Engineer/Officer
- Engineer
Mid-Level (4-8 years of experience)
- Assistant Manager/Senior Engineer
- Manager
Senior Level (8 years of experience or more)
- Director (Engineering)
- General Manager/Chief Executive Officer
Requirements of an engineering project manager
To pursue the career path of an engineering project manager, you’ll need to first become a professional engineer through Singapore’s Professional Engineers Board. To do that, you must have a degree in engineering from a school or course recognised under the Professional Engineers Act.
You will also be required to take the necessary examinations – the Fundamentals of Engineering, and the Practice of Professional Engineering – to become a practising professional with the right certification. For the gold standard in project management, you will finally need to obtain the Professional Management Professional (PMP) certificate.
Technical skills
In such a technical industry, you can be sure there will be plenty of hard skills required. Here are some of the technical skills you will need:
- Mastery of Workplace Safety and Health (WSH) policies
- Techniques of work estimating
- Methods of activity planning
- Principles of basic project management
- Expert use of work breakdown structure
- Project management skills
- Budgeting and financial planning
- Risk analysis techniques
- Risk mitigation techniques
- Strategic alignment
Join the Engineering sector today. Find your next role in this thriving industry on MyCareersFuture.
Other skills
As with all jobs, technical skills are not the be all and end all. Here are some crucial skills you will need to succeed as an engineering project manager.
Leadership
As an engineering project manager, you will likely lead a team of engineers for each project, so strong leadership skills are essential. As the captain of the ship, you set the tone for the entire project.
Communication skills
Having strong communication skills are important to convey complicated ideas, structures, breakdowns, and policies to the team. You will also need to work with people outside the team, such as architects, administrators, and accountants.
Detail-oriented and organised
An engineering project manager must be extremely detail-oriented, from the blueprints to the budget, to make sure even the smallest details are adhered to. This goes hand-in-hand with organisational skills. As you’ll be working with lots of information and possibly plenty of paperwork, you’ll need to stay on top of things.
Decision-making and problem-solving
Challenges, hiccups, and bumps in the road are inevitable, so an engineering project manager must think on your feet, come up with solutions, and have the will (and expertise) to carry them through.
Educational background
In a technical industry like engineering, having studied the field is essential to getting the necessary professional certificates. As such, you will need to graduate from an engineering course accredited by the Institution of Engineers in Singapore.
Opportunities for continuous education
SkillsFuture has a wide range of continuous education opportunities for engineering project managers. These include programmes on supervising work improvement processes and using systems thinking in problem-solving and decision-making. Other courses can also assist with career development.
This article is contributed by Jobstreet by Seek.
