IT project manager

What does an IT project manager do?

An IT project manager plans and runs technology projects from approval to handover.

Projects include system rollouts, cloud migrations, app builds and security upgrades. You are accountable for scope, schedule, budget and quality.

The role sits in an IT department, a project management office (PMO), or a technology vendor or consultancy. You usually report to a head of IT, a PMO head or a programme manager, depending on the size of the organisation.

You work with business owners, developers, testers, infrastructure and security teams, vendors and finance. Much of the job is keeping these groups aligned and giving management clear status reports.

What the work involves

• Update the project plan, schedule and task board in tools such as MS Project, Asana or Jira.
• Run stand-ups, sprint reviews and steering committee meetings.
• Track risks and issues, and agree who acts on each one.
• Meet business owners to confirm requirements and handle change requests.
• Write status reports on progress, budget and risks for management.
• Chase vendors and internal teams on deliverables and delays.

Pay in Singapore

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Skills an IT project manager needs

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IT project manager job description

We are looking for an IT project manager to deliver technology projects for our business in Singapore.

You will plan the work, lead cross-functional teams, manage vendors and report progress to senior stakeholders. The role suits someone who keeps projects on time and on budget while keeping people aligned.

Responsibilities

• Define project scope, goals, deliverables and success measures with business owners.
• Build and maintain the project plan, schedule and budget.
• Lead project teams using Agile, Scrum or waterfall methods, as the project requires.
• Manage vendors and contractors, including scope, milestones and invoices.
• Keep a risk and issue log, and agree actions and owners.
• Control scope through a clear change request process.
• Report status, risks and budget to the steering committee and management.
• Coordinate testing, user acceptance, go-live and handover to support teams.
• Check that projects handling personal data follow the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).
• Hold lessons-learned sessions and keep project records in Confluence or Notion.

Requirements

• Diploma or degree in information technology, computer science, information systems, engineering or business.
• Typically 3 to 7 years in IT delivery, such as business analysis, development, testing or infrastructure, with some time leading project work.
• Hands-on experience with Agile and Scrum, and with planning tools such as MS Project, Asana or Jira.
• Experience writing documents in Confluence or Notion, and building clear status reports.
• Certifications such as PMP, PRINCE2, Certified ScrumMaster or Professional Scrum Master are often listed as a plus.
• Strong communication skills for working with technical teams, vendors and senior management.

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IT project manager career path

Most IT project managers start in delivery roles such as business analyst, tester or developer, then move into coordination and project lead work.

From there, the path leads to larger projects, programmes and PMO leadership.

1. Project coordinator or associate

   Entry

   You support a project manager with schedules, meeting notes, trackers and reports, and learn how projects run.

2. IT project manager

   Mid

   You own a project from start to handover, including scope, budget, team and stakeholders.

3. Senior IT project manager

   Senior

   You lead larger or riskier projects, manage vendors and mentor junior managers.

4. Programme manager

   Lead

   You oversee several related projects, align them to business goals and manage dependencies and budgets across them.

5. Head of PMO or director of IT delivery

   Head

   You set project standards, decide the portfolio of work and report to senior leadership.

The titles are ones commonly used in Singapore; employers may name the levels differently.

Related jobs and their pay

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IT project manager interview questions

We wrote these questions from the skills this job needs. They are not an official question bank.

1. How do you build a project plan for a system rollout with many dependencies?

   What a good answer covers

   • Break the work into packages and tasks with owners
   • Map dependencies and find the critical path
   • Estimate with the team and add buffers
   • Set a baseline and track progress against it in a tool such as MS Project or Asana

2. When would you choose Agile over waterfall for an IT project?

   What a good answer covers

   • Agile fits unclear or changing requirements and frequent user feedback
   • Waterfall fits fixed scope, fixed contracts and heavy regulatory sign-off
   • Hybrid approaches are common, such as a fixed release plan with sprints inside
   • Give a real project example for each choice

3. How do you run sprint planning, and what do you track in Jira?

   What a good answer covers

   • Prioritise the backlog with the product owner
   • Agree sprint goal and capacity with the team
   • Track velocity, burndown and blocked tickets
   • Keep ticket status current so reports match reality

4. What is the difference between a risk and an issue? Give an IT example of each.

   What a good answer covers

   • A risk may happen; an issue has already happened
   • Example risk: a key vendor engineer may leave mid-project
   • Example issue: the test environment is down and testing has stopped
   • Risks get owners, ratings and mitigation plans; issues get fixes and escalation

5. How do you build and maintain a risk register?

   What a good answer covers

   • Run a risk workshop at project start with the whole team
   • Record likelihood, impact, owner and response for each risk
   • Review the register at every status meeting
   • Escalate risks that pass an agreed threshold to the steering committee

6. A business owner asks for a new feature mid-project. How do you handle the change request?

   What a good answer covers

   • Log the request and assess its effect on scope, schedule, cost and risk
   • Give the owner clear options, such as trade-offs or a later phase
   • Get formal approval from the right decision-maker
   • Update the plan and baseline after approval

7. What project documents do you keep in Confluence or Notion, and how do you keep them current?

   What a good answer covers

   • Project charter, scope, decision log and meeting notes
   • Risk and issue logs, plus a RACI chart
   • Clear page ownership and a regular review
   • Links to the plan and tickets instead of duplicate copies

8. How do you use ChatGPT in project work, and what do you avoid?

   What a good answer covers

   • Draft meeting notes, status summaries and first-pass risk lists
   • Check every output for accuracy before sharing it
   • Never paste confidential, client or personal data into a public tool
   • Follow the organisation's AI use policy

1. Go-live is two weeks away and user acceptance testing shows several serious defects. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Classify defects by severity and business impact
   • Meet developers and testers to estimate fix time
   • Present options to the steering committee: delay, phased release or a workaround
   • Agree a decision, then update the plan and tell all stakeholders

2. A vendor misses a milestone, and the business owner blames you. How do you respond?

   What a good answer covers

   • Find the cause and the effect on the critical path with the vendor
   • Check the contract for milestones and remedies
   • Tell the owner the facts and a recovery plan before they ask
   • Add stronger checkpoints for the rest of the contract

3. Two senior stakeholders want conflicting features, and the team cannot build both. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Clarify each goal behind the request
   • Compare value, cost and risk with the product owner
   • Bring both stakeholders together and use agreed priorities
   • Escalate to the sponsor if they still disagree, and record the decision

1. Tell me about a project that went off track. What did you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Describe the warning signs you saw and when
   • Explain the actions you took and who you involved
   • Give the result honestly, including what went wrong
   • State what you now do differently

2. Describe a time you had to give bad news to senior management.

   What a good answer covers

   • Prepare facts, options and a recommendation before the meeting
   • Be direct about the problem and its effect
   • Show how you handled their questions calmly
   • Mention how you kept their trust afterwards

1. Your project moves customer records to a new cloud system. How do you account for the PDPA?

   What a good answer covers

   • Involve the data protection officer early
   • Confirm the purpose and consent for the data, and limit what is migrated
   • Check security controls and how the vendor protects the data
   • Plan a response process in case of a data breach, as the PDPA sets notification duties

2. You are managing a project for a bank. How would guidance from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) on technology risk affect your plan?

   What a good answer covers

   • Ask the bank's risk and compliance teams which MAS requirements apply
   • Add security reviews, testing and change controls to the plan
   • Allow time for approvals and audit evidence
   • Include outsourcing and vendor risk checks for third parties

Common questions about an IT project manager job

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