How to become a business and financial project management professional
Official title: Business and financial project management professionals
Also called: Project lead, Project leader, Project manager, Projects manager, Project controller, Hr project manager, Project office manager, Head of risk management, Business change manager, Project support manager, Project delivery manager, Project delivery officer
Business and financial project management professionals manage and oversee major projects across all sectors of modern industry, commerce and the public sector, in areas such as e-commerce, business analysis, finance, product development, marketing, human resources.
Main tasks
- Finds out what the client or company wants to achieve
- Agrees timescales, costs and resources needed
- Draws up a detailed plan for how to achieve each stage of the project
- Selects and leads a project team
- Negotiates with contractors and suppliers for materials and services
- Ensures that each stage of the project is progressing on time, on budget and to the right quality standards
- Reports regularly on progress to the client or to senior managers
How to become one
Entry may be via a degree or postgraduate qualification in project management or a subject relevant to the particular sector or via significant relevant work experience in that sector.
Ways in
- Apprenticeship (England): Associate project manager (level 4). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0310.
- Apprenticeship (England): Improvement leader (level 6). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0556.
- Apprenticeship (England): Project manager (integrated degree) (level 6). England. Typically 48 months. Skills England standard ST0411.
- University: Computing & IT degrees, Offered by 26 universities in the UK
Pay · Outlook
- Median full-time pay: £59,834 a year The middle half earn £46,399 to £77,568.
- About 271,000 people work in this job now, and about 304,100 are projected by 2035. (+12.2%)
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Questions people ask
How do I become a business and financial project management professional?
Entry may be via a degree or postgraduate qualification in project management or a subject relevant to the particular sector or via significant relevant work experience in that sector.
How much does a business and financial project management professional earn in the UK?
Median full-time pay is £59,834 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £46,399 to £77,568.
Is a business and financial project management professional a growing career in the UK?
Yes. Employment is projected to grow 12% by 2035, from about 271,000 to about 304,100 people (Department for Education).
Do you need a degree to become a business and financial project management professional?
Usually. 69% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
- Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Updated 2026-10-03
Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.