A career path is a progression of positions in one or more occupational series. As illustrated on Figure 1: Typical Career Paths for Program and Project Management, each level of the Program and Project Manager career paths is comprised of entry and exit points. The solid lines represent typical career movement, while the dotted lines are representative of non-typical career patterns. The career paths also depict the various lateral movements that occur within each career stage because of the interconnectedness between program and project management. Double-sided arrows signify movement both in and out of a certain level, while single-sided arrows indicate movement in only one direction.

Individuals at all levels commonly transfer into Federal Program and Project Management from the military; however, individuals in Program and Project Management positions rarely leave their positions to serve in the military. Please note the specific GS occupations vary greatly and may depend on the types of program/projects being managed which require job-specific subject matter expertise. OPM’s Program Management Improvement Accountability Act – Program and Project Managers Workforce Survey data indicated over 150 job series in which Federal employees perform Program/Project Management work. The job series included in the following career paths reflect the greatest reported job series from this survey (see Appendix C for a detailed list of the designated title for each series).

Typical Career Paths for Federal Program and Project Management

This graphic shows a high-level overview of how individuals commonly progress through the Federal Program and Project Management career stages. Solid arrows represent the most common career advancement; dotted arrows represent equally viable, but less common advancements. Double sided arrows signify movement both in and out of a certain level, while single-sided arrows indicate movement in only one direction. The career path also depicts the various lateral movements that occur within each career stage because of the interconnectedness between program and project management. The job series that are included in the following career paths reflect the most frequently reported job series from OPM’s P/PM Workforce Survey (see Appendix C for a detailed list of the designated title for each job series). Expand the levels below for more information.

Federal Job Series: 0201, 0301, 0340, 0343, 0801, 0808, 0905, 1101, 1102, 1301, 2210

Job series may be determined by the types of programs or projects being managed (e.g., engineering, IT, acquisitions, etc.) that require specific subject matter knowledge.