jobfacts

Business and financial project management professionals

SOC 2020 2440

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.

Also calledBusiness project managerCommercial project leadProject managerProject office managerProject leaderRisk analysis managerand 47 more titles
Typical full-time pay£59,8002025 Provisional
People in the job248,000across the UK
Demand for workersElevated
New adverts a month7,600↑ 15%on last year · 19th of 412

Pay

ONS · ASHE 2025

Half of full-time business and financial project management professionals earn between £46,400 and £77,600 a year.

What full-time business and financial project management professionals earn, 2025
£59,800 typical£35,100lowest 10%£46,40025%£77,60075%£98,900top 10%
Middle half (£46,400–£77,600)
Show as table
Lowest 10% earn less than£35,100
Lowest 20% earn less than£43,800
25%£46,400
Median£59,800
75%£77,600
Top 20% earn more than£83,100
Top 10% earn more than£98,900
Typical pay by regionUK median £59,800
London£70,000
Scotland£60,800
East of England!£60,400
West Midlands£60,000
North West£59,800
South East£59,800
South West£55,800
Wales!£54,100
Yorkshire and The Humber£52,400
East Midlands!£51,400
North EastNot published by ONS–
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
UK median, £59,800
London£70,000
Scotland£60,800
East of England£60,400 (small sample)
West Midlands£60,000
North West£59,800
South East£59,800
South West£55,800
Wales£54,100 (small sample)
Yorkshire and The Humber£52,400
East Midlands£51,400 (small sample)
North EastNot published by ONS
Typical pay over 3 years
  • 2023 £52,800
  • 2024 £56,500
  • 2025 Provisional£59,800
↑ 13% since 2023Provisional figures are revised when ONS publishes the next year’s survey.

Jobs and demand

ONS · Textkernel adverts · DfE

About 7,600 jobs for business and financial project management professionals are advertised each month. The Department for Education rates demand for workers as elevated.

New job adverts a month, Jan 2017 to Aug 2026
New advertsMonth not published by ONS (3 in all)
Show as table
Aug 202611,157
Jul 20268,125
Jun 20268,017
May 20267,260
Apr 20267,067
Mar 2026Not published
Feb 20266,288
Jan 20267,577
Dec 20254,441
Nov 20258,408
Oct 20257,987
Sept 20257,543
Aug 20257,282
Jul 2025Not published
Jun 2025Not published
May 20258,620
Apr 20256,279
Mar 20257,477
Feb 20258,322
Jan 20256,281
Dec 20244,032
Nov 20245,508
Oct 20246,134
Sept 20246,509
Aug 20246,544
Jul 20247,239
Jun 20246,588
May 20247,733
Apr 20247,470
Mar 20246,764
Feb 20247,073
Jan 20249,019
Dec 20237,025
Nov 20237,507
Oct 20237,190
Sept 20237,052
Aug 20238,415
Jul 20238,435
Jun 202312,032
May 202311,396
Apr 20239,815
Mar 202312,058
Feb 202312,202
Jan 202313,304
Dec 202211,380
Nov 202213,839
Oct 202214,308
Sept 202213,430
Aug 202214,365
Jul 202214,408
Jun 202214,670
May 202216,918
Apr 202213,205
Mar 202215,643
Feb 202215,024
Jan 202215,860
Dec 202112,447
Nov 202113,403
Oct 202113,219
Sept 202112,260
Aug 202112,189
Jul 202114,002
Jun 202112,606
May 202112,359
Apr 202110,328
Mar 202113,815
Feb 20219,096
Jan 20219,379
Dec 20207,590
Nov 20207,990
Oct 20208,029
Sept 20206,865
Aug 20205,921
Jul 20206,165
Jun 20205,644
May 20205,023
Apr 20206,263
Mar 202012,723
Feb 202014,249
Jan 202013,079
Dec 20198,450
Nov 201911,700
Oct 201911,998
Sept 201911,697
Aug 201911,739
Jul 201914,100
Jun 201913,560
May 201912,887
Apr 20199,662
Mar 201911,494
Feb 201910,866
Jan 201912,236
Dec 20188,051
Nov 201810,853
Oct 201811,182
Sept 201810,948
Aug 201810,473
Jul 201810,634
Jun 201810,912
May 201811,214
Apr 201810,589
Mar 201812,226
Feb 201811,018
Jan 201812,536
Dec 20178,349
Nov 201710,976
Oct 201711,200
Sept 201710,511
Aug 201710,880
Jul 201710,790
Jun 201713,141
May 201713,570
Apr 201712,560
Mar 201714,106
Feb 201713,304
Jan 201715,058
Is there a shortage of business and financial project management professionals?
Elevated

The Department for Education rates demand as not high, elevated or critical, using five indicators. This is its 2025 assessment; in 2024 it was not high.

  • Visas grantedAbove usual
  • Online job advertsWell above usual
  • Wage growthUsual
  • Pay against similar jobsUsual
  • Hours workedUsual
Vacancies hard to fill because of skills
28%against 27% for all jobs
Broader groupFigure for business, media and public service professionals, which includes business and financial project management professionals. DfE Employer Skills Survey 2024.
Where the most jobs are advertisedadverts a quarter
London5,131
Manchester815
Birmingham699
Bristol, City of540
Glasgow City477
Leeds469
City of Edinburgh336
Nottingham262
Reading245
Newcastle upon Tyne243
London is published as one area. Averages leave out quarters ONS withheld.
Where business and financial project management professionals are most concentratedShare of local job adverts, compared with the UK.

Recruitment from abroad. 690 sponsored work visas were granted for this job from July 2025 to June 2026, most to people from India, United States, Japan, ranking it 25th of 313. Home Office

Who does it

ONS · Annual Population Survey · April 2025 to March 2026
Age of business and financial project management professionals
n/p
21%
33%
29%
14%
1.8%!
!Small sample: treat with cautionn/p: too few in the survey to publish
Show as table
16–24Not published
25–3421%
35–4433%
45–5429%
55–6414%
65+1.8% (small sample)
Highest qualification
Degree or equivalent69%
Higher education below degree6.1%
A levels or equivalent14%
GCSEs or equivalent7.5%
Other qualifications!2.8%
No qualifications–
Not published
!Small sample: treat with caution
Show as table
Degree or equivalent69%
Higher education below degree6.1%
A levels or equivalent14%
GCSEs or equivalent7.5%
Other qualifications2.8% (small sample)
No qualificationsNot published

Main employers: general public administration activities (12%), other monetary intermediation (6.1%), defence activities (4.8%), business and other management consultancy activities (3.9%).

How to get in

Hold a degree
69%
as their highest qualification
Apprenticeships
5
from level 6, including degree apprenticeships
Apprenticeships take
18 months to 5 years
typically

Routes in

You can get into this job through:

University

You can study for a degree in any subject, then either:

  • join an organisation's graduate management training scheme
  • complete a postgraduate qualification in project management
Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
  • a degree in any subject for a postgraduate course

Apprenticeship

You could get into this career by doing an apprenticeship, such as:

  • Associate Project Manager Level 4 Higher Apprenticeship
  • Project Manager Level 6 Degree Apprenticeship

These take between 2 and 4 years to complete.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship

Other ways in

Work your way up

You may be able to become a project manager in your organisation, if you've worked for some time in a project support role. You'll need to complete project management qualifications on the job.

Apply directly

In certain sectors, for instance, engineering, construction or cyber security, you may be able to apply directly for jobs if you have an in-depth knowledge of the industry gained through several years' experience.

Skills in planning, business analysis and data management could also give you an advantage.

Registration and professional bodies

Career tips

You could take a course covering project management methods, like PRINCE2 and Agile to help you understand these approaches.

Further information

You can find more details about careers, training courses and apprenticeships in project management from the:

  • Association for Project Management
  • Project Management Institute
  • Chartered Management Institute

Routes in are from the National Careers Service job profile for business project manager. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Apprenticeships

5 for this job

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

The work

ONS · ESCO · O*NET

Typical 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

Skills

  • advise on efficiency improvements
  • align efforts towards business development
  • identify undetected organisational needs
  • liaise with managers
  • make strategic business decisions
  • perform business analysis
  • advise on financial matters
  • advise on personnel management
  • analyse business plans
  • analyse external factors of companies
  • analyse financial performance of a company
  • analyse internal factors of companies
  • analyse the context of an organisation
  • build business relationships

Knowledge

  • business analysis
  • organisational policies
  • business intelligence
  • risk management
  • strategic planning
  • business law
  • business process modelling
  • business strategy concepts

Suits people who like

  • Organising and following procedures
  • Working with ideas and solving problems

Outlook

DfE · Skills Imperative 2035
Broader groupThese projections are for business, media and public service professionals, a group of 32 jobs that includes business and financial project management professionals.
Change in jobs, 2020 to 2035↑ 26%about 670,000 more jobs
Workers needed by 20352.1 millionincluding people replacing those who retire or leave

Sources

Pay
ONS, Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, 2025 provisional
People in the job, who does it
ONS, Annual Population Survey, April 2025 to March 2026
Job adverts
ONS, online job adverts (Textkernel), to Aug 2026
Demand, skill shortages
Department for Education and Skills England, Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey
Outlook
The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE
Routes in
National Careers Service job profiles
Apprenticeships, qualifications
Skills England occupational maps
Skills, interests
ESCO classification of the European Commission; O*NET data, U.S. Department of Labor (CC BY 4.0, modified)
Visas
Home Office, immigration system statistics

Figures as of 10 October 2026.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Occupations in demand and the Employer Skills Survey: Department for Education and Skills England. Immigration system statistics: Home Office. Contains public sector information from the National Careers Service licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

© Skills England 2025. This information is licensed under the Open Government Licence https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/

Source: The Skills Imperative 2035 (2024), NFER/Nuffield/DfE/IER/CE.

This service uses the ESCO classification of the European Commission.

This service includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. This service has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. CC BY 4.0 licence.

jobfacts is independent. It is not part of, affiliated with or endorsed by the Office for National Statistics, the Department for Education, Skills England, the National Careers Service, the Home Office, the European Commission or the U.S. Department of Labor.