Information Technology (IT) Manager Job Description

IT manager is the head of the IT department and handles all the managerial operations of the company. It is the senior most position in the hierarchy of the development or supporting team in an organization's IT department. There are many project leads, senior developers and junior developers working under the assistance of an IT manager in any organization. An IT manager may also be designated as technical program manager, project manager, product manager, IT division manager, etc. Though the designations may be different in different organizations, there is no difference in the job responsibilities and qualification requirements of an IT manager. Here we have tried to provide you a generalized IT manager job description that focuses on the duties, qualifications, skills, salary and job outlook.

Information Technology (IT) Manager Duties and Responsibilities

IT managers handle multiple projects that are currently under development by different teams
They design the most basic requirement specifications for each project and plan budget for each project accordingly
They interact with the clients and collect specifications for the project from them; explain them to the project leads who in turn explain them to their team members
They also plan deadlines for the project and make sure that the project is running on time and will be able to meet the deadlines
Decides and designs logic for the projects and hardware and software requirement specifications for the system
Coordinates with the clients regularly and explains them the details of the project and makes sure that the clients are satisfied
Finds out the flaws in the developed modules of the project and makes sure that they are fixed properly before the software is handed over to the end user
Integrates different modules of the software and helps in deployment of the project

The responsibilities given above are the primary responsibilities of an IT manager. Apart from these responsibilities, some of the secondary duties handled by an IT manager are helping in the documentation process of the software, contingency planning and solving client end issues related to the software. IT mangers may also conduct presentations for the clients and the higher management of the company.

Competencies Required in IT Manager

They should posses sound leadership qualities and ability to handle critical issues
Should posses expert management skills and ability to prioritize tasks
Should be experts in developing logic for the programs and design optimized code for the software
Ability to highlight details and find out errors
They should posses good analytical skills coupled with expertise in mathematics and programming languages

Technical Skills

Programming skills using languages like C, C++, .net, Java, etc.
Hardware and networking knowledge
Comfortable working with various operating systems
Ability to develop scripting code
Compatible with various new and advanced technologies

Educational

Bachelor's degree or master's degree in Computer Science or Information Technology is mandatory for this position. Should also possess experience of supporting IT business process, project management, IT management for at least 3 to 4 years in a reputed organization. Individuals who acquire certification in PMP (Project Management Professional) have added advantage over others. Experience is mandatory as this is a higher level position in an IT industry.

Salaries

The average yearly compensation paid to the IT managers varies depending upon some factors such as experience, state, size of the company, skills of an individual, etc. Therefore, if a person is less experienced and is working in a small organization he may be paid less than the person who is working in a bigger organization and has more experience. However, the average salary paid to an IT manager varies from $85,000 to $111,975 per year.

Hope the IT manager job description given above helped you in understanding the profile of an IT manager.