IT Project Manager
🗓️Drives an IT project to its deadline: plans tasks, assigns people, watches budget and risks, and negotiates with the client and the team.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $112.7k a year on average · +6.7% jobs by 2035 · 76,500 openings a year
Project management specialists — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £59.4k median a year · 31,000 jobs
IT project managers — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
AI produces reports, plans and meeting notes on its own. Teams get smaller and the role often merges with team lead or PM. Negotiation and leadership are valued.
Who it suits
Interests: 🧭 Organising and leading, 🗂️ Order, paperwork, systems, 💻 Coding and digital, 🗣️ Persuading and negotiating.
Key strengths: organisation, understanding people, speaking and writing.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BSc Computer Science, Information Systems or Business Management
- Course PRINCE2, PMP, Scrum Master certifications
- Master's MSc Project Management
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Business, Computer Science.
🧗 A degree in IT, Information Systems or Management, a few years in a development team, then certifications such as PRINCE2 (UK/EU), PMP (US) or Scrum Master.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) London · €33.2k–45.9k/yr
£28,900–39,900 (2026/27, fixed for the degree); A-levels/IB; IELTS ≈7.0; TMUA for some programmes - University of Warwick Coventry · €33.6k–42.9k/yr
Attestat alone not enough: foundation or A-levels/IB; IELTS 6.5–7.0; maths requires STEP/TMUA; 2027/28 fees £29.3–37.3k - University of Bath Bath
Attestat + foundation or A-levels/IB; IELTS usually 6.5–7.0 *
🇺🇸 United States
- University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School) Philadelphia · €64.4k/yr
Common App; SAT/ACT required; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers (taken Apr 2025+); aid for internationals is need-aware - Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan School of Management) Cambridge, MA · €58k/yr
Course 15 bachelor's, admission to MIT as a whole; SAT/ACT; TOEFL 90 / IELTS 7; need-blind - University of California, Berkeley (Haas School of Business) Berkeley · €47.7k–49.9k/yr
UC Application; TOEFL 80 (new scale 4.5) / IELTS 6.5 / DET 115; SAT/ACT not considered; Haas business bachelor's
🇩🇪 Germany
- University of Mannheim Mannheim · €3k/yr
Non-EU: €1,500 a semester; C1 (TestDaF 4x4, DSH-2) by the deadline; no fully English bachelor's; apply directly - WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management Vallendar · €18.6k/yr
Private: €9,300 a semester; English IELTS 6.5 / TOEFL 95; selection day; ≈ 50% get a discount or scholarship - Frankfurt School of Finance & Management Frankfurt · €17.2k/yr
Private: €8,600 a semester + €700 fees; online assessment centre (reasoning, English, interview); all English from semester 4
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam · €14k/yr
International Business Administration in English: certificate + usually 1 university year, maths, IELTS ≈ 6.5 - Maastricht University Maastricht · €13.2k–32k/yr
Certificate with a final-year average ≥ 4.5, or certificate + 1 university year; IELTS by programme; medicine Dutch-taught, numerus fixus - Tilburg University Tilburg · €13.4k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; maths for economics; IELTS ≈ 6.5
🇫🇷 France
- HEC Paris Jouy-en-Josas · €23k–26.8k/yr
Only bachelor is with Bocconi (Data, Society & Organisations, English): year 1 in Milan, year 3 at HEC - ESSEC Business School Cergy · €22.9k/yr
Global BBA (English track): IELTS 6.5 / TOEFL 90, file + interview; French track via SESAME concours - ESCP Business School Paris · €26.8k/yr
BSc in Management in English (year 1 Paris/London/Berlin/Turin): IELTS 6.5, online interview; Paris year 2 needs French B1
🇮🇹 Italy
- Bocconi University Milan · €17k–17.7k/yr
Bocconi test, SAT or ACT (equivalent); English B2 (certificate or Bocconi test); fee €17,700 (2027/28) - LUISS Guido Carli Rome · €14k–15k/yr
Private, flat fee regardless of income: €14,000 (2026/27), €15,000 (2027/28); own test or SAT, English B2 - Politecnico di Milano (Management Engineering) Milan · €160–3.9k/yr
TOL (≥30/100) or SAT ≥620 per section; English/Italian B2; without ISEE the maximum €3,943 applies
🇪🇸 Spain
- IE University Madrid · €29.9k/yr
IE Admissions Test in English (instead of SAT/LNAT), online assessment and interview; BBA €29,880 (2027/28) - Esade (Ramon Llull University) Sant Cugat del Vallès · €21.3k/yr
Esade Admissions Test (logic, maths, English); BBA in English or bilingual; €21,300 a year - Comillas Pontifical University (ICADE) Madrid · €15.8k/yr
Written entrance tests; ADE fully in English, law in English/Spanish; ≈ €15,830 a year
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- Prague University of Economics and Business Prague · €0–5k/yr
Free in Czech; English bachelor's €5,000/yr (2026/27 intake; €6,000 from 2027/28) - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams - Brno University of Technology Brno · free
Free in Czech: Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams, certificate nostrification *
Similar careers
Not sure what to choose?
A ~100-question quiz builds your interest profile and matches you with careers and universities in Europe, the UK and the US.
Take the quiz →Scales are expert estimates; tuition and admission rules are for 2026/27 from official sources — always check the university website.