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ARCHIVED - Project Management Guide - Introduction

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General Roles and Responsibilities

The project organization structure supports the completion of project activities and provides an adequate level of oversight, review and contribution from necessary parties. Clearly defining the project organization structure up-front is a critical success factor for projects.

Your project may not require a separate individual to fulfill each of these roles, but it is important that the tasks and responsibilities associated with each role are clearly assigned to specific project team members. For example, in a smaller project, the Project Manager may also fulfill some of the project team member activities. On larger projects, it is critical that a dedicated Project Manager (with no other responsibilities) be identified and assigned to the team.

The roles and responsibilities outlined below provide a baseline from which your department can develop specific and tailored definitions. Your project management plan documents the roles and responsibilities specific to your project.

Role	Description/Responsibilities
Departmental Executive Committee (DEC)	Oversee all project activities from the Department point of view. The committee establishes priorities for project funding and resource allocation, it allocates available budget to defined projects.
Project Sponsor (PS)	Responsible for ensuring that the department understands the value and importance of the project and, ultimately, for realizing the benefits predicted for the project. The project sponsor is typically a senior official in the organization responsible for the business function that the project will support. The project sponsor should have a major say in the release of funds after a review.
End user (User)	Business clients represent the final end-user or benefactor of the project deliverables/objectives. They play an important role in defining project requirements and in ensuring that delivered features meet their business requirements.
Business Area Project Manager (BPM)	Where a project is sufficiently large, a Business Area Project Manager may be appointed to manage the day-to-day operations of the project activities within the Business Area.
Project Leader (PL)	Has overall responsibility for the project and is accountable for all external and internal aspects of it. The project leader is typically a senior departmental official.
Project Manager (PM)	Has specific accountability for achieving all of the defined project objectives within the time and resources allocated. The project manager performs the day-to-day management of the project. One or more assistant project managers with the same responsibilities over specific portions of the project may support the overall project manager, without diluting his or her responsibility. Project managers should have demonstrated knowledge, skills and experience commensurate with the size, complexity and risk of the project. Since different levels of competency are required for different levels of project management and project size, the project manager role is divided into three proficiency levels. Depending on the size, complexity and risk of the project, more than one level of project manager may share responsibility for managing the project.
Project Team Member (PTM)	Core team project team members include Architect, Software engineer, Tester or writer assigned to a project. Responsible for completing project tasks, providing input to plans, and providing status.
Quality Assurance (QA)	Responsible for quality assurance activities.
Configuration Management (CM)	Responsible for configuration management activities.
Independent Validation Test (IVT) Team	Plans and performs Independent Validation Testing, and approves the system or software product before Acceptance Testing can begin.
Contract Authority (CA)	Provides project-specific procurement services, supports the project in accordance with any existing legislation or general arrangements, ensures the legal soundness of any contract, and maintains the government standards of prudence, probity and equity when dealing with the private sector.