The PMO Competency Framework
Created by PMO Professionals for PMO Professionals
Transform your PMO and your career with the definitive guide to PMO competences, skills, and career development.
The PMO Competency Framework is a guide for PMO professionals interested in assessing and developing organisation-wide, team and personal competences within a PMO environment.
Whether you’re just starting out or leading a PMO, the PMO Competency Framework is your go-to guide for developing the right skills at the right level.
What’s Inside the PMO Competency Framework
Role-Based Competence
Know exactly what’s expected in PMO roles at every level — Admin, Analyst, Manager, and Director
Fits Every PMO Type
Project, Programme, Portfolio or Centre of Excellence — it maps the competences needed in each
Skills, Knowledge & Behaviours
Covers the full package — what you need to know, do, and how to show up in your PMO role
Four Competency Domains
Built around core areas: Administration, PMO Management, Delivery Support, and Enabling
Ready to Use Tools
Includes role profiles, assessments and development planning templates
Career & Team Development
Supports progression planning for individuals, teams, and entire PMOs
About the PMO Competency Framework
The PMO Competency Framework is a comprehensive guide that defines what competence looks like across the PMO profession. It’s designed for individuals and organisations to assess, develop, and grow PMO capability at every level.
It was created by members of the House of PMO – by PMO professionals for PMO professionals and took three years to complete.
It covers:
- Key responsibilities for Admin, Analyst, Manager, and Director roles
- Competencies mapped to Project, Programme, Portfolio & CoE PMOs
- The four domains: Administration, PMO Management, Delivery Support & Enabling
- Knowledge, skills & behaviours needed to succeed
- Practical tools: role profiles, assessments, career planning templates
“A great piece of work and I have no doubt that it’s going to be a great resource for both individuals to shape their career and organisations to develop their people.”
A must have for anyone in the PMO industry
. .
Amazon Review
Best professional standards book I can recommend
It’s a must have for PMO development!
Available to Purchase
The second edition of the The PMO Competency Framework is available through the TSO or Amazon.
Learn More About the PMO Competency Framework
The Missing Part of PMO Professional Development
Project Managers have had role profiles, development guides and competency frameworks for years — but PMO professionals? Not so much.
The PMO Competency Framework was created to change that.
It gives the PMO community a shared language and structure to define what good looks like in PMO roles — from admin support to strategic leadership. It brings clarity to career paths, helps organisations build stronger PMO teams, and supports individuals in developing the skills that matter.
It’s the framework PMO professionals have been waiting for.
The PMO Competency Framework Covers All Types of PMO
The PMO Competency Framework provides:
- Four core role profiles;
- Four competency domains of PMO;
- Performance indicators and proficiency levels for each of the 24 competences;
- Skills, knowledge and behaviours required for each competence.
Who Uses the PMO Competency Framework?
The PMO Competency Framework can be used by:
- Individuals to assess themselves against the standard;
- PMO teams to ensure a common understanding of the competences and proficiency levels required of them; and,
- Corporations looking to benchmark their own organization specific competency frameworks against the standard.
Developed by the PMO Community
The PMO Competency Framework has been created by crowdsourcing the collective intelligence, insights, and experiences from the PMO community, managed by the PMO Flashmob.
It is a PMO Competency Framework created by PMO professionals for PMO professionals.
It was a project initiated to address the needs of many PMO professionals who have felt that, for many years, there was no competency framework and assessment available that specifically focused on PMO roles.
It was never going to be an easy task, after all, there are many different types of PMO available, and different types of people that work within them. Often, we hear that PMOs are too unique to an organisation, that a PMO Competency Framework cannot be created because of that. Over several years, that and many other challenges have been overcome to provide the first edition for PMO professionals.
2024 Second Edition
The much-anticipated second edition of the “PMO Competency Framework“, was published in 2024, by The Stationery Office (TSO), a development that promises to bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to a wider international audience. This latest edition not only refines the presentation and formatting of the content but also leverages TSO’s robust distribution network to make the book more accessible across the globe.
2021 Launch
The guidance within the PMO Competency Framework can be used by any PMO professional to assess their current knowledge and experience; to identify skills gaps and development needs and to benchmark themselves against a professional PMO standard.
Launched on the 18th February, the PMO Competency Framework quickly became a number one bestseller in the project management book charts.
Available to Purchase
The second edition of the The PMO Competency Framework is available through the TSO or Amazon.