Certificate in Project Management and Planning

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Lead projects that deliver on time, on-budget and on-spec.

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Engineering Management

Online Self-Paced

60 hours

6 CEUs

Instructors: Amy Bechner, Buck Buchanan

From the #1 Online Grad Program in Engineering Management

Curriculum designed and delivered by Johns Hopkins faculty

LIVE monthly seminars and office hours

Engaging learning including video walkthroughs and hands-on activities

Satisfaction guaranteed. Explore the course with no risk.

Empower yourself with cutting-edge skills in project management and leadership, ensuring you stand out in today’s competitive career landscape. Johns Hopkins Engineering Lifelong Learning’s dynamic Project Management and Planning certificate program offers a structured approach to understanding and applying waterfall project management principles, designed to equip professionals with the skills needed to effectively plan, execute, monitor, control, and close technical projects within the defined scope, budget, and schedule.

With three meticulously designed courses, students gain hands-on experience in developing project plans, executing them, monitoring progress, identifying and mitigating risks, ensuring quality standards, managing changes, resolving conflicts, and balancing resources across multiple projects. The comprehensive curriculum covers essential topics such as project definition, life cycle, roles and responsibilities, planning and execution, risk and quality management, teamwork, communication, technical and financial aspects, and project documentation.

This certificate program is ideal for professionals seeking to build a strong foundation in project management, enhance their existing skills, and advance their careers in project management and related fields.

Skills Gained

Project Planning
Risk Management
Quality Assurance
Leadership

Effective Communication
Change Management
Conflict Resolution
Resource Allocation

The Certificate combines the 3 sequential Project Management and Leader courses:

Project Execution and Control

Fundamentals of Project Management

Advanced Project Management and Leadership

into one bundle, saving you $300 off the cost of buying separately

Prerequisites

Basic Understanding of Management Principles: Familiarity with organizational structures and team collaboration.
Interest in Project Management: A keen interest in learning and applying project management concepts and techniques

No Risk: Satisfaction Guaranteed

Feel confident in your learning journey! If the course content is too advanced, not advanced enough, or simply doesn’t meet your expectations, we’ve got you covered with our money-back guarantee. Just contact our team within 7 days from purchase to receive a full refund—no questions asked.

Meet Your Instructors

Amy Bechner

Texas Instruments, Johns Hopkins University

Amy has spent 25+ years working at Texas Instruments and is currently Director of Program Management and Product Engineering for the MSP Business in Embedded Processors. She is one of the few PMs elected as Senior Members of the Technical Staff. She is an instructor in Hopkins Engineering’s #1 ranked online master’s program in engineering management. She earned her MBA in Project Management from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Buck Buchanan

Johns Hopkins University

Buck retired as a Colonel after 29+ years in the Air Force. After a stint at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory as a Project Area Manager, he joined Raytheon Solipsys as the Director of Business Development. Buck is currently a lecturer and advisor in Hopkins Engineering’s #1 ranked online master’s program in engineering management. He earned master’s degrees from Southern Illinois University, the University of Oklahoma, and Air University.

This course includes content developed by Johns Hopkins faculty and instructors beyond those listed.

Faculty are Here to Help!

Questions about course content? Looking compare model results or get feedback? Stop by monthly Zoom office hours to talk with Amy, Buck, and fellow students.

Course Summaries

A comprehensive, structured approach to learning waterfall project management principles and understanding the project management life cycle. Learn:

Project Management Framework & Lifecycle: connects planning, execution, and control phases for guaranteed project success.
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS): Transform complex projects into manageable, deliverable-based components
Advanced Scheduling & Critical Path Method: Identify make-or-break project activities, create professional Gantt charts, and never miss another critical deadline.
Budgeting & Cost Estimation: Use multiple estimation techniques, understand direct vs. indirect costs, and evaluate top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Finance & Contract Management: Navigate complex contract types, manage subcontractors and make strategic make/buy decisions
Microsoft Project Professional Training: Templates and real-world application

Explore the entire project lifecycle from initiation to closure, focusing on advanced techniques such as Earned Value Management (EVM), design reviews, and effective communication strategies. Master the art of defining scope, objectives, resources, budget, and schedule, while ensuring project alignment and successful delivery.

Learn:

Project Execution Management: Learn to direct project work systematically, establish clear execution processes, and monitor progress
Risk & Opportunity Management: Develop practical skills for identifying project risks, assessing probability and impact using professional matrices
Advanced Conflict Resolution: Practice proven techniques for recognizing and resolving conflicts using confrontation, compromise, and collaboration strategies.
Earned Value Management (EVM): Measure project performance using earned value techniques that track cost and schedule efficiency.
Strategic Quality Management: Understand practical quality management including cost of quality analysis, proven methodologies like Six Sigma, and building organizational quality culture.
Work Authorization & Direction: Master the creation of detailed work packages and authorization systems that provide clear direction while maintaining accountability and budget control.

Create value for stakeholders with advanced methodologies. Dive into advanced NASA case studies. Learn about:

Project Audits: Learn to use audits as positive management tools rather than fault-finding exercises.
Multi-Project Management: Dive into managing resource competition between projects, portfolio prioritization strategies, project priority review boards, and the broker-steward model for customer relationships.
R&D Project Management: Extensive coverage of managing innovation projects, handling unknown unknowns, prototype development, constrained funding strategies, and fostering creative teams while maintaining project discipline.
Marketing & Proposal Development: Detailed exploration of the four Ps of marketing, comprehensive RFP response strategies, proposal compliance techniques, and personal branding for project managers.
Project Closeout: Thorough examination of the final project phase including formal deliverable acceptance, performance evaluation systems, lessons learned capture, and organizational knowledge transfer.
Agile vs Traditional Methodologies: Get an in-depth comparison of waterfall and agile approaches, detailed Scrum framework explanation, and guidance on selecting the right methodology for different project types.

Tab 4 content.

Earning Your Certificate

After completing the course content, you can successfully complete and submit a capstone project to earn your Certificate of Achievement—proving to colleagues and employers that you’re ready to lead mission critical projects that deliver on-time, on-budget, and on-spec.

Lifelong-Learning-Sample-Certificate-540x417

Apply all the skills you gained in the three courses in one deliverable. This will be reviewed by your instructor and feedback will be provided.

The image is for illustrative purposes only. Actual certificate design subject to change,

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The #1 Ranked Online Grad Program for Enginering Management by U.S. News & World Report

Johns Hopkins Engineering’s Lifelong Learning delivers executive education courses from the same faculty and support team behind Johns Hopkins Engineering for Professionals, the nation’s #1 online, part-time graduate program in engineering management.

Course Delivery and Support

The courses are delivered entirely online through the industry-leading Canvas Learning Management System. This system is supported by the same instructional design team behind Johns Hopkins’ renowned Engineering for Professionals program, which serves thousands of online graduate students each year. Upon registration, you will receive an email with instructions to create your Hopkins Canvas account and access the videos, readings, files and quizzes.

Certificate in Project Management and Planning