What is Program Manager vs Project Manager?
The project manager delivers defined scope on time and budget; the program manager delivers benefits through multiple projects, managing the space between them — dependencies, shared risks, stakeholder alignment, and the benefits case. One optimizes execution; the other optimizes outcomes.
The practical difference shows in their questions. PM: "are we on schedule?" PgM: "even if every component is on schedule, will this still produce the benefit — and is the benefit still worth producing?"
Worked example
During a hospital-network merger, each system-integration project is green. The program manager still calls a halt on the patient-billing component: regulations changed, and delivering it as scoped would now produce zero benefit. A great project manager would have delivered it flawlessly; the program manager's job was to notice it no longer should be delivered.