Governing the lifecycle of organizational records — from creation through retention to destruction — ensuring compliance and accessibility in an increasingly digital world.
As a Records Manager in a technology-oriented organization, you're responsible for establishing and maintaining the systems that govern how records are created, stored, retained, and destroyed. This involves developing retention policies, managing records management systems, ensuring regulatory compliance (especially around data privacy and legal holds), and training the organization on proper records handling.
Your day involves a mix of policy work and operational management. You might review retention schedules, oversee a records migration project, respond to legal hold requests, audit records practices in a department, or configure a document management system. In technology organizations, you're also navigating the challenge of managing records across cloud platforms, collaboration tools, databases, and legacy systems.
The biggest challenge is getting people to care about records management. Most employees view it as bureaucratic overhead. Your job is to make records practices simple enough to follow, important enough to matter, and integrated enough into workflows that they don't feel like extra work. The people who succeed here combine organizational and compliance skills with the patience to drive cultural change.
An honest look at who tends to thrive in this role — and who might find it challenging.
Where this role sits in the broader career landscape — and where it can take you.
Roles like this one sit within a broader occupational category. The numbers below reflect that full landscape — helpful for context, but your specific experience will depend on level, specialty, and where you work.
Roles with similar work and overlapping career paths
View all Technology roles →Governing the lifecycle of organizational records — from creation through retention to destruction — ensuring compliance and accessibility in an increasingly digital world.
Median pay for a Records Manager is about $91K nationally, with the field ranging roughly from $39K to $177K depending on experience, employer, and metro (BLS).
Core skills for this role include Reading Comprehension, Reading Comprehension, Complex Problem Solving, Writing, and Active Listening.
Most people in this role hold a master's degree.
Employment in this field is projected to grow about 6.9% through 2034, with roughly 944,230 people working in it today (BLS).
Closely related roles include Business Analyst, Business Operations Analyst, and Management Consultant.
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