Executive Sponsor Definition

Executive sponsor (also called project sponsor) is the person that is ultimately responsible for the project within a company. Sometimes this role is held by the project manager, but ideally it is held by someone in senior management.

Typically, the executive sponsor is responsible for:

• Championing the project.
• Obtaining budget approval for the project.
• Accepting responsibility for problems escalated by the project manager.
• Signing off documents such as the business case and project initiation document.

A good executive sponsor is also a good problem solver, but is also someone that has the business savvy and reputation to exert pressure within an organization to overcome resistance to the project.

Other Definitions

References
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia