Towards a Standardized BIM Manager Profile: Comparative Review Across Economies with Varied Digital Construction Policies: A Case Study of the Polish BIM Labor Market

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has become a key driver of digital transformation in the construction sector, increasing the demand for professionals capable of managing BIM-enabled projects across their entire life cycle. However, despite the growing importance of the BIM Manager (BIMM), there is still no widely accepted competency framework applicable across different regulatory and market contexts. This study aims to identify the core competencies required of BIM Managers operating in countries with different digital construction policies and to evaluate the extent to which the Polish labour market and educational system align with international expectations. A qualitative comparative approach was adopted, combining a narrative literature review, an analysis of 48 job advertisements from 6 countries representing different BIM policy and implementation contexts, with 8 advertisements analysed per country, and an exploratory qualitative comparative study of selected Polish academic and professional educational programs. To complement the qualitative approach, an auxiliary text frequency analysis was conducted by extracting the most frequently occurring post-related vocabulary from the analysed job advertisements. The extracted terms were subsequently grouped into broader competency domains to support the interpretation of employer expectations. The results demonstrate that employer expectations are remarkably consistent and extend beyond technical BIM expertise to include leadership, communication, information management, and strategic decision-making competencies. The auxiliary text frequency analysis confirmed the consistency of the qualitative findings by demonstrating that the most frequently occurring competency-related terms could be meaningfully interpreted within four complementary categories: Technical BIM Competencies, Managerial & Operational Competencies, Information & Data Management Competencies, and Behavioral (Soft) Competencies. In addition, prospective Emerging Digital Competencies are discussed as a future-oriented conceptual extension reflecting the ongoing digital transformation of BIM practice. Although Poland represents an emerging BIM market without mandatory BIM implementation in public procurement, its labour market and educational offers largely reflect international competency expectations. The identified competency domains provide a foundation for developing a standardized BIM Manager profile and support future efforts toward harmonizing higher education, professional certification, and industry practice in digitally transforming construction markets.