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A trend towards projectification of work has given rise to increasing attention in the implications of career development for project professionals in the contract research organization. To meet this trend, the purpose of this project is to understand how project managers experience their career development and how organization influence career development of project managers. My study adapts the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) framework as a lens to investigate the complex interplay between different factors from individual and organizational aspects that form the project managers’ career development. The thesis answers the following research questions: Overall RQ. How could project managers build their career through contract research projects in project-based organization (PBO)? RQ1. How do project managers experience their career development in contract research organization (CRO)? RQ2. How does contract research organization (CRO) influence the careers development of project managers? I conducted a case study in the technology institute of a contract research organization, using semi-structured interviews with 25 project managers to collect data to analyze my theoretical propositions. My revised new SCCT framework has practical implication for project practitioners to build and flourish their career, and emphasize the key factor in organizational influence which has significant impact on career development of their project managers. Project practitioners need to be proactive in managing their careers, while project-based organizations need to see the importance of developing specialization in career model for their project managers. Moreover, this thesis presents theoretical implication for the integration of career literature and project management literature and enriches the field of human resource management and project-based organization domain in the academy.