I helped an M.B.A. pal of mine prepare for her PMP certification (wikipedia/pmp). Many of the topics covered during that process seemed like they could be useful in a dev. environment (if high-level).
Are there certifications for software project management that are highly sought-after?
Contributions from hiring managers would be especially helpful!
I have the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification. It covers a subset of the PMBOK in far less detail than PMP. The point is to get project management knowledge and prove an understanding of the PMBOK, but without the time investment that the PMP requires.
Why did I get it? I wanted to have a PM certification that could help verify my ability to lead projects from a technical standpoint. On a practical basis, studying for it helped me learn to understand PMs and communicate with them more effectively.
Hiring managers have called it out as a valuable asset for someone in my role (software architect).