In the furtherance of knowledge, researchers and research are supported organizationally, but sometimes organically. Yet the research enterprise needs to be systemically managed. Research managers, however, are still striving to define their functions. Is research management part of the continuum of research itself? Is it an occupation? Is it a profession? Increasingly scholars are problematizing what the professionalization discourses mean for research management. Alongside other professionalization initiatives, the Southern Africa Research and Innovation Management Association (SARIMA) developed a Professional Competency Framework (PCF) for research management. The article addresses at a micro-to-meta level of analysis, the conceiving of the PCF, and then posits how the developmental journey towards a PCF may fit into a macro impetus towards professionalization. The findings extend theorising around competencies, professionalization and attendant methodologies.