They will have a deep understanding of their area of expertise. For example, they may know the processes and procedures of the department inside out, or they might be an expert in a company’s IT networking.

Some subject matter experts may be so specialised in a particular area they are called on to the expert witnesses in court cases. For example, forensics specialists like experts in ballistics.
In the build up to the year 2000 many organizations needed to make sure that their systems could handle the date change. Often the systems were decades-old and built-in programming languages no longer popular. Subject matter experts in those older languages were paid a lot of money for their expertise.

The project management subject matter experts help with the design and specifications in the early phases of the project and may also be involved again during testing and training. For example, in projects to install new software, the project team will probably call upon IT security, networking, and IT service management experts.

On a building project subject as matter experts might be needed if there are parts of the build or the site that require specialist. For example, construction projects may employ surveyors who specialise in surveying protected species like bats, newts and reptiles. On sites where Asbestos is present Asbestos specialist consultants are needed to help with inspections, reports and producing work health and safety plans for workers.