The development of measurement scales in the field of project management is based mainly on evidence from developed countries using a function-specific approach. Project management in emerging countries is less understood. This paper presents an instrument of measurement for the core functions of project management using a function-general perspective in the context of an emerging economy (Colombia). It incorporates a cross-sectional study using a psychometric approach and confirmatory factor analysis. An online questionnaire is applied to 257 project managers/directors of organisations in Colombia (one per company). The core functions are identified as 'management of project stakeholders' (a second-order factor consisting of 'effective management of project team', and 'management of interaction with stakeholders'), and 'project risk management'. The scale (11 items) satisfies the criteria of goodness of fit, reliability, and validity, and it is useful for reducing the overall length of previous conceptual proposals. The proposed scale is parsimonious, plausible, reliable, and valid, and could be used for company diagnostics and future quantitative studies in the field of project management. The present study contributes to the literature by clarifying the dimensions, structure, items, and implications of the core functions of project management from a function-generic perspective in emerging economies.