What does a Maintenance Director do?
Maintenance directors are responsible for managing the company's maintenance department, which includes directing, overseeing, and leading the maintenance supervisors. It is their responsibility to set goals, create strategies, and design objectives for everyone in the department to accomplish the company objectives. Also, they construct maintenance policies and procedures that are compliant to Occupational Safety and Health regulation. Additionally, they create a preventative maintenance system and procedures to manage daily operations efficiently. Management certifications and technical certifications are important requirements for a professional maintenance director.
Maintenance director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real maintenance director resumes:
- Manage a team of housekeepers who keep the building operating at top cleanliness and maintain the facility to meet state requirements.
- Operate powered equipment such as mowers, snow blowers, chain-saws, electric clippers, extractors, and a skid-steer.
- Perform preventative maintenance on building HVAC and other equipment, ensuring proper operation and functionality.
- Experience in preventative maintenance programs, HVAC systems, janitorial/housekeeping procedures, financial operations and supervision of personnel.
- Operate extractors and bonnet machines.
- Repair and charging of ac units and refrigerators.
- Install, troubleshoot and repair global positioning satellite systems.
- Perform grounds keeping including mowing grass, planting shrubs & flowers.
- Maintain a comfortable physical environment for patients, employees, medical staff and public.
- Resolve wide range of customer issues, applying diplomacy and compassion to maintenance delays.
- general house maintenance anywhere from weeding or cutting grass to minor electrical or painting work.
- Maintain and repair various outdoor equipment such as lawn tractors, snow blowers, and commercial vacuums.
- Organize, train and supervise contact teams in order to troubleshoot equipment coming into the maintenance cycle.
- Conduct training for company mechanics (safety, aircraft maintenance, hanger cleanliness and proper company paperwork procedures).
- Monitor temperatures of hot water and refrigerators to assure safety for patients.
Maintenance director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 12% of Maintenance Directors are proficient in Plumbing, HVAC, and Life Safety. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Communication skills, and Detail oriented.
We break down the percentage of Maintenance Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Plumbing, 12%
General Maintenance-performs all necessary electrical, plumbing, and carpentry repairs including minor interior and exterior renovations.
- HVAC, 8%
Performed preventive maintenance of emergency generators, security systems and HVAC systems.
- Life Safety, 7%
Completed and maintained Life Safety documentation in accordance to current Federal/Illinois Public Health codes and NFPA regulations.
- Customer Service, 5%
Monitored capital projects, conducted regular property inspections, maintained quality customer service, and staff supervision.
- OSHA, 5%
Established operational safety policies and procedures to prevent incidents / accidents and ensure consistent compliance with OSHA requirements.
- General Maintenance, 4%
Executed all aspects of general maintenance and upkeep of retirement property.
Most maintenance directors use their skills in "plumbing," "hvac," and "life safety" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential maintenance director responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. One of the key soft skills for a maintenance director to have is analytical skills. You can see how this relates to what maintenance directors do because "administrative services managers must be able to review an organization’s procedures and find ways to improve efficiency." Additionally, a maintenance director resume shows how maintenance directors use analytical skills: "maintained tels reports ensuring that all tasks are completed on time, entered into the database and filed correctly. "
Communication skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling maintenance director duties is communication skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "much of an administrative services manager’s time is spent working with other people." According to a maintenance director resume, here's how maintenance directors can utilize communication skills in their job responsibilities: "maintain communication with outside vendors and contractors to establish routine maintenance on the building. "
Detail oriented. This is an important skill for maintenance directors to perform their duties. For an example of how maintenance director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "administrative services managers must pay attention to details." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a maintenance director: "project management, expenditures oversight, inventory management, customer service, team-oriented management, resource allocation. ".
Leadership skills. For certain maintenance director responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "leadership skills." The day-to-day duties of a maintenance director rely on this skill, as "in managing workers and coordinating administrative duties, administrative services managers must be able to motivate employees and deal with issues that may arise." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what maintenance directors do: "exemplified superior leadership and provided operational oversight of 500,000 sq./ft. "
The three companies that hire the most maintenance directors are:
- WOOD Partners35 maintenance directors jobs
- Atria Senior Living21 maintenance directors jobs
- Brookdale Senior Living18 maintenance directors jobs
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Compare different maintenance directors
Maintenance director vs. Administrative services manager
An administrative services manager is primarily in charge of overseeing the performance of different offices within a company, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They typically set objectives and guidelines, manage schedules and budgets, conduct regular assessments and inspections, procure and allocate supplies, and monitor the workflow of offices and departments, creating progress reports as needed. Furthermore, as an administrative services manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the workforce to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a maintenance director are more likely to require skills like "plumbing," "life safety," "osha," and "general maintenance." On the other hand, a job as an administrative services manager requires skills like "human resources," "payroll," "provides administrative support," and "administrative services." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Administrative services managers really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $72,898. Comparatively, maintenance directors tend to make the most money in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $74,594.administrative services managers tend to reach higher levels of education than maintenance directors. In fact, administrative services managers are 8.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 1.0% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance director vs. Administrative manager
An administrative manager is an employee responsible for supervising an organization's standard clerical and administrative process such as faxing, photocopying, and liaise between employees and the management. Executive managers would assist human resource (HR) professionals in recruiting and training new administrative employees and reporting their government's progress. They help organize meeting schedules of different departments and assists with various events. They also respond to incoming communications and create written and typed reports such as memos and business letters.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real maintenance director resumes. While maintenance director responsibilities can utilize skills like "plumbing," "hvac," "life safety," and "osha," administrative managers use skills like "office procedures," "human resources," "financial statements," and "project management."
Administrative managers earn a higher average salary than maintenance directors. But administrative managers earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $78,635. Additionally, maintenance directors earn the highest salaries in the manufacturing with average pay of $74,594 annually.In general, administrative managers achieve higher levels of education than maintenance directors. They're 7.0% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 1.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance director vs. Chief administrative officer
A chief administrative officer's responsibilities revolve around overseeing the company's daily operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. They typically devise strategies to improve workforce performance, perform research and analysis to identify new business opportunities, prepare progress and financial reports, delegate tasks to department managers, and set objectives for them to uphold. Furthermore, as a chief administrative officer, it is essential to lead and encourage different departments to reach goals, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations, recommending new ones as needed.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from maintenance director resumes include skills like "plumbing," "hvac," "life safety," and "customer service," whereas a chief administrative officer is more likely to list skills in "human resources," "financial management," "payroll," and "risk management. "
Chief administrative officers earn the highest salary when working in the health care industry, where they receive an average salary of $168,819. Comparatively, maintenance directors have the highest earning potential in the manufacturing industry, with an average salary of $74,594.chief administrative officers typically earn higher educational levels compared to maintenance directors. Specifically, they're 16.5% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 4.8% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Maintenance director vs. Director, facilities & operations
Directors of facilities operations plan, organize and maintain the operations of an organization's infrastructure systems and facilities. They hire, evaluate, train, discipline, and recommend staff dismissal. These professionals develop, recommend and administer processes, procedures, and policies that support building maintenance operations and grounds maintenance operations. Besides monitoring and overseeing the external contractors' work to ensure the project runs smoothly, these professionals also collect and analyze several complex information and data, such as utility usage and utility costs.
Types of maintenance director
Updated January 8, 2025
