How To Become A Senior Facilities Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a senior facilities manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Irene Thomas Johnson

Senior facilities managers are responsible for the security, maintenance, and assistance of work facilities to ensure that they meet their needs and employees. They essentially look after all of the services that help a business or other organizations do their work.

It would help if you typically have a bachelor's degree in business management, facilities management, or a related field and problem-solving and analytical skills to become a senior facility manager. However, some experience is preferred.

The graduates who gravitate toward this field end up laying claim to annual earnings that top out at $98,104. The current median pay for senior facilities managers ranges from $95,215 to $108,373 in the U.S. However, this figure can vary significantly depending upon your experience, skills, or organization.

What general advice would you give to a senior facilities manager?

Irene Thomas Johnson

Executive Director, Solutions Development

First, take advantage of all the opportunities that come your way. Do not shy away or turn down an assignment, big or small, or how mundane. Each one of these will lay the foundation for a bigger and better opportunity in the future. Second, get a mentor. Someone whom you can exchange ideas and get candid feedback, someone who can help you open doors in your career. And third, never stop training and asking questions.

ScoreSenior Facilities ManagerUS Average

Salary

5.7

Avg. Salary $72,560

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

2.0

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.48%

Asian 4.36%

Black or African American 10.22%

Hispanic or Latino 14.06%

Unknown 4.33%

White 66.54%

Gender

female 29.67%

male 70.33%

Age - 51

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 51

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.0

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a senior facilities manager

Explore senior facilities manager education requirements

Most common senior facilities manager degrees

Bachelor's

57.6 %

Associate

18.0 %

Master's

10.3 %

Start to develop specific senior facilities manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Facility Management	7.83%
Portfolio	7.31%
Real Estate	7.17%
Customer Service	6.66%
Capital Projects	5.30%

Complete relevant senior facilities manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior facilities managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior facilities manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior facilities manager resumes.

Research senior facilities manager duties and responsibilities

Manage regularly schedule facility inspection, building construction/maintenance, electrical construction/maintenance, HVAC, property and grounds upkeep.
Well verse in reading and interpreting architectural, plumbing, and electrical plans.
Organize monthly safety meetings to ensure both OSHA and the insurance carriers' requirements are satisfy.
Perform minor repairs as needed such as plumbing, painting, minor electrical, office configurations.

Get senior facilities manager experience

Generally, it takes 1-2 years to become a senior facilities manager. The most common roles before becoming a senior facilities manager include facilities manager, project manager team lead and operations manager.

Prepare your senior facilities manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior facilities manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior facilities manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable senior facilities manager resume templates

Build a professional senior facilities manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior facilities manager resume.