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What does a senior maintenance engineer do?

Updated January 8, 2025
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Senior maintenance engineer responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior maintenance engineer resumes:

  • Support DOD agency needs in accomplishing engineer technical and non-technical goals associate with wireless LAN technology products.
  • Serve on both safety and OSHA compliance committees.
  • Develop project dashboards, tracking systems and metric reporting through MAXIMO CMMS.
  • Core team member and CMMS technical project leader for mill-wide ERP systems project.
  • Decide on the type and arrangement of circuits, transformers, circuit- breakers.
  • Have been certify with RS-Logix's, Panelbuilder, and various Allen-Bradley drives.
  • Attend multiple safety courses for various materials handling and storage in accordance with OSHA standards.
  • Review facility safety practices to guarantee compliance with CalOSHA, FDA, and ISO regulations.
  • Detect and correct premature motor failures due to improper VFD installation, saving the company money in motor replacements.
  • Coordinate removal of PCB contaminate oil from transformers in large geographic territory.
  • Experience with Linux operating systems, particularly with networking and system administration.
  • Maintain proper documentation of HVAC and mechanical equipment in production and non-production areas.
  • Develop highly interactive UI components which utilize multiple threads for simultaneous background tasks.
  • Complete ownership including administration, setup, configuration and maintenance of Jenkins continuous integration tool.
  • Assist maintenance planner in evaluation and prioritization of HVAC maintenance and service needs within pharmaceutical production areas.

Senior maintenance engineer skills and personality traits

We calculated that 8% of Senior Maintenance Engineers are proficient in Project Management, Troubleshoot, and System Troubleshooting. They’re also known for soft skills such as Creativity, Listening skills, and Mechanical skills.

We break down the percentage of Senior Maintenance Engineers that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Project Management, 8%

    Project management of building expansion and capital equipment by creating schedules and progress audits of supplier.

  • Troubleshoot, 7%

    Determined defects troubleshoot malfunctions; took necessary corrective action, and recorded same following specific departmental procedures.

  • System Troubleshooting, 6%

    Performed all system troubleshooting, programming and design changes to Siemens, Mitsubishi and Allen-Bradley PLC's and components.

  • SR, 4%

    Promoted from Maintenance Engineer after 8 months in roll as Sr.

  • Equipment Maintenance, 4%

    Developed test plans supporting power plant equipment maintenance activities.

  • Maintenance Procedures, 4%

    Reviewed and maintained preventative maintenance procedures and technician training for over 100 different individual pieces of equipment.

Most senior maintenance engineers use their skills in "project management," "troubleshoot," and "system troubleshooting" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential senior maintenance engineer responsibilities here:

Creativity. The most essential soft skill for a senior maintenance engineer to carry out their responsibilities is creativity. This skill is important for the role because "mechanical engineers design and build complex pieces of equipment and machinery." Additionally, a senior maintenance engineer resume shows how their duties depend on creativity: "supervised up to six sailors to maintain the storeroom cleanliness and effective inventory control. "

Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform senior maintenance engineer duties is listening skills. Senior maintenance engineers responsibilities require that "mechanical engineers often work on projects with others, such as architects and computer scientists." Senior maintenance engineers also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "communicated with atlas copco international-stockholm; sweden to get technical support required to air power equipment branch. "

Mechanical skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of senior maintenance engineers is mechanical skills. This skill is critical to many everyday senior maintenance engineer duties, as "mechanical skills allow engineers to apply basic engineering concepts and mechanical processes to the design of new devices and systems." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "inspect mechanical equipment such as pumps, compressors, all types of valves, etc. "

Problem-solving skills. A big part of what senior maintenance engineers do relies on "problem-solving skills." You can see how essential it is to senior maintenance engineer responsibilities because "mechanical engineers need good problem-solving skills to take scientific principles and discoveries and use them to design and build useful products." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical senior maintenance engineer tasks: "provided excellent customer service to guests of the hotel, assisting with luggage and any conflict resolution. "

Math skills. Another common skill required for senior maintenance engineer responsibilities is "math skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior maintenance engineers all the time, as "mechanical engineers use the principles of calculus, statistics, and other advanced subjects in math for analysis, design, and troubleshooting in their work." An excerpt from a real senior maintenance engineer resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior maintenance engineer does: "developed pc based c++ versions of mainframe (cray/sinda) thermal math models. "

Most common senior maintenance engineer skills

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Compare different senior maintenance engineers

Senior maintenance engineer vs. Engineer

Engineers are highly trained professionals who determine the feasibility of various projects, usually related to the construction industry. They are considered experts in mathematics and science, two disciplines that they need to use in designing and coming up with plans for projects. They should also be well-versed in different construction or industrial materials, and they ensure that appropriate materials are used for the project. They also ensure that the projects meet the requirements of the groups that hired them. They create spaces that would both address the needs of the end-users and the industry standards. They also ensure that the projects they make would stand the test of time.

If we compare the average senior maintenance engineer annual salary with that of an engineer, we find that engineers typically earn a $4,237 higher salary than senior maintenance engineers make annually.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both senior maintenance engineer and engineer positions are skilled in project management, troubleshoot, and system troubleshooting.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior maintenance engineer responsibilities require skills like "sr," "equipment maintenance," "maintenance procedures," and "continuous improvement." Meanwhile a typical engineer has skills in areas such as "python," "cloud," "c++," and "c #." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Engineers really shine in the automotive industry with an average salary of $97,672. Comparatively, senior maintenance engineers tend to make the most money in the energy industry with an average salary of $103,382.On average, engineers reach similar levels of education than senior maintenance engineers. Engineers are 3.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior maintenance engineer vs. Chief engineer

A chief engineer is responsible for monitoring the engineering department's overall operations, ensuring performance efficiency, and everyone's strict compliance with the safety standards and regulatory procedures. Chief engineers manage the distribution of the tasks to the team, communicate with the clients and management for instructions and specifications, monitor expenses and forecast sales reports, analyze and approve designs, negotiate contracts, and process disputes. A chief engineer must have excellent knowledge of the engineering disciplines and exemplary leadership skills to handle the team's performance towards the company's objectives.

On average, chief engineers earn a $20,210 higher salary than senior maintenance engineers a year.A few skills overlap for senior maintenance engineers and chief engineers. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "project management," "troubleshoot," and "hvac. "

Each career also uses different skills, according to real senior maintenance engineer resumes. While senior maintenance engineer responsibilities can utilize skills like "system troubleshooting," "sr," "equipment maintenance," and "maintenance procedures," chief engineers use skills like "customer service," "life safety systems," "boilers," and "ladders."

On average, chief engineers earn a higher salary than senior maintenance engineers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, chief engineers earn the most pay in the transportation industry with an average salary of $114,862. Whereas senior maintenance engineers have higher pay in the energy industry, with an average salary of $103,382.chief engineers earn similar levels of education than senior maintenance engineers in general. They're 3.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior maintenance engineer vs. Tool engineer

A tooling engineer is responsible for creating and adjusting tools or parts for cars, heavy equipment, and other products that need customized or personalized components. Your duties and responsibilities will include creating design blueprints, using computer-aided (CAD) software to develop two- and three-dimensional prints, and validating and evaluating products. As a tooling engineer, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with operational standards such as the ISO 9000. You also have to provide technical assistance to manufacturing personnel and quality assurance.

An average tool engineer eans a higher salary compared to the average salary of senior maintenance engineers. The difference in salaries amounts to tool engineers earning a $13,295 higher average salary than senior maintenance engineers.senior maintenance engineers and tool engineers both have job responsibilities that require similar skill sets. These similarities include skills such as "project management," "technical support," and "continuous improvement," but they differ when it comes to other required skills.

There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a senior maintenance engineer is likely to be skilled in "troubleshoot," "system troubleshooting," "sr," and "equipment maintenance," while a typical tool engineer is skilled in "python," "java," "cad," and "linux."

Tool engineers make a very good living in the technology industry with an average annual salary of $94,406. On the other hand, senior maintenance engineers are paid the highest salary in the energy industry, with average annual pay of $103,382.tool engineers typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior maintenance engineers. Specifically, they're 1.9% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior maintenance engineer vs. Staff engineer

Staff engineers are responsible for designing, developing, and inspecting various products, equipment, or structures. These professionals may perform varied duties depending on their specialization that includes overseeing the design and construction of buildings, bridges, sewer systems, and other infrastructure, estimating the financial costs of construction projects, and ensuring compliance with health and safety laws and regulations. Other duties include designing and developing machinery, tools, and engines, solving design problems, and building the manufacturing equipment needed to create their products.

Staff engineers typically earn higher pay than senior maintenance engineers. On average, staff engineers earn a $19,690 higher salary per year.According to resumes from senior maintenance engineers and staff engineers, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "project management," "hvac," and "technical support. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "troubleshoot," "system troubleshooting," "sr," and "equipment maintenance" are skills that commonly show up on senior maintenance engineer resumes. On the other hand, staff engineers use skills like java, python, architecture, and software development on their resumes.In general, staff engineers earn the most working in the telecommunication industry, with an average salary of $119,079. The highest-paying industry for a senior maintenance engineer is the energy industry.staff engineers reach higher levels of education compared to senior maintenance engineers, in general. The difference is that they're 6.3% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 3.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Types of senior maintenance engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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