How to hire a senior maintenance technician

How to hire a senior maintenance technician, step by step

Here's a step-by-step senior maintenance technician hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a senior maintenance technician job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new senior maintenance technician
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a senior maintenance technician do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   First, determine the employments status of the senior maintenance technician you need to hire. Certain senior maintenance technician roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a senior maintenance technician to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a senior maintenance technician that fits the bill.

   The following list breaks down different types of senior maintenance technicians and their corresponding salaries.

   Type of Senior Maintenance Technician	Description	Hourly rate
   Senior Maintenance Technician	General maintenance and repair workers fix and maintain machines, mechanical equipment, and buildings. They paint, repair flooring, and work on plumbing, electrical, and air-conditioning and heating systems.	$17-34
   Maintenance Engineer	A maintenance engineer is responsible for the maintenance of industrial machinery and inspects equipment defects for immediate troubleshooting or replacement as needed. Maintenance engineers install and upgrade system components to improve system optimization and perform diagnostic systems to locate any adjustments... Show more	$13-35
   Maintenance Lead Person	The primary job of a maintenance lead person involves painting, asbestos removal, resolving emergencies, plumbing, and welding. Workers in this position lead a team composing maintenance engineers or technicians... Show more	$18-34

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • HVAC
   • Plumbing
   • Customer Service
   • Ladders
   • PLC
   • CMMS
   • Hand Tools
   • Mechanical Equipment
   • OSHA
   • Maintenance Procedures
   • General Maintenance
   • Predictive Maintenance
   • Conveyor Systems
   • Industrial Maintenance

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Manage all hazardous materials generate by shop operations and ensure safety requirements are met in accordance to OSHA standards.
   • Upgrade and implement well-defined CMMS to better track preventative and predictive maintenance.
   • Climb vertical ladders, work at heights.
   • Experience with gaffs, safety harness, bucket truck, and ladders.
   • Assist in the creation of the PLC back-up program that is currently in use.
   • Subject matter expert responsible for PLC systems and furnace systems throughout a 4 plant campus.

   More senior maintenance technician duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the senior maintenance technician job description is a good way to get more applicants. A senior maintenance technician salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a senior maintenance technician in South Carolina may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level senior maintenance technician. Additionally, a senior maintenance technician with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average senior maintenance technician salary

   $51,970yearly

   $24.99 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level senior maintenance technician salary

   $37,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average senior maintenance technician salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$70,656	$34
   2	Massachusetts	$66,881	$32
   3	Minnesota	$65,394	$31
   4	Wisconsin	$63,619	$31
   5	Illinois	$59,634	$29
   6	Nebraska	$59,373	$29
   7	Oregon	$57,837	$28
   8	District of Columbia	$57,406	$28
   9	Missouri	$57,116	$27
   10	Nevada	$56,943	$27
   11	Ohio	$56,665	$27
   12	Maryland	$55,819	$27
   13	Utah	$54,269	$26
   14	Colorado	$52,023	$25
   15	Arizona	$49,756	$24
   16	Michigan	$46,759	$22
   17	Alabama	$44,855	$22
   18	Tennessee	$44,205	$21
   19	Oklahoma	$43,624	$21
   20	Virginia	$42,702	$21

   Average senior maintenance technician salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Essex Property Trust	$92,015	$44.24	20
   2	Edwards Lifesciences	$91,780	$44.13	3
   3	Fanatics	$77,664	$37.34	11
   4	Nike	$75,744	$36.42
   5	Boehringer Ingelheim	$75,693	$36.39	2
   6	United Rentals	$74,601	$35.87	27
   7	VF	$74,590	$35.86
   8	AstraZeneca	$74,558	$35.85	11
   9	BNSF Railway	$73,346	$35.26	19
   10	The Coca-Cola Company	$72,918	$35.06	53
   11	Tesoro	$72,902	$35.05	14
   12	Amgen	$69,806	$33.56	6
   13	Merck	$69,692	$33.51	12
   14	Gilead Sciences	$69,344	$33.34	3
   15	Caleres	$69,327	$33.33	4
   16	Klingspor Abrasives	$69,193	$33.27
   17	Yukon Kuskokwim Health	$69,182	$33.26
   18	Timberland	$68,742	$33.05
   19	Mars	$68,518	$32.94	20
   20	Meggitt PLC	$68,240	$32.81

4. Writing a senior maintenance technician job description

   A senior maintenance technician job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. Below, you can find an example of a senior maintenance technician job description:

   Senior maintenance technician job description example

   Job SummaryResponsible for performing senior level (PM) planned maintenance and medium scope technical project execution activities.Major Tasks, Responsibilities, and Key Accountabilities
   
   Provides technical support in areas such as production, operations, maintenance, safety and testing. Performs testing and troubleshooting on electronic or mechanical components, equipment or systems.
   
   Acts as liaison for Contract Maintenance personnel and oversees contract maintenance activities as required. Works with outside engineering firms to develop and install simple, but effective human-automation solutions.
   
   Performs preventative maintenance and repairs on equipment and systems (e.g., mechanical, electrical). Evaluates and recommends equipment improvements to improve availability, capability and yield. Performs equipment failure analyses (including preventative and unscheduled maintenance).
   
   Serves as Lead Technical Resource for developing and executing PM Procedures on production and ancillary equipment; while training (AM) Autonomous Maintenance activities to Machine Operators and Line Fabricators. Identifies and analyzes automation design and reliability issues that direct impact operational effectiveness.
   
   Troubleshoots and diagnoses difficult, infrequent problems with equipment. Prepares technical reports to document equipment modifications and equipment maintenance procedures.
   
   Develops training materials and conducts training on AM/PM Technical functions. Creates reference manuals, job aids, and web-based training sessions.
   
   Provides technical support and engineering project management execution support for small-medium CAPEX projects.
   Nature and Scope May modify processes to resolve situations. Under limited supervision, relies on experience and exercises independent judgment to determine the best approach to achieve desired outcomes. Course of action is often determined by interpreting procedures and policies. Work typically involves periodic review of output by a supervisor or direct customers of the process. Is sought out and/or assigned to provide general guidance/direction, training, and technical assistance to junior level support personnel. Contributes to employees' professional development but does not have hiring/firing authority.
   
   Work Environment Typically located in a comfortable environment but with regular exposure to factors that may cause noticeable discomfort or a moderate risk of accident or illness, such as temperature extremes, moving machinery, loud noises, and fumes. Requires intermittent periods during which continuous physical exertion is required, such as walking, standing, stooping, climbing, lifting, and maneuvering material or equipment that may be heavy (50+ pounds) or awkward. Typically requires overnight travel less than 10% of the time.
   
   Education and Experience Technical certification or associate degree may be required in some areas. Generally 5-7 years of experience in a related area of responsibility.

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   There are a few common ways to find senior maintenance technicians for your business:

   • Promoting internally or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to meet candidates with the right educational background.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to recruit passive job-seekers.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your senior maintenance technician job on Zippia to find and recruit senior maintenance technician candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Recruiting senior maintenance technicians requires you to bring your A-game to the interview process. The first interview should introduce the company and the role to the candidate as much as they present their background experience and reasons for applying for the job. During later interviews, you can go into more detail about the technical details of the job and ask behavioral questions to gauge how they'd fit into your current company culture.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new senior maintenance technician

   Once you've decided on a perfect senior maintenance technician candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.

   You should also follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that you've filled the position.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new senior maintenance technician. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a senior maintenance technician?