Career profile for Maintenance Supervisor

What does a Maintenance Supervisor do?

Maintenance Supervisors directly supervise and coordinate the activities of mechanics, installers, and repairers.

In addition, Maintenance Supervisors

may also advise customers on recommended services,
excludes team or work leaders.

What kind of tasks does a Maintenance Supervisor perform regularly?

Maintenance Supervisors are often responsible for overseeing or executing some or all of the following tasks:

Inspect, test, and measure completed work, using devices such as hand tools or gauges to verify conformance to standards or repair requirements.
Interpret specifications, blueprints, or job orders to construct templates and lay out reference points for workers.
Monitor employees' work levels and review work performance.
Inspect and monitor work areas, examine tools and equipment, and provide employee safety training to prevent, detect, and correct unsafe conditions or violations of procedures and safety rules.
Perform skilled repair or maintenance operations, using equipment such as hand or power tools, hydraulic presses or shears, or welding equipment.
Compute estimates and actual costs of factors such as materials, labor, or outside contractors.
Monitor tool and part inventories and the condition and maintenance of shops to ensure adequate working conditions.
Requisition materials and supplies, such as tools, equipment, or replacement parts.
Confer with personnel, such as management, engineering, quality control, customer, or union workers' representatives, to coordinate work activities, resolve employee grievances, or identify and review resource needs.
Determine schedules, sequences, and assignments for work activities, based on work priority, quantity of equipment, and skill of personnel.
Counsel employees about work-related issues and assist employees to correct job-skill deficiencies.
Examine objects, systems, or facilities and analyze information to determine needed installations, services, or repairs.
Investigate accidents or injuries and prepare reports of findings.
Recommend or initiate personnel actions, such as promotions, transfers, or disciplinary measures.
Conduct or arrange for worker training in safety, repair, or maintenance techniques, operational procedures, or equipment use.
Develop, implement, or evaluate maintenance policies and procedures.
Meet with vendors or suppliers to discuss products used in repair work.

The above responsibilities are specific to Maintenance Supervisors. More generally, Maintenance Supervisors are involved in several broader types of activities:

Activities	Importance	Details
Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings		Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.
Making Decisions and Solving Problems		Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
Getting Information		Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards		Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work		Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

Monitoring Processes, Materials, or Surroundings

Monitoring and reviewing information from materials, events, or the environment, to detect or assess problems.

Making Decisions and Solving Problems

Analyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.

Getting Information

Observing, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.

Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with Standards

Using relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.

Organizing, Planning, and Prioritizing Work

Developing specific goals and plans to prioritize, organize, and accomplish your work.

What is a Maintenance Supervisor salary?

The median salary for a Maintenance Supervisor is $70,240, and the average salary is $73,100. Both the median and average roughly describe the middle of the Maintenance Supervisor salary range, but the average is more easily affected by extremely high or low salaries.

Many Maintenance Supervisors earn significantly more or less than the average, due to several factors. About 10% of Maintenance Supervisors earn less than $42,440 per year, 25% earn less than $54,210, 75% earn less than $89,040, and 90% earn less than $109,440.

Between the years of 2020 and 2030, the number of Maintenance Supervisors is expected to change by 6.5%, and there should be roughly 47,400 open positions for Maintenance Supervisors every year.

Median annual salary: $70,240
Typical salary range: $42,440 - $109,440
Projected growth (2020 - 2030): 6.5%

What personality traits are common among Maintenance Supervisors?

Interests

Career interests describe a person's preferences for different types of working environments and activities. When a person's interest match the demands of an occupation, people are usually more engaged and satisfied in that role.

Compared to most occupations, those who work as a Maintenance Supervisor are usually higher in their Enterprising, Conventional, and Realistic interests.

Maintenance Supervisors typically have very strong Enterprising interests. Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.

Also, Maintenance Supervisors typically have strong Conventional interests. Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.

Lastly, Maintenance Supervisors typically have moderate Realistic interests. Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.

Values

People differ in their values, or what is most important to them for building job satisfaction and fulfillment.

Compared to most people, those working as a Maintenance Supervisor tend to value Independence, Working Conditions, and Achievement.

Most importantly, Maintenance Supervisors strongly value Independence. Occupations that satisfy this work value allow employees to work on their own and make decisions.

Second, Maintenance Supervisors strongly value Working Conditions. Occupations that satisfy this work value offer job security and good working conditions.

Lastly, Maintenance Supervisors moderately value Achievement. Occupations that satisfy this work value are results oriented and allow employees to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.

Psychological Demands

Each occupation brings its own set of psychological demands, which describe the characteristics necessary to perform the job well.

In order to perform their job successfully, people who work as Maintenance Supervisors must consistently demonstrate qualities such as dependability, attention to detail, and stress tolerance.

Below, you'll find a list of qualities typically required of Maintenance Supervisors, ranked by importance:

Demands	Importance	Details
Dependability		Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.
Attention to Detail		Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.
Stress Tolerance		Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.
Integrity		Job requires being honest and ethical.
Leadership		Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

Dependability

Job requires being reliable, responsible, and dependable, and fulfilling obligations.

Attention to Detail

Job requires being careful about detail and thorough in completing work tasks.

Stress Tolerance

Job requires accepting criticism and dealing calmly and effectively with high-stress situations.

Integrity

Job requires being honest and ethical.

Leadership

Job requires a willingness to lead, take charge, and offer opinions and direction.

What education and training do Maintenance Supervisors need?

Maintenance Supervisors often have training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.

Maintenance Supervisors usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with this occupation.

Educational degrees among Maintenance Supervisors

6.8% did not complete high school or secondary school
37.5% completed high school or secondary school
28.0% completed some college coursework
13.0% earned a Associate's degree
11.5% earned a Bachelor's degree
3.0% earned a Master's degree
0.3% earned a doctorate or professional degree

Knowledge and expertise required by Maintenance Supervisors

Maintenance Supervisors may benefit from understanding of specialized subject areas, such as administration and management, mechanical, or customer and personal service knowledge.

The list below shows several areas in which most Maintenance Supervisors might want to build proficiency, ranked by importance.

Knowledge areas	Importance	Details
Administration and Management		Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Mechanical		Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
Customer and Personal Service		Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Administrative		Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Personnel and Human Resources		Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Administration and Management

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Mechanical

Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.

Customer and Personal Service

Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.

Administrative

Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Personnel and Human Resources

Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.

Important Abilities needed by Maintenance Supervisors

Maintenance Supervisors must develop a particular set of abilities to perform their job well. Abilities are individual capacities that influence a person's information processing, sensory perception, motor coordination, and physical strength or endurance. Individuals may naturally have certain abilities without explicit training, but most abilities can be sharpened somewhat through practice.

For example, Maintenance Supervisors need abilities such as oral comprehension, written comprehension, and oral expression in order to perform their job at a high level. The list below shows several important abilities for Maintenance Supervisors, ranked by their relative importance.

Abilities	Importance	Details
Oral Comprehension		The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Written Comprehension		The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Oral Expression		The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning		The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning		The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Oral Comprehension

The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

Written Comprehension

The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.

Oral Expression

The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

Deductive Reasoning

The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.

Inductive Reasoning

The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).

Critical Skills needed by Maintenance Supervisors

Skills are developed capacities that enable people to function effectively in real-world settings. Unlike abilities, skills are typically easier to build through practice and experience. Skills influence effectiveness in areas such as learning, working with others, design, troubleshooting, and more.

Maintenance Supervisors frequently use skills like monitoring, management of personnel resources, and speaking to perform their job effectively. The list below shows several critical skills for Maintenance Supervisors, ranked by their relative importance.

Skills	Importance	Details
Monitoring		Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Management of Personnel Resources		Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Speaking		Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking		Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Coordination		Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Monitoring

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Management of Personnel Resources

Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.

Speaking

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

What is the source of this information?

The information provided on this page is adapted from data and descriptions published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration under the CC BY 4.0 license. TraitLab has modified some information for ease of use and reading, and the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment, and Training Administration has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.

If you have any questions or suggestions about this information, please send a message.

Career profile Maintenance Supervisor

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