What Does a Maintenance Engineer Do? (Skills, Pay & Benefits)

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Are you someone who is looking for an engaging, managerial role that encourages strategic thinking, problem-solving and technical know-how? If so, then becoming a maintenance engineer might be the role for you.

But what exactly is a maintenance engineer? What skills does the role require, and how can you become one? Let us break it down for you.

What Is a Maintenance Engineer? 

A maintenance engineer is someone who specializes in installing, troubleshooting and maintaining different types of industrial machinery which include cranes, hydraulic presses, HVAC systems and bulldozers. According to Zippia.com, there is a 5 percent job growth rate for maintenance engineers from 2018 to 2028, and the role has seen a continuous salary increase in the past 10 years, which is expected to continue to grow.

What Tasks Does a Maintenance Engineer Perform? 

Maintenance engineer tasksNow that you have the basic idea of what exactly a maintenance engineer is, let’s address the tasks they are expected to perform:

Let’s take the example of being in charge of the maintenance of several HVAC systems in multiple facilities, a task that must be performed efficiently, accurately and safely. The maintenance engineer will have to oversee the care of this equipment, which involves creating preventive maintenance schedules to ensure the HVAC systems are up to date and running smoothly. They also need to make sure these maintenance strategies stay within budget and are performed in a timely manner due to the high importance of the systems. 

The maintenance engineer will also be expected to train staff on the HVAC maintenance procedures and schedules so that there is a coordinated effort of productivity and safety. The budget for the HVAC system maintenance can be established by working with the maintenance manager, taking into account tools and replacement parts needed. They can set performance goals in order to track maintenance and guarantee that everything assigned is being carried out. Looking to the future, the maintenance engineer must also track the efficiency of the HVAC systems themselves in case they need to be replaced or upgraded. 

Maintenance Engineer vs. Maintenance Technician 

When pursuing a maintenance job role, you may get confused about all the positions available — most notably the difference between a maintenance engineer and a maintenance technician. A maintenance technician is a more entry-level role that focuses on hands-on maintenance tasks, which may include cleaning and inspecting, or repairs and replacements of parts of machinery. They are not required to have attended a four-year institution, so most have an associate degree and are trained through apprenticeships and other such programs. 

Maintenance engineers, on the other hand, are the ones who create and plan the tasks that are carried out by the maintenance technicians. Their focus is on designing, developing and improving systems as a whole. The maintenance engineer job role focuses on improving efficiency through system analysis, supervising maintenance technicians and coordinating with other companies or vendors to provide necessary supplies or information. Most maintenance engineers typically have a bachelor’s degree in engineering. In contrast to maintenance technicians, they may require more strategic work as opposed to more practical work. 

What Skills Does Being a Maintenance Engineer Require? 

Choosing a career path in maintenance engineering requires a wide range of skills and problem-solving abilities. Here are a few essential skills that are typically included in a full-time job description:

  • Technical skills: A maintenance engineer needs adept knowledge of the machinery they oversee. These skills include identifying issues that are causing problems within equipment, reading complex manuals, blueprints and diagrams, being able to repair machinery and knowledge of safety codes and regulations.
  • Problem-solving skills: Someone with this job title will frequently have to solve problems that arise within the systems they set in place, so they must be able to diagnose these problems and develop effective and safe solutions, often within a certain time frame depending on how crucial the functionality of a machine may be to operations.
  • Strategic planning skills: When overseeing the maintenance of heavy equipment and machines, a maintenance engineer has to develop effective, preventive methods and plans in order to prevent future breakdowns through routine maintenance. They also must be cost-efficient and align with the timeframe in which the equipment is needed in order to meet deadlines. It also doesn’t hurt to have backup plans should a machine suddenly fail.
  • Managerial or leadership skills: Maintenance engineering is a job that requires teamwork to function smoothly. Delegating tasks to team members with their skills in mind, communicating effectively with other workers to guarantee deadlines are being met and safety regulations are being upheld, training new staff so that their transition into the workplace is smooth, and monitoring team efficiency and production are all extremely important when keeping machinery running smoothly. In addition, a maintenance engineer can foster collaboration in the workplace by working with contractors and vendors from other businesses and incorporating them into daily productivity.
  • Budgeting skills: When tasked with ensuring the health and safety of heavy equipment and your work environment, a maintenance engineer must be able to manage a budget. Estimating costs of repairs and being able to track and report spending is key in ensuring that everything is up to date.
  • Communication skills: Some maintenance engineers work in fast-paced environments — say, a manufacturing plant  — that requires good upfront communication as well as being able to delegate efficiently and respectively in emergency situations.

How to Become a Maintenance Engineer 

Are you wondering what path you can take to step into this exciting role? As it says in the name, you are working towards becoming an engineer. This role typically requires a bachelor’s degree in engineering, obtained at any four-year institution. During your bachelor’s, you should seek out opportunities that allow you hands-on experience in the area of mechanical engineering, gaining maintenance training and previous work experience from more experienced engineers. 

After eight years of experience in the field of engineering (four years from a bachelor’s degree, two years from an associate’s degree or one year from a trade school can count towards this), you can apply for the Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) certification, which gives you higher credibility and more job opportunities. You can also apply for Professional Engineer licensure, which is obtained through taking an exam and will further boost your job prospects as well as salary potential. 

If you work as a maintenance technician, it is possible to climb the ladder to become a maintenance engineer if you exhibit adept hands-on experience and knowledge as well as leadership skills.

Maintenance Engineer Pay Range 

According to Indeed, the average salary for a maintenance engineer is $20.78 an hour, the range extending from $12.67 to $34.07 hourly, meaning there is an overall average salary of about $82,275, with an overtime salary of about $6,000. Glassdoor reports that the average salary is $99,566, or $47.87 per hour, and it falls between the range of $78,000 and $128,000 annually. Salary.com states that the average salary in the United States is $106,160, or $51.04 an hour, which falls between a range of $96,457 and $118,237. The salary of a maintenance engineer can always increase with experience, extra certification and the choice of field in which you decide to work.

Benefits of Becoming a Maintenance  Engineer

By now, you know that a career in maintenance engineering will give you engaging day-to-day tasks that will increase the safety and better the infrastructure of many businesses. You can work with a variety of technical systems, such as HVAC systems, mechanical equipment and electrical systems, which each present their own separate types of routine maintenance and manufacturing upgrades. Any type of equipment or machinery that you work on could be in a different place — a hospital, a school, an office building, an airport, a hotel — the possibilities are endless for what type of environment you could find yourself in and what pocket of everyday life you will be able to expose yourself to. Each day, you must think creatively and strategically to produce effective and timely solutions to any issue you may come across, collaborating with your staff and perhaps other types of operations or contractors.

What you are doing as a maintenance engineer has a real, tangible impact. You will see the effects of your hard work every single day, whether it be maintaining a clean and safe HVAC system at a university or an emergency power system at a children’s hospital. By training your staff and leading them through each task, you will see firsthand how they all grow as people because of your dedication to success. 

So what are you waiting for? Maintenance engineering might just be the perfect role for you!

  • kaatya

    Kaavya Karthikeyan is a content writer for Coast who's well on her way to earning a bachelor's degree at Emory University.

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