Maintenance Technician Career Guide: Duties, Skills & Salary

The world doesn’t run without maintenance technicians. Every light that stays on, every conveyor that keeps moving and every HVAC that hums quietly in the background exists because a skilled technician made it happen. This isn’t just a job — it’s a trade that blends mechanical skill with problem-solving under pressure. And the demand? Still climbing.

In this guide, you’ll see what a maintenance technician actually does day to day, the core skills employers look for, and how to start or advance a career in one of the most essential roles in modern industry.

What Is a Maintenance Technician? 

A maintenance technician is just what it sounds like — someone who performs maintenance on machinery to keep it running smoothly. While this is a more entry-level maintenance job, for manufacturing, property management and logistics industries, technicians play an integral role in inspecting and maintaining equipment to keep it in good working order. This directly helps extend machinery lifespans and prevent costly equipment downtime. 

Let’s use the example of working in a large logistics warehouse, where the ability to ship products on time is dependent on a conveyor belt. Here are a few ways a maintenance technician will work to ensure the conveyor belt’s continued functionality:

• Preventive maintenance: Historical maintenance analytics validate that the head pulley needs to be lubricated regularly. So, the maintenance technician regularly lubricates this integral part on a preventive maintenance schedule.
• Inspections: The maintenance tech frequently inspects the conveyor belt to look out for any issues, such as machine parts that need replacement, before they turn into major problems.
• Unexpected repairs: If the belt snaps unexpectedly, the technician has the skills to perform emergency maintenance to limit downtime and resume operations. 

Maintenance Technician: Core Responsibilities

The day-to-day actions of a maintenance technician depend on the industry and types of equipment they encounter. Here are common ways this role supports a maintenance team:

Completing Assigned Work Orders

When technicians receive work order assignments, they prioritize them based on their routine maintenance schedule as well as urgency. Work order assignments often pertain to:

• Preventive maintenance
• Inspections
• Part replacement and adjustments

Communicating With Maintenance Supervisor

As the technician oversees facility-wide equipment, it is their duty to provide status updates of completed work and report existing or potential asset issues to the higher-ups. (This is typically a maintenance supervisor but may also include a maintenance manager.) In order to prioritize efforts effectively, a maintenance technician should have the communication skills to emphasize when a specific project needs to take precedence over others. 

Log Maintenance Work

Whenever an inspection, repair or preventive maintenance task is completed, the technician needs to record all of the details of parts used, actions taken and so on. The specific process for recording this data depends on the company. But the most simple approach is using a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) that allows for mobile recording via a tablet or phone and automatically stores the information in the cloud.

Understanding & Following Specific Safety Measures

Every piece of machinery has specific processes and procedures that need to be taken to repair it and ensure the safety of both the technician and production workers. A technician needs to abide by the specific standard operating procedures outlined for repairing machinery to ensure it is maintained correctly.

Most Common Types of Maintenance Technicians by Industry

There are maintenance technician roles across many different industries, but these three are the most common:

Building Maintenance Technician

Building maintenance is integral to keeping a building fully functioning and safe. Working with a facilities manager, a building maintenance tech can expect building upkeep tasks to include: 

• Repairing and maintaining plumbing, HVAC and electrical systems 
• Facilitating tenant maintenance requests 
• Inspecting fire, carbon monoxide, smoke and other safety systems
• Managing parking lot maintenance

Industrial Maintenance Technician

Businesses that operate industrial machinery need technicians to inspect, maintain and repair all vital assets to keep manufacturing processes rolling. Common day-to-day tasks will include:

• Fixing mechanical breakdowns 
• Troubleshooting mechanical issues on production or factory equipment 
• Installing new machines, IoT sensors, etc.

Fleet Maintenance Technician 

Businesses that manage a fleet of vehicles need to maintain them like any other asset. Someone that maintains an organization’s cars, vans, trucks and aircraft can expect to do the following: 

• Completing essential fleet maintenance tasks
• Performing preventive maintenance on fleet vehicles 
• Repairing and maintaining fleet transit facilities

What Skills Do You Need to Be a Maintenance Technician?

A maintenance technician job is highly technical. To ace a maintenance technician interview, you’ll need to highlight your experience applying the following skills:

• General technical knowledge: Do you understand the type of equipment you’ll be working with and the steps you need to take to inspect and maintain it?
• Physical capability: Can you handle lifting heavy equipment and parts? Are you able to navigate tight spaces? And do you have the strength and endurance to work on machinery? 
• Problem-solving skills: Can you diagnose problems accurately and problem-solve quickly to keep equipment functioning reliably and minimize downtime?
• Solution-focused: Are you able to quickly determine where issues with machinery stem from on the fly?
• Communicative: Can you explain key issues to supervisors and record these issues in a written capacity?
• Time-management capabilities: Will you prevent excessive downtime by performing repairs quickly? Can you regularly schedule and manage inspections to prevent issues from arising?
• High school diploma or equivalent

What’s the Average Salary for a Maintenance Technician?

Maintenance technician salaries and hourly rates vary widely depending on the sector, your location and years of experience. On average, though, a technician working full time can expect to make about $24 an hour, according to Indeed. Glassdoor reports a median total pay of $68,000 a year, while Talent.com states that entry-level positions start around $44,000 a year and can go up to $94,000, depending on experience. (All three sites also feature relevant job postings). 

Keep in mind that, as you advance your technical skill set and gain valuable work experience, there is substantial room for growth. Of course, participating in apprenticeship programs or on-the-job training can also help you work your way up in the sector.

Benefits of Becoming a Maintenance Technician 

While benefits vary between industries, most general maintenance job descriptions include a wide range of benefits, such as: 

Job Security 

As long as businesses require equipment and facilities to remain operational, maintenance technicians will have ongoing, stable job prospects. Additionally, as technology evolves, skilled technicians will become even more integral to ensure maintenance programs run smoothly and malfunctions are prevented.

Career Progression 

As you elevate your understanding about various types of equipment, your skillset will be more valuable to your current (and other) employers and potentially earn you more advanced technical roles. Similarly, technicians that specialize in areas like HVAC, electrical or machinery maintenance find it easier to advance to management roles. Earning maintenance certifications like the Certified Maintenance and Reliability Technician (CMRT) certification also help with employment growth and progression.

Competitive Benefits Packages 

Skilled maintenance technicians are highly sought after, so you should be entitled to solid workplace benefits. Here are common benefits to look out for and inquire about when considering an organization:

• Health, vision and dental insurance: Ask about what types of insurance are provided for employees and what’s included in your coverage.
• Paid time off (PTO): Inquire about how much time off you’re entitled to. Average PTO plans vary from 14 to 20 days a year and typically depend on the length of your employment. 
• Disability coverage: Maintenance workers perform risky tasks. Ensure that you’re covered in the case of an injury, and ask about what this coverage looks like.
• Stock ownership: If you plan to grow within the company, you may be able to earn valuable stock over time with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan. Is the business working with an ESOP advisory service to offer this unique incentive? And how much stock can you potentially get in working there? 
• Family leave: For certain family and medical reasons, you may be entitled to take off to balance family responsibilities with your work schedule.  

Maintenance Technician vs. Equipment Engineering Technician

Two roles that often get confused are the maintenance technician and the equipment engineering technician (EET) — both of which fill two distinct needs on the production floor.

A maintenance technician’s primary focus is reactive and preventive upkeep. They are the hands-on specialists responsible for the day-to-day functionality of machinery. Their goal is to maximize equipment lifespan and minimize unexpected downtime by executing routine tasks like lubrication, calibration, scheduled inspections and emergency repairs to restore equipment to its normal working condition. Their expertise is broad, covering mechanical, electrical and hydraulic systems.

The equipment engineering technician, in contrast, often possesses a more specialized, engineering-focused technical background, frequently holding an associate’s degree in a field like engineering technology. The EET’s role is not just to fix broken assets, but to optimize, troubleshoot complex systems and improve the manufacturing process itself. They work closely with engineers to design modifications, analyze deep-level system data (such as PLC programming or robotics performance) and implement high-level system upgrades. An EET solves the complicated “why” behind chronic failures, focusing on increasing efficiency and yield, whereas a maintenance technician solves the immediate “how” of getting the machine running again.

Perform Maintenance Technician Work The Right Way

When you land your ideal maintenance technician gig, make sure you’re using the right technology to do the job smoothly. Using a top CMMS software like Coast will help you to: 

• Organize asset inventory management of much-needed equipment, parts and tools
• Assist with the automation of preventive maintenance scheduling
• Store and track maintenance work digitally
• Collect insightful data about all of the equipment you manage

To learn more about Coast, schedule a free demo!