Maintenance Planning Supervisor Job Description

Salary Range

Varies by employer

Experience

A few years as a planner or scheduler

Work Environment

Facilities work control office

What Does a Maintenance Planning Supervisor Do?

Plenty of repair delays start in the office. Maintenance planning supervisors lead the planners, schedulers and work control staff who turn work orders into each shop's schedule at hospitals, universities, plants and other big sites. Their plans decide which job happens next.

Also known as: Maintenance Scheduler Supervisor, Work Management Supervisor

Other Job Titles for This Work

Workers in this occupation report titles such as Accounting Manager, Accounts Payable Supervisor, Accounts Receivable Manager, Administrative Supervisor, Customer Service Manager, Customer Service Supervisor, Office Coordinator, Office Manager.

Maintenance Planning Supervisor Duties and Responsibilities

The primary responsibilities of a maintenance planning supervisor include:

• Supervise planners, schedulers and work control staff who take and route maintenance requests.
• Chair the weekly scheduling meeting with shop leads and agree on the next week's work.
• Set rules for work order priorities so emergencies, repairs and routine tasks are ranked the same way.
• Audit work orders for missing labor, parts or notes, and coach planners on the gaps.
• Manage the maintenance software setup, including user roles, asset records and preventive maintenance schedules.
• Publish backlog, cost and schedule-compliance reports for facilities leaders and building managers.
• Hire and train planners, and cover their desks during vacations and busy periods.
• Resolve disputes between shops and customers over job scope, timing or charges.
• Improve request forms and service catalogs so customers describe problems clearly from the start.
• Plan staffing for major shutdowns, building openings and seasonal work such as chiller startup.

Required Skills and Qualifications

To succeed as a maintenance planning supervisor, you will need the following skills and qualifications:

• Advanced use of CMMS software such as IBM Maximo or AiM
• Supervising and coaching office staff
• Excel and reporting tools such as Power BI
• Maintenance planning and scheduling methods
• Understanding of building trades and their workloads
• Setting priorities under pressure
• Diplomacy with shop leads and customers
• Process writing and training

Education and Training

With experience, a maintenance planner or scheduler could progress to this post, and some supervisors come up from the trades instead. Landing it without a degree might be possible, since BLS lists a high school diploma as typical for office supervisors, but a bachelor's in facilities or business management can give you an edge over other applicants. Planning experience matters most.

Salary and Job Outlook

Employment of first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers, the broad group that includes this role, is projected to rise about 0.1 percent from 2025 to 2035, according to BLS. In other words, the group is holding steady. The same projections still show about 127,400 openings a year, though only a small number of them are in maintenance departments. Planners who can show better schedule compliance or a shrinking backlog are more likely to be picked when a supervisor post opens.

Outlook source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections, 2025 to 2035, First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers.

Maintenance Planning Supervisor Pay Range

Highest-Paying States for Maintenance Planning Supervisors

The states with the highest median pay for this occupation are Washington ($79,480), District of Columbia ($79,200), New York ($79,170), Connecticut ($78,200), California ($77,590). Pay is lowest in Arkansas ($58,100), Louisiana ($57,180), West Virginia ($53,660).

What the Work Is Like

O*NET surveys people who work as first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers about their daily conditions. Of those surveyed:

• 98% are on the phone every day
• 93% say teamwork is very or extremely important in their job
• 89% use email every day
• 85% spend more than half the workday sitting
• 81% say being exact and accurate is very or extremely important
• 70% work indoors in a climate-controlled space every day
• 39% have a lot of freedom to make decisions

Education Workers Say the Job Needs

Tools and Software Maintenance Planning Supervisors Use

Tools and equipment

• 10-key calculators
• Computer data input scanners
• Computer laser printers
• Desktop computers
• Laptop computers
• Laser facsimile machines
• Liquid crystal display LCD projectors
• Multi-line telephone systems
• Personal computers
• Photocopiers

Software

• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft Office software
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Word
• Adobe Acrobat
• Apple macOS
• Facebook
• Google Docs
• Henry Schein Dentrix
• IBM SPSS Statistics
• Intuit QuickBooks

Is This Job a Good Fit for You?

People who do well in this job tend to enjoy leading, persuading and making business decisions as well as organized work with data, records and clear procedures.

Skills O*NET rates most important: Reading Comprehension, Active Listening, Speaking, Monitoring, Social Perceptiveness, Coordination.

Knowledge areas used most: Administration and Management, Customer and Personal Service, English Language, Administrative, Computers and Electronics.

Preparation: O*NET places this occupation in Job Zone 3 of 5, which means medium preparation.

Related Careers

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Applying for a Maintenance Planning Supervisor Job

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