Hand out the day's repairs
Rank this morning's repair requests, give each to a worker, and estimate its hours and supplies.
Career profile
Maintenance and Repair Supervisor
Maintenance supervisors run the team that keeps machinery repaired and running.
You decide who takes each repair and inspect the result. The job brings mechanical skill and answering for other people's work together.
A day in the life
Test a completed fix
Measure the finished fix with a gauge and check it against its specs before you sign off.
Reteach a skipped procedure step
Walk a worker through a procedure step they skipped, then confirm they can do it safely.
Order supplies for upcoming jobs
Figure out how much material upcoming jobs need and put in supply requests so the crew has it.
Track down a repeat breakdown
In a plant, find out why one machine keeps failing and agree with production staff on fixes.
Quick facts
High school + repair experience
United States · 2025
$79,860/year
United States · 2025
4.1% projected growth
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
High school + repair experienceRelated work experience usually comes before supervising. Some employers also seek technical education.
Pay
$79,860/yearNational median in 2025; $38.39 per hour.
Outlook
4.1% projected growthAbout 48,900 openings per year nationwide over 2025–35.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy working out the order of jobs when several people need help.
- You like explaining how a repair works.
- You can give clear feedback when someone's work needs improvement.
Things to weigh
- You answer for the crew's results and safety, including mistakes you did not personally make.
- The job can still involve noisy equipment and time on the shop floor.
- Some facilities need weekend coverage or emergency callbacks that interrupt your plans.
Where AI may help
Maintenance software keeps work orders, service schedules, and equipment histories together so you can spot patterns and plan repairs.
What people still lead
You weigh those records against production needs, coach technicians, and settle competing priorities.
What we can’t predict yet
How much scheduling software will handle on its own remains uncertain, especially when breakdowns disrupt the plan.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median is a useful reference when comparing supervisor jobs, but it is not a starting offer.
The national midpoint
Median pay was $79,860 a year, or $38.39 an hour, in 2025. Half of workers earned more and half earned less.
The national spread
In 2025, the lowest-paid 10% earned $49,600 a year or less, and the highest-paid 10% earned $126,790 or more. These are wage percentiles across workers, not steps in a career.
Pay across workplace types
For a historical comparison, May 2023 annual average pay was $65,210 in automotive repair and maintenance, $79,950 in local government excluding schools and hospitals, and $81,650 at building equipment contractors. These averages cover the same supervisor occupation; they are not current offers.
National job prospects
Employment is projected to grow 4.1% over 2025–35, with about 48,900 openings annually. Openings are not all newly created jobs, and local hiring can differ.
Getting started
Build experience in building maintenance
- What the route involves
- Develop journey-level skills through building repair work. Riverside County's maintenance route calls for four years at that level.
- What it can lead to
- That experience meets the experience requirement for its building-maintenance supervisor route.
- What to check
- This is a local hiring route, not a national rule. The county also requires a valid California driver's license.
Combine technical study with plant experience
- What the route involves
- Study engineering or a related field and gain experience maintaining manufacturing equipment.
- What it can lead to
- This combination can prepare you for plant supervisor roles that value both technical education and practical maintenance experience.
- What to check
- Requirements vary. A food-plant role may prefer a bachelor's degree while requiring at least three years of manufacturing maintenance experience; the degree alone does not meet that requirement.
Usually, you first learn maintenance or repair work, then build the experience to supervise it. Requirements depend on the equipment and employer.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn the site's work-order process and inspection standards. Build a clear picture of what each worker can handle.
Improve the maintenance plan
Use equipment histories to investigate recurring failures and adjust which preventive jobs receive attention.
Manage several facilities
A next step can be facilities support manager, coordinating maintenance across several sites. San Diego County uses this as the level above building maintenance supervisor.
Where you can work
Food manufacturing plants
You coordinate repairs with production on a particular shift. Food-safety rules shape the work as well as equipment safety.
- Indoors
- Shift work
- Safety-sensitive
Public buildings and facilities
Your crew covers systems such as heating, plumbing, and pumps across one complex building or several sites. Some assignments include emergency callbacks.
- Indoors
- Office
- On call
- Safety-sensitive
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
On paper, invent four repair requests, two workers with different skills, and one missing part. Make a morning schedule, then add an urgent breakdown. Explain what you would move and whom you would notify. Notice whether coordinating the work interests you.
Stay safe: Keep this a paper exercise; do not inspect or repair equipment.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. 49-1011.00 — First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–35. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- County of Riverside. Building Maintenance Supervisor — Class 62771. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- County of San Diego. Building Maintenance Supervisor — Class 005885. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Bel. Maintenance Supervisor — Traverse City, Job 53540. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- Monster Energy. Maintenance Supervisor (Manufacturing). Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics Tables. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine. California Wages: 49-1011.00 — United States comparison, 2025. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wages — 49-1011 First-Line Supervisors of Mechanics, Installers, and Repairers. Accessed 2026-10-03.