Job brief
We are seeking a detail-oriented Preventive Maintenance Planner to join our facilities operations team and take ownership of our site’s equipment reliability strategy. You will play a key role in transitioning our maintenance approach from reactive repairs to predictive optimization, ensuring our building infrastructure runs at peak efficiency. This role is perfect for a professional who enjoys data-driven planning, managing complex vendor relationships, and implementing systematic improvements to workplace safety. If you are passionate about facility uptime and operational excellence, we would love to have you on the team.
Key highlights
- Develop and maintain comprehensive preventive maintenance schedules for all critical building infrastructure using advanced CMMS platforms like UpKeep or SAP PM.
- Analyze historical equipment failure data to optimize service intervals and reduce overall emergency maintenance costs for multi-site facilities.
- Coordinate with external contractors and internal technicians to ensure all scheduled inspections meet safety compliance standards and local building codes.
- Manage the end-to-end procurement process for spare parts, specialty lubricants, and replacement components required for scheduled maintenance tasks.
What is a Preventive Maintenance Planner?
A Preventive Maintenance Planner is a facilities engineering professional responsible for the systematic scheduling, planning, and documentation of asset maintenance activities. By leveraging Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS), the Preventive Maintenance Planner ensures that critical building infrastructure—including HVAC units, electrical distribution, and fire safety systems—remains within operational specifications. This role is essential for minimizing equipment downtime, extending the lifecycle of capital assets, and maintaining continuous compliance with OSHA and NFPA standards.
What does a Preventive Maintenance Planner do?
The Preventive Maintenance Planner translates reactive facility needs into a structured, proactive work order schedule for technicians and contractors. Daily tasks involve analyzing equipment performance data to identify maintenance intervals, sourcing necessary spare parts through procurement workflows, and reconciling completed work logs against facility budget allocations. They collaborate extensively with site supervisors and external vendors to synchronize complex infrastructure repairs with facility production schedules, ensuring zero disruption to daily workplace operations.
Key responsibilities
- Develop and maintain comprehensive preventive maintenance schedules for all critical building infrastructure using advanced CMMS platforms like UpKeep or SAP PM.
- Analyze historical equipment failure data to optimize service intervals and reduce overall emergency maintenance costs for multi-site facilities.
- Coordinate with external contractors and internal technicians to ensure all scheduled inspections meet safety compliance standards and local building codes.
- Manage the end-to-end procurement process for spare parts, specialty lubricants, and replacement components required for scheduled maintenance tasks.
- Perform routine walk-through inspections of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical rooms to verify that all assets are documented and labeled correctly.
- Generate monthly performance reports detailing asset reliability, work order completion rates, and variance against the annual facilities maintenance budget.
- Implement standardized lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures and safety documentation for all facility maintenance activities to maintain full regulatory compliance.
- Facilitate weekly planning meetings with maintenance supervisors to prioritize work orders based on facility criticality and current operational requirements.
Requirements and skills
- 3+ years of experience in facility maintenance planning, industrial engineering, or plant operations with a focus on asset reliability.
- Expert-level proficiency in CMMS software such as Fiix, Maximo, or similar platforms to manage work order lifecycles and asset inventories.
- Strong technical knowledge of building automation systems (BAS), HVAC controls, and electrical distribution architectures typical in commercial environments.
- Proven ability to read and interpret mechanical blueprints, electrical schematics, and facility CAD layouts for accurate project planning.
- Solid understanding of OSHA workplace safety regulations, including NFPA 70E electrical safety and confined space permit requirements.
- Certification as a Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) or equivalent facility management credential is highly preferred.
- Demonstrated expertise in Excel, including pivot tables and VLOOKUP, for tracking maintenance KPIs and department expenditure reports.
- Exceptional ability to communicate technical resource requirements to non-technical stakeholders and external vendor partners during service negotiations.
FAQs
What does a Preventive Maintenance Planner do on a daily basis?
A Preventive Maintenance Planner spends their day managing work order backlogs, updating CMMS records, and verifying that scheduled maintenance is performed on time. They coordinate with technicians to prepare parts and tools for upcoming tasks, review service logs for accuracy, and monitor building system dashboards for any performance anomalies that require intervention.
What are the essential skills for a Preventive Maintenance Planner?
Key skills for a Preventive Maintenance Planner include technical competency in CMMS software, an analytical mindset for interpreting equipment maintenance history, and detailed knowledge of building systems like HVAC and electrical. Additionally, the role requires strong project coordination skills to manage vendor contracts and ensure that maintenance activities remain compliant with safety regulations.
Who does a Preventive Maintenance Planner report to and work with?
A Preventive Maintenance Planner typically reports to a Facilities Manager or Maintenance Director. They collaborate daily with maintenance supervisors, field technicians, and external specialty contractors to execute work. They also interact with procurement departments to manage parts inventory and with safety officers to ensure all maintenance work meets site-wide compliance standards.
Why is a Preventive Maintenance Planner important for facility management?
The Preventive Maintenance Planner is critical to an organization because they shift the maintenance culture from expensive, reactive emergency repairs to planned, proactive servicing. This results in significantly lower operational costs, higher equipment availability, longer asset lifespans, and a safer working environment for all employees.