Maintenance Engineer: What is the cost of hiring?

What is a maintenance engineer?

A maintenance engineer is generally responsible for inspecting, servicing and repairing equipment and machinery to ensure continuous, safe and efficient operations. They often work in manufacturing, facilities management and utilities, using preventive and corrective maintenance strategies to minimize disruptions and promote long-term productivity.

Why hire a maintenance engineer?

Maintenance engineers can help reduce unplanned downtime, extend the lifespan of critical assets and ensure equipment meets safety and compliance standards. You may need to hire a maintenance engineer if your operations depend on consistent machine performance, require technical troubleshooting or have compliance responsibilities that call for routine inspections and documentation.

Contributions of a great maintenance engineer:

• performs regular inspections, diagnostics, and repairs to prevent system failures
• creates and maintains preventive maintenance schedules for critical assets
• ensures compliance with workplace safety standards and operational regulations

Defining your hiring needs for maintenance engineers

Start by assessing the complexity of your equipment and the volume of maintenance tasks to determine if you need a generalist or a specialist. Consider your budget, operational hours and whether coverage is required on nights or weekends. Decide if your team needs full-time, part-time or freelance support based on seasonal demands, ongoing repair needs or planned upgrades. In some cases, companies may confuse this role with that of a maintenance technician or reliability engineer; review each role carefully to choose the right fit.

What are the types of maintenance engineers?

Maintenance engineers can specialize in specific systems or functions depending on your industry. Some focus on mechanical or electrical systems, while others manage building infrastructure or travel to off-site locations.

Common types of maintenance engineers include:

• Mechanical maintenance engineer: Maintains mechanical systems such as engines, belts, pumps and HVAC equipment.
• Electrical maintenance engineer: Focuses on electrical panels, wiring and control systems, including PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers).
• Facilities maintenance engineer: Manages overall building systems like elevators, lighting and fire safety.
• Reliability engineer: Specializes in system performance, using root cause analysis and failure data to improve uptime.
• Field service engineer: Travels to client sites to diagnose and repair technical equipment or systems.

When writing your maintenance engineer job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on maintenance engineer jobs, according to Indeed data:

• power engineer
• engineer
• maintenance
• 4th class power engineer
• engineering
• data engineer
• student
• engineering intern
• maintenance engineer
• reliability engineer

Want more hiring insights for your maintenance engineer role? Sign in or create your free Indeed account.

Where to find maintenance engineers

You can find maintenance engineers across Canada by connecting with industry-focused training programs, technical associations, and regional job fairs. Consider reaching out to vocational institutions or promoting internally if you already have skilled technicians ready for the next step.

To find the right maintenance engineer for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Career fairs at technical schools: Colleges like SAIT (Southern Alberta Institute of Technology) and Centennial College in Ontario produce skilled maintenance professionals through hands-on programs.
• Industry associations: Organizations like PEMAC (Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of Canada) offer networking opportunities and member directories for experienced maintenance professionals.
• Internal advancement: Promote experienced maintenance technicians or apprentices who already understand your equipment and operations.
• Specialized trade job boards: Platforms focusing on trades or industrial roles may attract more relevant applicants than general listings.
  

Post your job online: Try posting your maintenance engineer job on Indeed to find and attract quality maintenance engineer candidates.

Skills to look for in a maintenance engineer

A successful maintenance engineer candidate will typically have the following skills and competencies, which may be gained through a variety of experiences, training, or education:

• diagnostic and repair skills for mechanical, electrical and automated systems
• preventive maintenance planning to reduce unplanned equipment failures
• knowledge of safety protocols and regulatory compliance standards
• ability to interpret technical manuals, schematics and system diagrams
• proficiency with CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) software to log repairs, monitor schedules and track assets
• root cause analysis to identify recurring issues and develop long-term solutions

Writing a maintenance engineer job description

Now that you know the key skills, salary expectations, popular job-seeker search terms and hiring insights for a maintenance engineer, you’re ready to write a job description.

A maintenance engineer job description typically includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities, and the required and preferred skills for the position. You may also want to include information about your company culture, benefits and perks to attract candidates to your open role.

Ready to get started? See our full guide for writing maintenance engineer job descriptions. 

Interviewing maintenance engineer candidates

Strong candidates for maintenance engineer positions will be confident in answering questions regarding:

• hands-on experience repairing or maintaining specific machinery or equipment
• ability to diagnose complex technical issues and respond quickly under pressure
• understanding of workplace safety protocols and engineering regulations
• familiarity with tools, testing equipment, and digital systems like CMMS 
• prioritization and decision making during urgent or high-impact situations

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of maintenance engineer interview questions for examples (with sample answers).