Cultural attraction facilities maintenance technician job description
A facilities maintenance technician at a zoo, museum or public garden fixes the HVAC, plumbing, wiring, doors and fences that let the site open each day. They also keep up systems an office never has, like aquarium life support and climate control for collection storage. During open hours, they answer radio calls for leaks, spills and power trouble.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, museums, zoos and gardens · BLS, May 2025
Cultural Attractions - Facilities Maintenance Technician
Company Name:
[INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE]
Department:
Operations
Reports to:
Facilities Manager
Location:
[INSERT LOCATION HERE]
1. Position Summary
Our Facilities Maintenance Technician keeps buildings, grounds, and systems working so we can open every day. You repair HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and doors; run preventive maintenance; and respond to breakdowns during open hours. Some systems matter more here than in an office, such as [collection climate control, aquarium life support, or greenhouse systems].
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Run preventive maintenance on HVAC, plumbing, electrical, fire systems, and [life support or greenhouse systems].
Respond to work orders and breakdowns, starting with anything that affects safety, animals, or the collection.
Keep temperature and humidity steady in [collection storage, galleries, or animal buildings] and report readings outside range to the Facilities Manager and the Curator.
Repair doors, locks, fences, railings, restrooms, and guest areas.
Schedule and escort outside contractors, and keep work zones closed off from guests.
Prepare the site for storms, freezes, and heat, and help set up for events.
Log work and parts in [your maintenance system].
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Walk the site before opening to check restrooms, doors, lighting, and hazards.
Work through the day's work orders by priority.
Check boilers, chillers, pumps, and alarms on your route.
Answer radio calls for spills, leaks, broken fixtures, or power problems during open hours.
Record readings and repairs and flag work that needs a contractor.
4. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
Work orders closed on time: [your target].
Preventive maintenance completed on schedule: [your target].
Unplanned downtime for critical systems: [your target].
Repeat repairs: [your target].
Safety inspection findings fixed: [your target].
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent, plus [trade school training or equivalent experience].
[3+] years of building maintenance in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, or carpentry.
Safe use of hand and power tools, ladders, and aerial lifts.
Valid driver's license for site vehicles and carts.
Reads equipment manuals, wiring diagrams, and work orders.
6. Preferred Experience
EPA Section 608 certification.
Experience with building automation systems.
Experience with aquarium life support, pool, or greenhouse systems.
Electrical or HVAC license where your state requires one for the work.
7. Physical Requirements
Lift and carry parts and tools up to [50] pounds.
Climb ladders, crawl into tight spaces, and work on roofs and lifts.
Work outdoors and in mechanical rooms in heat and cold.
With or without reasonable accommodation.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Full-time, with rotating weekend and holiday coverage.
On-call rotation for after-hours alarms and system failures.
Work in public areas and back-of-house, with an escort in [animal buildings or collection storage] where required.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Pay: [range and hourly or salary basis].
Additional pay: [overtime, bonus or incentive terms, or none].
Benefits: [health, dental, vision, retirement, paid time off, and when they start].
10. Company Culture and Overview
[Two or three sentences on what your company does, the area you serve, and the support a new facilities maintenance technician gets in the first 90 days.]
11. How to Apply
[Apply link or email]. Our process: [phone interview, in-person interview, and next steps]. Contact [hiring contact] if you need an accommodation during the application process.
Need help filling this role? HireBus posts the ad, Iris interviews every applicant by phone before you do, and you decide who to hire. Start hiring now
What's different about maintenance at a zoo, museum or garden
The trades are the same ones a hotel or office uses. What changes is what's at stake when a system stops: fish, animals, plants or a collection.
Life support runs all night
Aquarium pumps, filters and chillers can't wait for Monday, so alarms page the on-call tech at night. Where marine mammals live, USDA rules call for pool water tests at least weekly for coliform bacteria, and at least daily for pH and any chemicals added. The results are kept on file for a year. A pump or dosing failure puts those numbers at risk, so the tech logs each repair the same day. Source: 9 CFR 3.106, Water quality for marine mammals (Cornell LII).
Tanks, vaults and pits can be confined spaces
OSHA calls a space confined when a worker can get inside, getting in or out is limited, and it isn't built for people to stay in. Its own examples include tanks, vaults and pits. A drained exhibit tank, a filter vault or a sump pit can fit that test. If the space also holds a serious hazard, such as bad air or a way to get trapped, it becomes a permit space with stricter entry rules. Check your program before anyone climbs in. Source: 29 CFR 1910.146, Permit-required confined spaces (Cornell LII).
Refrigerant work takes an EPA card
EPA requires Section 608 certification for technicians whose work on equipment, from upkeep and repair to disposal, could release refrigerant. You earn the card by passing an EPA-approved test. It comes in four types: small appliances, high-pressure, low-pressure and universal. Walk-in coolers for animal diets, ice machines and chillers all hold refrigerant. The card doesn't expire. Source: U.S. EPA: Section 608 technician certification requirements.
Animal and collection areas need an escort
Animal buildings and collection storage have their own entry rules, and the template calls for an escort where your site requires one. Before you shut off power or water, find out what the line feeds. A heat lamp, filter or mister may be keeping animals or plants alive. After you fix a door, gate or fence, a keeper checks the latch before any animal goes back in.
Repairs happen around guests
Most fixes happen with visitors nearby. Techs walk the site before opening, block off work zones, and keep ladders and cords out of the paths. Loud or dusty jobs wait until before the gates open or after closing. On a summer Saturday, radio calls for a spill, a clogged restroom or a stuck door can come all day.
How much cultural attraction facilities maintenance technicians make
The closest BLS group for cultural attraction facilities maintenance technicians is maintenance and repair workers, general. Maintenance and repair workers, general who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $22.16 an hour ($46,100 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s below the $49,590 median for maintenance and repair workers, general in all industries. About 5,130 of the 1,529,700 maintenance and repair workers, general in that survey work for museums, zoos and gardens.
Hourly, with overtime when storm prep, event setups or night alarms add hours. Agree on standby pay with each tech before their first on-call week.
Museums, zoos and gardens
$46,100$46,100 median Middle half $36,990–$57,180 10th–90th $31,410–$68,130
All industries
$49,590$49,590 median Middle half $40,840–$62,620 10th–90th $35,350–$77,180
$20k$30k$40k$50k$60k$70k$80k$90k
10th–90th percentileMiddle halfMedianAnnual pay, May 2025. Source: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics.
Annual pay by percentile
Group
10th
25th
Median
75th
90th
Museums, zoos and gardens
$31,410
$36,990
$46,100
$57,180
$68,130
All industries
$35,350
$40,840
$49,590
$62,620
$77,180
BLS groups museums, zoos, botanical gardens and historic sites together. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Repairs across HVAC, plumbing, electrical and carpentry, not just one trade
Safe habits with lockout, ladders, aerial lifts and power tools
Reads wiring diagrams, equipment manuals and work orders
Stays calm on the radio when a call comes in with guests watching
Logs every repair and reading in the system the same day
Teach these on the job
Aquarium life support, pool or greenhouse systems
Your building automation screens and alarm settings
Working in animal areas with a keeper present
Collection climate readings and who to call when they drift
Your confined space and hot work permits
Expect a multimeter, refrigerant gauges and a recovery machine, pipe and electrical hand tools, an aerial lift and a two-way radio. Work orders usually live in a maintenance app on a phone or tablet, and alarms show up on the building automation system. Tell candidates whether they bring their own hand tools.
Cultural attraction facilities maintenance technician interview questions
They have their own page: 6 questions that test this job, what strong and weak answers sound like, and a work exercise to run with your finalists.
Cultural attraction facilities maintenance technician KPIs
Pull these numbers from the maintenance system, and agree on targets with the Facilities Manager using your own history.
Work orders closed on time
Share of work orders finished by their due date. Set due dates by priority so a broken exhibit door and a dripping staff sink aren't scored the same way.
Preventive maintenance completed on schedule
Share of preventive tasks done in the week they were due, by system, so a missed filter change on a collection air handler shows up right away.
Unplanned downtime for critical systems
Hours a critical system, like a life support pump or a storage air handler, was down without a plan. Start the clock at the alarm and stop it when the system is back in range.
Repeat repairs
Count work orders reopened because the same equipment failed the same way within a set window. Look at the part and the cause, not only who did the first repair.
Safety inspection findings fixed
Share of findings from safety walks and inspections that are fixed by the agreed date. Keep the open list on the shop board where the whole team sees it.
Career path
Maintenance helper or trade apprenticeLearns tools, work orders and building systems beside a senior tech.
Facilities Maintenance TechnicianKeeps the site's equipment running through open hours and after-hours alarms.
Lead technician or life support specialistOwns a system, like the chillers or aquarium life support, and trains new techs.
Facilities managerLeads maintenance and security and plans the budget and contractors.
Cultural attraction facilities maintenance technician FAQ
Does a museum or zoo maintenance technician need a license?
It depends on the work and the place. BLS says licensing rules vary by state and city, and harder jobs in a field like electrical or plumbing may call for a license. Check your state and local boards for the kinds of work this tech will do, and list any license the job needs in the ad.
How much does a cultural attraction facilities maintenance technician make?
Maintenance and repair workers, general who work for museums, zoos, gardens, and historic sites earned a median of $22.16 an hour ($46,100 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $36,990 and $57,180 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
What on-call schedule should a maintenance technician expect?
BLS notes that maintenance workers may be on call on evenings and weekends for emergency repairs. Here the rotation covers life support, freezer and boiler alarms, plus storm and freeze calls. Tell candidates how often each tech is on call, how fast they must answer a page, and how call-outs are paid.
Can a technician learn aquarium life support on the job?
Yes, if they already know pumps, motors, plumbing and controls. Life support adds sand filters, protein skimmers, UV or ozone units and water chemistry. Pair a new tech with the life support lead or an aquarist for a full season, and have them shadow alarm calls before they carry the pager alone.
How is a maintenance technician different from an exhibits technician?
The maintenance tech keeps the buildings and systems working: HVAC, plumbing, power, doors and fences. An exhibits technician works inside the displays, on cases, mounts, signs and interactive stations, and reports to the Curator. The two jobs meet at exhibit lighting, power and repairs in the galleries, so agree on who takes which work order.
