A lighting installer puts up, services and takes down lighting for a lighting contractor. The work runs from LED retrofits in stores and warehouses to path and garden lights at homes and holiday displays on rooflines and trees, usually off a ladder or a lift with a meter close by.
By the HireBus team · Updated · Pay data: BLS, May 2025
Median pay, electrical contractors · BLS, May 2025
The Lighting Installer / Technician is responsible for the installation, maintenance, and removal of lighting displays, ensuring safety and functionality. This role directly impacts customer satisfaction and company reputation by delivering high-quality lighting solutions that meet client specifications and timelines.
2. Essential Duties and Responsibilities
Install lighting systems according to design specifications and safety standards to enhance customer environments.
Perform routine maintenance and troubleshooting to ensure optimal performance of lighting systems.
Remove lighting installations safely and efficiently, minimizing disruption to client sites.
Collaborate with project managers and clients to understand requirements and provide expert recommendations.
Use industry-standard tools such as multimeters, ladders, and various hand tools to complete installations.
Adhere to all safety protocols and company policies to maintain a safe work environment.
Document work completed and communicate with team members to ensure seamless project execution.
3. Key Tasks / Daily Activities
Conduct site visits to assess installation requirements and prepare necessary equipment.
Perform installations, repairs, and removals on a daily basis as per the project schedule.
Coordinate with the operations team to ensure timely delivery of materials and equipment.
Complete daily reports and update project management software with job status.
Participate in team meetings to discuss project progress and address any challenges.
Callback rate: ≤ 5% within 30 days of installation.
Efficiency: Average installation time ≤ 4 hours per standard job.
30/60/90-day ramp expectations: Achieve 80% of KPIs by 30 days, 90% by 60 days, and full KPI targets by 90 days.
5. Required Qualifications and Skills
High school diploma or equivalent; technical certification in electrical or lighting systems preferred.
Valid driver's license and clean driving record.
Proficient with hand tools and electrical testing equipment.
Strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail.
Ability to read and interpret blueprints and technical diagrams.
6. Preferred Experience
2+ years of experience in lighting installation or a related field.
Experience with LED systems and smart lighting technology.
Familiarity with project management software and CRM systems.
7. Physical Requirements
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds regularly.
Comfortable working at heights using ladders and scaffolding.
Willingness to travel to various job sites within the service area.
Use of personal protective equipment (PPE) as required.
8. Work Environment and Schedule
Typical work hours are Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM, with occasional evenings or weekends as needed.
Seasonal demand may require flexibility in scheduling.
On-call duty may be required for emergency service requests.
9. Compensation and Benefits
Competitive hourly wage with performance bonuses based on KPI achievement.
Payouts contingent on maintaining high CSAT scores and low callback rates.
Benefits package includes health insurance, retirement plan, and paid time off.
10. Company Culture and Overview
At [INSERT COMPANY NAME HERE], we pride ourselves on craftsmanship, safety, and customer satisfaction. We are committed to fostering a supportive environment where employees can grow and excel. Join our team and be part of a company that values innovation, teamwork, and excellence in service delivery.
11. How to Apply
If you meet the above criteria and want to be part of a growth-oriented company focused on customer satisfaction, please send your resume to [INSERT EMAIL HERE] or apply online at [INSERT WEBSITE LINK HERE].
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 changes for an installer at a lighting company
An electrician wires the building. A lighting installer mostly works from there out: the fixtures, the yard runs and the seasonal displays, switching between them as the year turns.
Three kinds of work on one calendar
Spring and summer bring path lights, tree lights and patio work at homes. By late summer the shop is testing and sorting holiday strands, and installs fill the fall. In between, crews swap old fluorescent and metal halide fixtures for LED in warehouses, stores and parking lots. A good installer can go from a trenched wire run to a roof edge to a scissor lift in one week.
The plug can be where the license starts
Landscape lighting usually runs from a low-voltage transformer, and holiday strands plug into an outlet. Texas leaves landscapers who install and maintain low-voltage outdoor lighting and holiday lighting out of its electrician licensing law, but not any power source the lights need. Whether your crews fit that wording is a question for the state. A new outlet or circuit for the lights stays licensed work there. Source: Texas Occupations Code § 1305.003: Exemptions (electricians).
Holiday work happens at the roof edge
Holiday installs mean clipping lights along gutters, ridges and peaks, often on two-story homes, then coming back after the season to take everything down. The installer follows the roof and ladder plan your safety officer sets for each house and stops when frost, wind or a steep pitch makes it unsafe. Labeling each house's strands as they come down makes next fall's install faster.
Retrofits in buildings that stay open
Commercial LED swaps are often booked at night or on weekends so a store or office keeps working. The installer works from a lift above shelves or desks, counts every fixture against the job sheet, and keeps old lamps and ballasts apart for the inventory manager's recycling process. Before opening a fixture, they shut off and test the circuit the way your safety officer's procedure says.
Aiming happens after dark
Yard lighting can't be finished at noon. Installers often come back at dusk to aim each fixture, keep glare out of windows and off the neighbors, and set the timer or photocell. Homeowners see the whole job for the first time that night, so build the dusk visit into the schedule and the price instead of squeezing it in.
Residential vs. commercial lighting installer
Many installers do both in the same month. The power, the equipment and the hours change.
Topic
Residential
Commercial
Typical jobs
Path, garden and tree lights, patio lighting and holiday displays
LED retrofits, new fixtures, parking lot poles and wall packs
Power
Low-voltage yard runs from a transformer; holiday strands that plug in
Line-voltage fixtures on building circuits
Working up high
Extension ladders on rooflines and trees
Scissor and boom lifts, inside and out
Hours
Daytime, plus dusk visits to aim fixtures
Often nights and weekends around business hours
License
Low-voltage work is exempt in some states, with limits
Usually licensed electrical work; rules vary by state
How much lighting installers make
The closest BLS group for lighting installers is installation, maintenance, and repair workers. Installation, maintenance, and repair workers who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $26.02 an hour ($54,120 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s above the $49,230 median for installation, maintenance, and repair workers in all industries. About 670 of the 176,300 installation, maintenance, and repair workers in that survey work for electrical contractors.
Hourly, and the template adds a bonus that depends on customer scores and callbacks. BLS has no code for lighting installers, so these figures cover installation and repair workers not listed elsewhere. An installer who holds an electrician's license and does line-voltage retrofits will expect electrician pay.
Electrical contractors
$54,120$54,120 median Middle half $45,080–$63,030 10th–90th $40,540–$82,410
All industries
$49,230$49,230 median Middle half $42,170–$61,900 10th–90th $36,080–$77,040
$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
Electrical contractors
$40,540
$45,080
$54,120
$63,030
$82,410
All industries
$36,080
$42,170
$49,230
$61,900
$77,040
BLS doesn’t publish pay for lighting installers on their own. These figures cover electrical contractors, which include them. Post a real range for your market in the ad.
The pay line in the template above is an example from our Role Blueprint. Set yours from these figures and what local companies pay.
Skills to hire for, and what you can teach
Hire for these
Works from ladders and lifts and follows the fall plan every time
Uses a multimeter to find a dead fixture, a bad splice or a tripped transformer
Reads a lighting plan or fixture schedule and installs what it shows
Leaves a homeowner's yard, roof and gutters as clean as they were
Counts and labels parts so retrofits and takedowns match the paperwork
Teach these on the job
Your holiday clip types, strand lengths and storage system
Transformer sizing and voltage drop on long yard runs
LED retrofit kits, drivers and the brands you stock
Smart lighting apps, timers and photocells
Daily reports and photo uploads in your field app
Installers carry a multimeter, strippers, crimpers, a drill-driver and fiberglass ladders, while the company supplies lifts, wire trenchers, holiday clips and the trucks. The ad should say which seasons the job covers, whether lift work is part of it, and which months bring weekend shifts.
Lighting installer interview questions
Two of the 6 questions we'd ask, and what a strong answer sounds like. Ask every candidate the same questions, and rate each answer on your own before you compare notes.
Situational · Lift safety in wind
You're in a boom lift replacing a pole light, and the wind picks up. What do you do?
A strong answer: Checks against the lift's wind limit, lowers and stops if there's any doubt and tells the lead.
Behavioral · Pride in work
Tell me about a job you redid, such as a sagging roofline run or a misaimed landscape light, because it wasn't up to your standard.
A strong answer: Names the specific flaw, why it mattered to the customer, and that they fixed it even though no one asked.
Compare installers on similar work. A day of holiday clips, a yard install and a warehouse retrofit don't produce the same numbers, so base each service line's targets on past jobs of that kind.
Installation completion rate
Count the jobs closed out on their booked day against all jobs on the installer's schedule, for each service line. Mark the days lost to rain, wind or a missing shipment so they don't count against the installer.
Quality assurance score
Customer survey scores on jobs the installer worked, plus the quality inspector's findings. Read the comments for dark sections, loose clips, glare and mess left behind.
Callback rate
Repeat visits to fix the same issue inside the template's window, divided by completed jobs. Note each cause, such as a failed splice, a dead strand or a wrong timer setting.
Efficiency
Hours on site for each standard job type, from arrival to cleanup, compared across installers doing the same work. Keep separate standards for holiday, yard and retrofit jobs.
30/60/90-day ramp expectations
Check the four measures above at each mark. Someone hired into the holiday rush deserves a second look once yard or retrofit work starts.
Career path
Seasonal holiday installerLearns clips, strands and roof rules over one fall season.
Lighting installerInstalls, services and takes down lighting on every service line.
Does a lighting installer need an electrician's license?
It depends on the job and the state. Per BLS, an electrician in most states needs a passing test score and a license, with requirements set state by state. Some outdoor lighting sits outside those laws. Florida's contractor licensing law, for example, exempts a person who installs low-voltage landscape lighting with a factory-installed cord and plug that needs no change to a building's wiring. Hardwiring a transformer or swapping a fixture on a building circuit is another matter. Ask the state's electrical board before an unlicensed installer takes that on.
How much does a lighting installer make?
Installation, maintenance, and repair workers who work for electrical contractors earned a median of $26.02 an hour ($54,120 a year) in May 2025, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The middle half earned between $45,080 and $63,030 a year. Pay also depends on your local market, experience and overtime.
Which certifications fit a lighting installer?
NALMCO, the lighting management trade group, offers the Certified Apprentice Lighting Technician (CALT) for new installers and the Certified Senior Lighting Technician (CSLT) for experienced ones. Both are self-study with an online exam and last three years, and CALT comes first. They're industry credentials, not licenses, but they give a new hire a clear study plan for LEDs, controls, service basics and safety.
How do I test a lighting installer in an interview?
Hand them a meter and a low-voltage run with one fixture out, and watch how they track it down. Show a photo of a two-story roofline and ask where the clips go, where the cords run and how they'd label the strands for takedown. Ask about the last retrofit they did at night and how they kept the count straight.
Can I hire installers just for the holiday season?
Yes, and plenty of holiday lighting work is seasonal by nature. Say in the ad when the season ends and whether January takedowns are part of the job, so nobody quits halfway through. Pair each new hire with a year-round installer for the first weeks. Then keep notes on who shows up and works clean: those are the people to call when spring yard work starts.
What does a lighting installer do in the slow months?
After the holiday takedowns, work shifts to repairing and sorting stored strands, service calls on yard systems, and commercial retrofits, which don't follow the seasons. Spring brings new yard installs. If your retrofit pipeline is thin in late winter, plan training and certification study for those weeks.
