Maintenance Planner
Maintenance planners build the schedules that keep plant and equipment running, so planned work happens before breakdowns do.
- Median salary*
- $99,800
3.5%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 8,300
1.2%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +11.7%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- automation risk
- Average hours
- 48/wk
+8h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
Maintenance planners work on sites such as mines, factories, processing plants and large buildings, sitting between operations, trades and engineering. They turn a backlog of work requests into schedules that fit the labour, parts and shutdown windows available. The job is as much about records as it is about planning, because a schedule is only as good as the asset data behind it.
How much do maintenance planners earn?
The median full-time salary for a maintenance planner is $99,800 per annum, before tax, up $21,200 since 2018.
Pay varies more by sector than by job title, with planners on mine sites and in heavy processing usually earning more than those in light manufacturing, and roster or site allowances adding to that. Enterprise agreements set rates on large sites, and senior planners who lead a team or own the shutdown budget sit above the middle of the range. Contractors often work on day rates, which can be higher than a permanent salary but come without paid leave.
What does a maintenance planner do day to day?
The list below is what fills most weeks; the exact mix shifts with seniority and whatever stage the current work is at.
- Reviewing incoming work requests and sorting what is urgent from what can wait until the next planned window
- Building weekly schedules that match jobs to the trades, parts and equipment available
- Planning shutdowns and major outages, sometimes a year ahead
- Keeping asset registers and work histories accurate in systems such as SAP Plant Maintenance, Maximo or MEX
- Walking the plant with supervisors to scope jobs and check what a task will actually need
What skills do maintenance planners need?
Employers look for operations management, project management, process improvement, backed by SAP Plant Maintenance fluency and strong attention to detail.
Specialist skills
- Operations management
- Project management
- Process improvement
- Inventory management
- Data analysis
Software and tools
- SAP Plant Maintenance
- IBM Maximo
- MEX
- Microsoft Excel
- Primavera P6
General skills
- Attention to detail
- Written communication
- Safety and compliance awareness
Is the job growing?
About 8,300 people work as maintenance planners in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 11.7% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a maintenance planner?
Here's the path most maintenance planners take, step by step.
- 1Start with a trade or technical qualification
A certificate III in an engineering trade such as mechanical fitting or electrical work is the common route in, and it gives you the hands-on knowledge of plant and equipment that planning depends on. Some planners come in through an engineering degree or a diploma instead.
- 2Get on the tools and learn the plant
A few years in maintenance or production teaches you how long jobs really take, which parts fail and what a realistic schedule looks like. Employers hire planners who understand the equipment, not just the software.
- 3Learn a maintenance management system
SAP Plant Maintenance, IBM Maximo and MEX are the systems most Australian sites use. Training is often available through your employer or a short course, and familiarity with one system transfers to the others.
- 4Move into a planning or scheduling role
The usual step is from a senior trade or supervisory job into a junior planner or scheduler position, often on the same site. Some people take a certificate IV or diploma in engineering or maintenance planning to strengthen their application.
- 5Build experience across shutdowns
Shutdown and outage planning is where schedules get complex, with hundreds of jobs packed into tight windows. Time on a major outage is what employers look for when they move a planner into a senior role.
Ready to apply as a maintenance planner?
Whether you're working toward becoming a maintenance planner or already are one and want a hand with the next step (sharpening your resume for ATS screening, tightening your cover letter, or knowing what you'll actually be asked at interview), here are examples grounded in this specific role, not generic templates.
What jobs can a maintenance planner move to?
Moving into Construction Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $95,300 a year more on average.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction Manager Maintenance planners bring scheduling and coordination skills to construction management, though further study in construction management is required.Known move | +$95,300 | 13% | reskill |
| Engineering Manager Maintenance planning experience supports leading engineering teams, but a degree in engineering is typically required for the role.Known move | +$83,200 | 24% | requalify |
| Mechanical Engineer Technical knowledge of plant and equipment carries into mechanical engineering, though a university degree is required.Known move | +$36,100 | 17% | requalify |
| Facilities Manager Maintenance planning and scheduling skills apply directly to managing facilities and building services, with further study needed.Known move | +$9,400 | 32% | reskill |
| Continuous Improvement Manager Maintenance planners already improve processes and reduce downtime, so their skills transfer directly to continuous improvement management. | −$3,600 | 70% | minimal |
Moves are chosen from Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility, which follows income tax records between 2011-12 and 2020-21, together with entry requirements and skill overlap. A known move is one people were seen making in that data. Pay change compares median full-time pay for the two roles.
Who works as a maintenance planner?
The typical maintenance planner is 45 years old; 83% are men, 94% work full-time, and full-timers average 48 hours a week.
- 45
- Median age
- 17%
- Female share
- 94%
- Full-time
- +8h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a maintenance planner?
The week has a rhythm: requests and breakdowns arrive, and the planner reshapes the schedule around them while keeping the longer plan moving. The work suits people who like order, can hold dozens of jobs in their head at once, and are comfortable asking trades and supervisors for information that may never have been written down. Pressure peaks around shutdowns, when the schedule is locked in and everything depends on the detail being right.
What people like
- Planned work beats breakdowns. A schedule that holds means fewer call-outs and less lost production, and the result shows up in the plant's reliability figures rather than in a report nobody reads.
- You see the whole operation. Planners sit between operations, trades and engineering, so they learn how a site actually runs instead of one corner of it.
- The puzzle has real constraints. Fitting hundreds of jobs around production, parts deliveries and shutdown windows is a genuine problem to solve, and there is usually more than one workable answer.
- Skills that move between industries. Mining, manufacturing, construction, water and defence all run plant and all need planners, so the experience carries across sectors.
What people find hard
- Schedules change under you. An unplanned failure or a push from production can undo a week of planning in an afternoon, and the schedule has to be rebuilt around it.
- Chasing information. Work histories are often incomplete and trades are busy, so getting an accurate picture of a job can take longer than scheduling it.
- Caught between competing demands. Operations want the equipment available and trades want realistic time to do the work, and the planner absorbs pressure from both sides.
- Shutdown seasons are long. Major outages mean weeks of extended hours on site, and in mining that often comes with a fly-in, fly-out roster.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ maintenance planners?
Mining employs the largest share of maintenance planners, followed by Manufacturing.
Top employing industries
- 1Mining
- 2Manufacturing
- 3Construction
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Certificate III/IV | 54.1% | |
|---|---|---|
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 15.8% | |
| Bachelor degree | 11.4% | |
| Year 12 or below | 10.7% | |
| Postgraduate | 5.8% |
Will AI replace maintenance planners?
Exposure is moderate, and it is concentrated in the paperwork rather than the planning. Scheduling and CMMS software can rank work orders by criticality, prefill standard task lists and draft a weekly schedule from the asset register, which removes a lot of manual sorting. What it cannot do is walk the plant, judge how long a job will really take with the crew available, or talk a production manager into releasing a line.
Share of typical working time by exposure level
- Building and adjusting weekly maintenance schedulesScheduling tools can rank work orders and draft a roster of jobs, but a planner still weighs production commitments, crew availability and contractor lead times before releasing it.30%moderate
- Loading and cleaning asset data and work historiesSoftware that reads equipment manuals and standard job libraries can prefill task lists, and automated reporting flags missing or duplicate records, cutting much of the manual entry that used to fill a planner's week.25%high
- Scoping jobs on site with trades and supervisorsWorking out what a repair really involves means looking at the equipment, checking access and asking the people who will do the job.25%low
- Planning shutdowns and coordinating contractorsPlanning software sequences hundreds of jobs and highlights clashes, but negotiating access windows with operations and locking in contractors stays with the planner.20%moderate
Common questions about becoming a maintenance planner
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a maintenance planner earn?
Maintenance planners earn a median of $99,800 per year before tax, based on full-time workers. Pay rises with the sector and the complexity of the plant, so mine sites and heavy processing pay more than light manufacturing, and senior planners who run shutdowns earn above the middle of the range.
How do you become a maintenance planner?
Most planners start with a trade qualification and several years working on plant and equipment, then move into scheduling as their knowledge of the equipment grows. Learning a maintenance management system such as SAP Plant Maintenance or Maximo is usually what makes that move possible.
Are maintenance planners in demand?
Maintenance planners are currently not in shortage, and employment is projected to grow 11.7% over the decade to 2035 over the decade to 2035. Mines, factories and processing plants run continuous operations that need planned maintenance, so demand tends to follow the industries that employ trades.
Will AI replace maintenance planners?
AI and scheduling software are taking over parts of the job, particularly drafting schedules from the asset register and flagging overdue work, which is why the role carries moderate exposure. What stays with the planner is time on site, judging how long a job will take with the crew available, and negotiating access with production.
What can maintenance planners move into?
Facilities management is a common next step, because scheduling, contractor management and building services overlap closely, and the move pays $9,400 more. Continuous improvement management draws on the same work of cutting downtime and reworking processes, with pay $3,600 less. Moving into engineering or construction management usually means returning to study for a degree.
Do you need an engineering degree to be a maintenance planner?
No. The largest qualification group in the workforce is Certificate III/IV, held by about 54% of planners, and many come from a trade rather than university. Some large resource companies prefer a degree for senior planning roles, but site experience counts for more at entry level.
Related roles
- Construction Manager
- Engineering Manager
- Mechanical Engineer
- Facilities Manager
- Continuous Improvement Manager
- Metal Machinist
Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.