Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Electrical Maintenance Supervisor

🎯 Role Definition

The Electrical Maintenance Supervisor leads and develops the electrical maintenance team, ensures reliable power and controls across equipment, drives preventive and predictive maintenance programs, enforces safety and compliance (NFPA 70E / OSHA), and partners with operations and engineering to minimize downtime and optimize asset performance. This role combines technical leadership (troubleshooting, commissioning, PLC/controls), people management (coaching, scheduling, performance), and process ownership (CMMS, spare parts, continuous improvement).

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Electrician / Lead Electrician
Maintenance Technician (Electrical emphasis)
Controls Technician / PLC Technician

Advancement To:

Maintenance Manager / Plant Maintenance Manager
Reliability Manager / Engineering Manager
Director of Maintenance or Operations

Lateral Moves:

Controls Engineering Supervisor
Facilities Manager
Automation Engineering Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead, schedule and supervise a team of electricians and electrical technicians to ensure safe, efficient execution of daily maintenance, repairs, and emergency responses across all electrical systems and production equipment.
Develop, implement and maintain an electrical preventive maintenance program (PMs) and ensure PM completion and optimization through the CMMS (e.g., Maximo, SAP PM, Infor).
Diagnose and resolve complex electrical failures including motors, starters, VFDs, soft starters, motor control centers (MCCs), switchgear, transformers and protective relays to minimize mean time to repair (MTTR).
Troubleshoot, program, and commission PLCs, HMIs and industrial control systems (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Rockwell) for production lines and process equipment; coordinate programming changes with automation/engineering teams.
Lead predictive maintenance activities — thermal imaging, vibration analysis, infrared thermography, motor current analysis and oil analysis — and integrate findings into maintenance planning and spare parts strategies.
Ensure electrical safety and regulatory compliance by enforcing lockout/tagout (LOTO), NFPA 70E, arc flash assessments, confined space entry, and OSHA requirements; deliver and document safety training for the electrical team.
Oversee electrical projects and capital upgrades including installation of new equipment, panel upgrades, busway installations, and power distribution modifications; manage contractors and ensure work meets scope, budget, and safety standards.
Manage spare parts inventory for critical electrical components (motors, drives, contactors, relays, fuses, sensors) and enforce parts replenishment strategies to reduce downtime risk and carrying costs.
Perform root cause analysis (RCA) for repeat electrical failures using structured problem-solving tools (5 Whys, Fishbone, FMEA) and implement corrective actions to improve equipment reliability and MTBF.
Create and maintain accurate electrical documentation: single-line diagrams, as-built wiring, schematics, PLC ladder logic backups, panel schedules, and maintenance logs.
Coordinate planned and unplanned shutdowns, outages and turnarounds — develop electrical scopes, allocate resources, sequence tasks with production, and verify safe restart procedures.
Establish and track key maintenance KPIs (equipment availability, PM compliance, backlog, emergency work percentage, cost per hour) and present performance metrics to plant leadership.
Provide technical mentorship and development plans for electricians and technicians; conduct performance reviews, certifications tracking, and on-the-job training to build team competency.
Work with procurement to qualify vendors, negotiate service agreements, and evaluate electrical component suppliers to ensure quality and cost-effective sourcing.
Implement reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) and continuous improvement initiatives (Lean, Kaizen) focused on electrical systems to reduce waste and improve throughput.
Ensure timely completion of corrective work orders, prioritize maintenance tasks based on risk and production impact, and balance reactive vs. planned maintenance work.
Maintain emergency response readiness for electrical incidents — lead incident investigations, corrective action plans, and after-action reviews to prevent recurrence.
Collaborate with process engineering and operations during new product introductions and line changes to ensure electrical requirements are captured and reliable designs are implemented.
Control and monitor electrical maintenance budget, labor utilization, contractor spend, and capital vs. expense allocation for electrical projects.
Supervise and validate vendor and contractor electrical work, ensuring proper permits, competency verification, lockout/tagout coordination, and compliance with site standards.
Evaluate, recommend and deploy technologies that improve maintenance efficiency (remote condition monitoring, predictive analytics, CMMS integrations) and drive digitalization of maintenance practices.
Provide on-call support rotation management and ensure escalation procedures are documented and followed for off-shift electrical emergencies.
Participate in cross-functional reliability reviews and safety committees to align electrical maintenance priorities with corporate reliability, safety, and sustainability goals.

Secondary Functions

Assist operations with electrical process optimization suggestions that reduce energy consumption and improve line uptime.
Support capital planning by providing electrical cost estimates, labor needs and risk assessments for proposed equipment investments.
Coordinate with environmental health & safety (EHS) and facilities teams for compliance audits, corrective actions and continuous safety improvement.
Document training materials, SOPs and troubleshooting guides for common electrical failures to accelerate new hire onboarding and knowledge retention.
Participate in vendor evaluations and technology pilots to inform long-term electrical maintenance strategy.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced troubleshooting of electrical systems including MV/LV distribution, MCCs, switchgear, transformers and protective devices.
Hands-on experience with PLCs, HMIs and distributed control systems (Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Schneider, Rockwell) and basic PLC ladder logic understanding.
Proficient with variable frequency drives (VFDs), soft starters, motor controls and motor diagnostics.
Experience using CMMS platforms (e.g., Maximo, SAP PM, Infor, Fiix) for work order management, scheduling and PM optimization.
Predictive maintenance techniques: infrared thermography, vibration analysis, motor current signature analysis, and oil analysis.
Strong schematic reading and interpretation skills: single-line diagrams, ladder diagrams, wiring schematics and panel layouts.
Electrical testing and measurement tools proficiency: multimeters, meggers/insulation testers, clamp meters, power analyzers and oscilloscopes.
Knowledge of electrical codes, NFPA 70E, OSHA and local utility interconnection standards; experience conducting arc flash studies and LOTO procedures.
Experience managing electrical spares, BOMs and vendor relationships for critical components.
Project management skills for executing electrical upgrades, retrofits, and capital projects; ability to manage budgets and contractors.
Familiarity with industrial networking (EtherNet/IP, Profinet, Modbus) and basic cybersecurity considerations for OT systems.
Experience with root cause analysis methodologies (5 Whys, RCA, FMEA) and reliability improvement frameworks (RCM, TPM).

Soft Skills

Strong leadership and people development skills; proven ability to coach, mentor and hold technicians accountable while building high-performing teams.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills for cross-functional coordination with operations, engineering and vendors.
Critical thinking and structured problem solving under pressure to restore production quickly and safely.
Time management and prioritization skills — ability to balance emergency response with preventive maintenance and long-term projects.
Collaboration and stakeholder management — works well with production supervisors, engineering, procurement and safety teams.
Attention to detail for accurate documentation, compliance and maintenance execution.
Continuous improvement mindset with practical experience implementing Kaizen or lean maintenance improvements.
Resilience, adaptability and a calm demeanor during shift escalations, outages and high-pressure incidents.
Decision-making with a focus on safety and risk mitigation.
Coaching orientation with demonstrated commitment to safety culture and workforce development.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High School Diploma or GED plus vocational/technical certificate in electrical or industrial maintenance; or equivalent military technical training.

Preferred Education:

Associate or Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering Technology, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Maintenance, or related field.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Electrical Engineering / Electrical Technology
Industrial Maintenance / Mechatronics
Automation & Controls
Power Systems / Energy Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years of hands-on electrical maintenance experience with at least 2–4 years in a lead or supervisory capacity in an industrial or manufacturing environment.

Preferred:

7+ years of progressive electrical maintenance experience including supervision of teams, CMMS management, and electrical capital projects.
Certifications such as Journeyman Electrician, Electrician License, NFPA 70E Qualified Person, CMRP (preferred), or vendor-specific PLC certifications are a plus.