Facilities Manager Job Description Templates
Free facilities manager job description templates: standard, senior, coordinator, director, and small-business versions. FLSA and compliance built in.
Facilities Manager Job Description Templates
5 free templates with FLSA and compliance built in. Download as DOCX or copy-paste.
The facilities manager job description is one most companies copy from a generic one-pager that lists "oversee building maintenance" and stops, missing the two things that actually matter for this hire: the FLSA classification, which is usually exempt for a manager but non-exempt for a coordinator and is never decided by the title, and the compliance the role owns, since a facilities manager is the person responsible for keeping the building OSHA-safe, ADA-accessible, and code-compliant.
At FirstHR, we build templates for companies that hire without a dedicated HR department, including the smaller businesses that need a combined facilities and office-management role rather than a full department. The five templates below cover the role by level: standard, senior, coordinator, director, and a small-business version. Each marks the FLSA classification and names compliance as built-in fields. This page covers both "facilities manager" and "facility manager" job descriptions. Fill in the brackets and post, and the guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
What Does a Facilities Manager Do?
A facilities manager oversees the maintenance, safety, and operation of a company's buildings and systems: managing building maintenance, vendors and contracts, compliance, space planning, budgets, and emergency response. In federal occupational data the role is classified as facilities managers, who plan, direct, and coordinate operations and maintenance of buildings and grounds.
For the employer writing the posting, the useful frame is that the operational core stays constant while the level shifts the scope: work orders and scheduling for a coordinator, a single site for a standard manager, multiple sites and a team for a senior manager, and portfolio strategy for a director. That is why the templates below differ by level. Note that related titles are separate roles: if you actually need someone to run the office day to day, the office manager templates fit better, and for broader business operations, the operations manager templates cover that scope.
Facilities Manager Duties and Responsibilities
Facilities manager duties center on maintenance and systems, vendors and budget, safety and compliance, and space and efficiency. The level shifts the weights, hands-on coordination for a coordinator versus strategy for a director, but the categories hold. These are the duties grouped the way the templates use them.
A strong posting grounds these in the scope: the number and size of sites, the systems involved, whether the role manages staff, the budget authority, and the compliance frameworks in play. Facilities candidates read postings for the scope and the systems they will own before anything else. For a structured way to scope any role before posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by level and scope. The operational core runs through all five, but the breadth, the team, and the experience bar differ enough that the matched version always reads more credibly and classifies correctly. Use this guide to choose.
5 Free Facilities Manager Job Description Templates
Download all five as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: company overview, job summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, compensation, and how to apply, with the FLSA classification and compliance marked as fields. Fill in the brackets and post.
Template 1: Standard Facilities Manager
The core version: building maintenance, vendor and contract management, compliance, space planning, and budgets, typically exempt with five or more years of experience. Start here if no specialized version fits.
Template 2: Senior Facilities Manager
The senior version: facilities across multiple sites, team leadership, and capital planning, with a CFM or FMP certification and a multi-site track record.
Template 3: Facilities Coordinator (Junior)
The junior version: work orders, vendor scheduling, and records under a facilities manager, usually non-exempt and hourly with a couple of years of experience.
Template 4: Facilities Director
The leadership version: facilities strategy, the budget and capital plan, and leading managers across a portfolio, with a decade of experience and CFM preferred.
Template 5: Small Business Facilities / Office Manager
The combined version for a small company: facilities and office management in one role, coordinating vendors rather than doing everything, with a note on classifying it correctly.
FLSA: Is a Facilities Manager Exempt or Non-Exempt?
A facilities manager is usually exempt, but a facilities coordinator usually is not, and the title never settles it on its own. Under the FLSA executive exemption and the related administrative exemption, an employee is exempt only if they meet both a salary test and a duties test. The salary test is currently at least $684 per week on a salary basis, the 2019 level that applies after a federal court vacated a 2024 rule in November 2024. The duties test turns on management, supervising others or running operations, and the exercise of independent judgment.
A standard facilities manager who manages building operations, vendors, budgets, and often staff generally meets the duties test and is exempt. But a person titled manager who mostly performs hands-on maintenance, or a coordinator doing routine scheduling, may not meet it and could be non-exempt and owed overtime, and lower-level maintenance technicians generally are non-exempt. So classify by the real duties and salary, not the title: the templates here mark the standard manager and director as exempt and the coordinator as non-exempt as sensible defaults you should confirm. Keep the posting job-related and neutral, since the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on protected characteristics. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm with an employment attorney.
Compliance the Role Owns
A facilities manager is the person responsible for keeping the building legal and safe, which makes compliance a core duty of the role rather than a line item, and a reason to name it explicitly in the posting. The frameworks a US facility manager typically owns start with OSHA workplace safety, where the penalties effective after January 2025 reach up to $16,550 for a serious violation and up to $165,514 for a willful or repeated one. They include the Americans with Disabilities Act, which applies to employers with 15 or more employees and governs accessible routes, restrooms, and facilities, the EPA on environmental and waste rules, and fire and building codes including the International Building Code and NFPA standards for sprinkler and fire-alarm testing.
The practical implication for hiring is twofold. First, the job description should list compliance as an explicit responsibility, so candidates understand the role carries real legal accountability, not just maintenance. Second, the hire should bring the documentation discipline these frameworks demand: inspection records, training logs, certifications, and signed acknowledgments, all stored and tracked on a calendar, because in compliance the records are the protection. None of this is legal advice, and the specifics vary by jurisdiction, building type, and industry, so confirm what applies to your facility with the relevant authority or a qualified professional.
Facilities Manager Qualifications and Certifications
Facilities manager qualifications combine experience, building-systems knowledge, and recognized certifications, which makes the posting's job stating each requirement concretely rather than as a vague adjective.
| Weak requirement | Strong requirement |
|---|---|
| Experience required | [N] years of facilities or building management, with [single/multi]-site scope |
| Knows buildings | Working knowledge of HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire systems |
| Certified | CFM or FMP certification (IFMA), or working toward it |
| Manages vendors | Vendor-contract negotiation and budget-management experience |
| Knows compliance | Familiar with OSHA, ADA, and fire-code requirements for the building |
The recognized credentials come from IFMA: the Certified Facility Manager (CFM) for experienced managers and the Facility Management Professional (FMP) as an entry-level credential, with the Sustainability Facility Professional (SFP) for energy-focused roles. Require them only where the role genuinely calls for them, since broad practical experience often matters as much. Keep every line job-related, and for the standard sections of a posting, the SHRM job description tools describe a good job description as a plain-language summary of a position's tasks, duties, and responsibilities.
How to Write a Facilities Manager Job Description
A strong facilities manager posting takes about 30 minutes and does two jobs: it gives a candidate the scope and systems they screen on, and it handles the classification and compliance the role carries. Here is the process the templates are built around. If this is among your first hires, the small business hiring guide covers the steps around the posting itself.
Facilities Manager Salary
Facilities manager pay sits well above the national median, varies by scope and level, and is usually salaried, which argues for posting a salary range tied to the level you are hiring.
Within that range, coordinators sit well below the median, senior multi-site managers and directors above it, and certifications like CFM raise earning potential. Industry and region move the number too, with corporate, healthcare, and large institutional settings generally paying more than small single-site roles. Because the standard manager role is usually salaried and exempt, the posting should show a salary range rather than an hourly figure, while the coordinator role, often non-exempt, is posted hourly. Posting a real range is one of the most effective ways to attract qualified candidates, which is why the templates leave compensation as a field, and national compensation surveys can help you set one for your market and the certifications you require.
Hiring a Facilities Manager for a Small Business
A dedicated facilities manager usually makes sense once a company has real square footage and enough going on to keep one busy, typically around 20 to 100 or more employees. Below that, the question is less how to hire a facilities manager and more how to cover the function efficiently, which usually means a combined role plus outsourced vendors. Here is how to write the posting and structure the hire for that reality.
From Hiring to Onboarding
The job description is step one, and a facilities hire needs an access- and compliance-aware onboarding because of what the role controls: send the offer letter with the salary and the FLSA classification you confirmed, collect the signed offer, complete Form I-9 within the first days along with the rest of the new hire paperwork, and gather tax forms. Then hand off what the role owns: building keys and access systems, vendor and contract relationships, and the inspection, certification, and safety records they will maintain, stored and tracked from day one so nothing lapses in the transition.
Then the role onboarding that decides the first months: a walkthrough of the buildings and systems, introductions to key vendors, the preventive-maintenance schedule and compliance calendar, and clear budget authority and escalation paths, the kind of structured start the employee onboarding guide lays out and a 30-60-90 day plan template can anchor. Once your offer is ready, the offer letter template handles the next step with the salary and classification, and the employment contract template carries the formal terms. FirstHR connects the offer with e-signature, the onboarding documents and their storage with compliance tracking, document management, and the onboarding workflow in one place, built for companies without an HR department. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a facilities manager do?
A facilities manager oversees the maintenance, safety, and operation of a company's buildings and systems. The core work includes managing building maintenance across HVAC, electrical, plumbing, and fire systems, managing vendors and service contracts, ensuring safety and regulatory compliance, planning space and budgets, running preventive maintenance, responding to emergencies, and managing security and energy use. The level shapes the scope. A facilities coordinator handles work orders and scheduling under a manager, a standard facilities manager runs a site, a senior facilities manager covers multiple sites and a team, and a facilities director sets strategy across a portfolio. This page covers the role and offers a template for each level, plus a small-business version, since the operational core is constant while the scope and seniority change.
What is the difference between facilities manager and facility manager job descriptions?
There is no meaningful difference. Facilities manager job description and facility manager job description describe the same role: the person who oversees the maintenance, safety, and operation of a company's buildings. The plural facilities is the more common form among employers and job boards and usually implies the overall function, while the singular facility can emphasize a single building or site, but the two return the same templates and target the same hiring need. Use whichever fits your posting. Related but distinct titles include facilities coordinator, a junior support role, facilities director, the strategic leadership role, and building, property, or maintenance manager, which are separate roles. The templates here cover the standard, senior, coordinator, director, and small-business versions of the facilities manager role under both phrasings.
Is a facilities manager exempt or non-exempt under the FLSA?
A facilities manager is usually exempt under the FLSA executive or administrative exemption, but it is not automatic and the title does not decide it. The exemption requires both a salary test, currently at least $684 per week on a salary basis after a federal court vacated a 2024 rule in November 2024 and reinstated the 2019 level, and a duties test focused on management, supervision, and the exercise of independent judgment. A standard facilities manager who manages operations, vendors, budgets, and often staff generally meets the duties test and is exempt. But a facilities coordinator doing routine scheduling, or a person titled manager who mostly performs hands-on maintenance, may be non-exempt and owed overtime, and lower-level maintenance technicians generally are non-exempt. Classify by the actual duties and salary, not the title, and mark it on the posting. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm with the Department of Labor or an attorney.
What compliance areas does a facilities manager handle?
A facilities manager owns the frameworks that keep a building legal and safe, which makes compliance a core duty. OSHA governs workplace safety, with serious violations carrying penalties up to $16,550 each and willful or repeated violations up to $165,514 each under the amounts effective after January 2025. The Americans with Disabilities Act applies to employers with 15 or more employees and governs accessible routes, restrooms, and facilities. The EPA covers environmental and waste requirements. Fire and building codes, including the International Building Code and NFPA standards, govern sprinkler and fire-alarm testing on defined cycles, plus there are energy codes and local requirements. The job description should name compliance explicitly as a responsibility, and the role should carry the documentation discipline these frameworks require: inspection records, training logs, and signed acknowledgments. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm what applies to your building with the relevant authority.
What should a facilities manager job description include?
A strong facilities manager job description includes a company overview, a job summary, key responsibilities, required qualifications and certifications, the employment type and FLSA classification, the salary, and how to apply. List the core duties: building maintenance across systems, vendor and contract management, compliance, space planning, budgeting, preventive maintenance, and emergency response. Name the certifications, with CFM and FMP from IFMA the recognized credentials. State the FLSA classification, since a standard manager is usually exempt while a coordinator is usually non-exempt, and note compliance explicitly because the role owns it. Match the template to the level, since standard, senior, coordinator, director, and small-business roles differ in scope, and right-size the role to your company, since a small business often needs a combined facilities and office-management role rather than a full facilities department.
How much does a facilities manager make?
Federal wage data reports a median annual wage of $104,690 for facilities managers in May 2024, with the lowest 10 percent under $62,550 and the highest 10 percent over $173,080. Pay varies by the size and complexity of the facilities, the industry, the region, and the level. Coordinators sit well below the median, senior multi-site managers and directors above it, and certifications like CFM raise earning potential. About 151,400 facilities managers are employed nationally, with local government the single largest employer, followed by healthcare, education, and corporate settings. Employment of administrative services and facilities managers together is projected to grow about 4 percent through 2034, with roughly 36,400 openings each year across that combined category. Because this is usually a salaried exempt role, the posting should show a salary range, and national compensation surveys can help you set one for your market and the certifications you require.
How do I write a facilities manager job description for a small business?
Pick the small-business template and right-size the role honestly, because a five-to-fifty-person company rarely needs a full corporate facilities manager. Most small businesses are better served by a combined role, often facilities blended with office management or operations, paired with outsourced vendors for specialized work like HVAC, cleaning, and fire-system testing. So write the posting for a coordinate-and-manage role: managing vendors and maintenance, keeping the space and supplies running, handling safety basics, and being the point person when something breaks, rather than a one-person building-engineering department. Name the realistic scope and the certifications only if you truly need them, since broad organizational skill often matters more here than a CFM. Confirm the FLSA classification by the actual duties and salary, since a combined role can fall either way. The small-business template here is built for this; this is general information, not legal advice.
What happens after I hire a facilities manager?
Start with the standard paperwork, then set up the access and compliance footing this role specifically needs. Send the offer letter with the salary and the FLSA classification you confirmed, collect the signed offer, complete Form I-9 within the first days, and gather tax forms. Because a facilities manager handles building access, vendor accounts, and safety systems, plan an access-aware onboarding: keys and access systems, vendor and contract handoffs, and the documentation of inspections, certifications, and safety records they will own, stored and tracked from day one. Then the role onboarding that decides the first months: a walkthrough of the buildings and systems, introductions to key vendors, the preventive-maintenance schedule, the compliance calendar, and clear budget authority and escalation. A structured first weeks matters for a role this operational. FirstHR handles the offer with e-signature, the onboarding documents and their storage with compliance tracking, document management, and the onboarding workflow in one place, built for companies without an HR department. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.