Maintenance Planner

Job Overview

Job Category

Engineers

Sectors

Education

Environment

Indoors primarily with occasional outdoors

Career Demand

Growing

About This Career

Petroleum and petrochemical production and processing facilities are complex systems of buildings, equipment, tanks and machines. Mechanical Maintenance Planners are responsible for developing and implementing scheduled and planned maintenance to the multitude of components of these systems to ensure continued safe and efficient operations as well as to ensure maximized production and cost control for the operators.

In this occupation activities may include:

Creating, using and maintaining plant history to develop future maintenance requirements for equipment, forecasting operational impacts and cost projections.
Developing specific maintenance plans for various equipment and mechanical resources.
Coordinating reports from maintenance technicians and using information to develop system-wide and location and/or equipment maintenance plans.
Preparing work plans based on logical sequencing of events and associated tasks.
Conducting site inspections to determine maintenance requirements and scopes of work for specific maintenance projects.
Identifying parts, materials, tools, external services and resources required to undertake successful preventative maintenance and unscheduled repair work.
Developing standard maintenance procedures to adhere to regulatory requirements and equipment standards and company policies.
Ensuring the ongoing validity of safety permits for sites and/or equipment.

Education

Completion of a university degree in Mechanical Engineering or 2-3 year college diploma program in mechanical or electrical engineering technology are usually required.

Certifications

Certification in mechanical engineering technology or in a related field is available through provincial associations of engineering/applied science technologists and technicians and may be required for some positions.

Licensing

Licensing by a provincial or territorial association of professional engineers is required to approve engineering drawings and reports and to practise as a Professional Engineer (P.Eng.).
Engineers are eligible for registration following graduation from an accredited educational program, and after three or four years of supervised work experience in engineering and passing a professional practice examination.

Additional Requirements

Depending on the company and responsibilities, typical requirements may include:
Strong skills in and experience using project management and maintenance planning software such as SAP, Maximo and Primavera
A period of supervised work experience, usually two years, is required before certification.