Facilities Manager
Facilities managers keep a building running day to day, overseeing the maintenance, services and compliance that let the people inside it work.
- Median salary*
- $109,200
4.0%vs last year, before tax
- People employed
- 21,700
1.4%vs last year
- Projected growth
- +13.4%
to 2035
- AI exposure*
- Moderate
- 5 out of 10
- Average hours
- 42/wk
+2h vs all jobs
- Shortage status
- Not in shortage
national
- Facilities managers look after the operation of a building rather than the tenancies and leases inside it.
- They work for asset owners, government departments, hospitals, universities and specialist facilities management companies, coordinating the trades and service providers that keep a site running.
- The role carries the budget, the contracts and the compliance records for everything from air conditioning and lifts to cleaning, security and waste.
How much do facilities managers earn?
The median full-time salary for a facilities manager is $109,200 per annum, before tax, up $22,800 since 2018.
Pay varies with the size and complexity of the portfolio, the sector you work in, and whether you are employed directly by an asset owner or by a services contractor. Government and health employers usually work from an enterprise agreement with defined bands, while contractor and consultancy roles often pay a base plus allowances for after-hours callout. Holding a diploma or degree and taking on multi-site responsibility is the usual way the figure moves up.
What does a facilities manager 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.
- Coordinating maintenance and repairs so lifts, air conditioning and other plant keep working
- Managing service contracts for cleaning, security, grounds and waste
- Building the facility operating budget and explaining the variances each month
- Keeping the site compliant with work health and safety, fire and essential services requirements
- Planning office moves, space changes and minor fitouts
What skills do facilities managers need?
Employers look for operations management, project management, budgeting and forecasting, backed by IBM Maximo fluency and strong stakeholder management.
Specialist skills
- Operations management
- Project management
- Budgeting and forecasting
- Regulatory compliance
- Process improvement
- Risk and internal controls
Software and tools
- IBM Maximo
- SAP EAM
- Archibus
- Microsoft Excel
- ServiceNow
General skills
- Stakeholder management
Is the job growing?
About 21,700 people work as facilities managers in Australia, and employment is projected to grow 13.4% over the decade to 2035. That's healthy, above-average growth, and the role should stay in solid demand.
How do you become a facilities manager?
Here's the path most facilities managers take, step by step.
- 1Start in a related job
Many facilities managers begin as facilities coordinators, maintenance planners, property administrators or tradespeople, because the work rewards knowing how buildings, trades and contractors actually behave.
- 2Study facilities management
A Certificate IV in Facilities Management or a Diploma of Facilities Management (10938NAT) is the common entry qualification, available through TAFE and private providers with part-time and online options for people already working.
- 3Learn the compliance side
Work health and safety, essential services, contractor inductions and building records are the parts that catch out new managers, so take any training your employer offers and keep the paperwork current.
- 4Move into a management role
Coordinator roles usually lead to a manager title within a few years, and larger asset owners, hospitals and government departments often ask for a diploma or degree plus several years of contract and budget experience.
Study that can help
No set qualification is needed for this role in our data. These qualifications are not required, but the study can help.
- Certificate IV in Work Health and SafetyCertificate IV
Teaches work health and safety law, risk assessment and compliance checks, which the role relies on to keep a site compliant.
- Diploma of BusinessDiploma
Teaches managing budgets and business resources, which supports building and explaining a facility operating budget.
- Bachelor of Construction ManagementBachelor degree
Covers building law, costs and budgets and managing building work, which running a building's maintenance and fitouts uses.
Prefer something shorter?
A short course can build some of these skills without a full qualification. These aren't accredited, and we don't rank or recommend providers: compare a few before you commit.
Building and construction
Search on CourseraSearch on UdemySearch on LinkedIn Learning
Business
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Work health and safety
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These are ordinary links to each provider's own site. We don't currently earn anything from them.
Ready to apply as a facilities manager?
Whether you're working toward becoming a facilities manager 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 facilities manager move to?
Moving into Construction Manager typically comes with the biggest pay rise, worth $85,900 a year more on average.
- Construction ManagerRecorded move$195,100+$85,900
- Corporate Services ManagerRecorded move$152,500+$43,300
- General ManagerRecorded move$148,200+$39,000
- Production ManagerRecorded move$119,500+$10,300
Thick lines are moves people were recorded making in Jobs and Skills Australia's Data on Occupation Mobility (income tax records, 2011-12 to 2020-21). Thin lines are moves we suggest from skill overlap and entry requirements.
| Move to | Typical pay change | Overlap | Retraining |
|---|---|---|---|
Construction Manager Facilities managers bring building operations and compliance knowledge to construction projects, but need project management and construction qualifications.Known move | +$85,900 | 25% | reskill |
Corporate Services Manager Facilities managers bring building, vendor and operations management to corporate services, and need broader corporate governance study.Known move | +$43,300 | 57% | reskill |
General Manager Facilities managers bring operational leadership and asset management to general management, with further business management study.Known move | +$39,000 | 26% | reskill |
Production Manager Facilities managers bring plant, maintenance and safety oversight to production management, needing a short course in manufacturing operations.Known move | +$10,300 | 55% | short course |
Project Manager Facilities managers bring project coordination, budgets and stakeholder skills to project management roles, with further project management study.Known move | +$1,600 | 32% | reskill |
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 facilities manager?
The typical facilities manager is 49 years old; 76% are men, 84% work full-time, and full-timers average 42 hours a week.
- 49
- Median age
- 24%
- Female share
- 84%
- Full-time
- +2h
- vs all-jobs avg
What's it like being a facilities manager?
The job runs on a mix of routine and interruption. Mornings often go to work orders, contractor arrivals and site checks, while reporting and budget work fills the quieter weeks. It suits someone who likes knowing how a building works and is comfortable being the first call when something fails.
What people like
- You can see what you have fixed. A chiller back online or a leak repaired by Friday is visible proof the week went somewhere, which is rarer in office roles.
- The work spans the whole site. You deal with finance, trades, security, cleaning and the people who use the building, so the role rarely narrows to one specialism.
- You build a network of trades and suppliers. Knowing which electrician will turn up at short notice is a genuine asset, and those relationships follow you through your career.
- Mostly weekday hours. The schedule is far more predictable than shift work, though someone has to carry the after-hours phone for emergencies.
What people find hard
- You are the first call when something fails. The lift stops, the air conditioning dies, the cleaner does not arrive, and the building's occupants ring you about all three.
- Reporting deadlines cluster. Month-end, quarterly reporting and the annual budget cycle land on top of the day job rather than replacing it.
- You hold the line between occupants and budget. People want a new fitout or a warmer floor, and your job is to work out what the budget can actually carry.
- Compliance work is unforgiving. Essential services, fire safety and safety records have to be current, and a missed inspection is a problem whether or not anything went wrong.
Based on our synthesis of professional-body surveys and public accounts of the role, not first-person verified reviews.
Which industries employ facilities managers?
Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services employs the largest share of facilities managers, followed by Health Care and Social Assistance.
Top employing industries
- 1Rental, Hiring and Real Estate Services
- 2Health Care and Social Assistance
- 3Construction
Ranked by employment share; the source doesn't publish an exact percentage per industry.
| Certificate III/IV | 31.1% | |
|---|---|---|
| Year 12 or below | 20.5% | |
| Diploma / Advanced Diploma | 18.9% | |
| Bachelor degree | 16.8% | |
| Postgraduate | 8.3% |
Will AI replace facilities managers?
Moderate exposure. Not replaced, but changed. AI is taking on some tasks and the rest of the job shifts around them.
Facilities management sits in the middle: the record keeping, scheduling and reporting parts of the job are increasingly software-driven, while the physical and relational parts are not. Platforms such as IBM Maximo and Archibus already log work orders, track asset condition and assemble the compliance reports a manager once built by hand. What they do not do is decide whether to repair or replace a failing chiller, or get a contractor back on site when a job has slipped.
How a typical week splits
- Budgeting, forecasting and cost reporting25% of the week
Asset systems now pull maintenance spend and forecast figures together quickly, while explaining a budget variance to the asset owner is still a person's job.
- Managing service contracts and vendor performance25% of the week
Software tracks milestones and spend, but the negotiation, the conversation about a missed standard and the decision to keep or replace a supplier stay with the manager.
- Coordinating reactive maintenance and work orders20% of the week
Work orders are logged, triaged and dispatched automatically, which shortens the queue, though a manager still sets the order of priority when three things fail on the same morning.
- Site inspections and building rounds30% of the week
Sensors and building management systems flag plant faults earlier than a walk around, but someone still checks the plant room, the loading dock and the condition of a tenancy in person.
How we work this out
We break each job into its main tasks, estimate the share of a typical week each one takes, and judge how far current AI and automation tools reach into it. The score out of 10 starts from the job's overall rating (low is 1 to 3, moderate 4 to 6, high 7 to 10) and the task split places it within that range. Source: Career Tips analysis of each role's main tasks.
Moves least exposed to AI
These career moves from facilities manager work are rated low for AI exposure:
- Project Manager
Some skill overlap (32%), reskill to get there, and a low automation-risk profile.
Common questions about becoming a facilities manager
Straight answers to the questions people ask most.
How much does a facilities manager earn?
Facilities managers earn a median of $109,200 per annum, before tax. What moves that figure is the size and type of portfolio you look after, the sector you work in, and whether you are employed directly by an asset owner or by a services contractor.
How do you become a facilities manager?
Most people enter through a related role such as facilities coordinator, maintenance planner or property administrator, often after a trade. A Certificate IV or Diploma of Facilities Management (10938NAT) gives you the budget, contract and compliance language employers expect, and it can be studied part time while you work.
Are facilities managers in demand?
Facilities managers are currently not in shortage. Employment is projected to grow 13.4% over the decade to 2035, and the work exists wherever there are buildings to run, so vacancies are spread across health, education, government, retail and commercial property rather than concentrated in one industry.
Will AI replace facilities managers?
Not the whole job, but it is changing the office side of it. Maintenance platforms such as IBM Maximo and Archibus already generate work orders, track asset condition and produce compliance reports, and sensors on plant flag faults earlier than a person walking the floor would. Deciding whether to repair or replace a failing chiller, negotiating with a contractor and checking a tenancy in person remain human work.
What can a facilities manager move into next?
Corporate services management is a common step, widening the same vendor, budget and building responsibilities to include HR, IT and procurement ($43,300 more). Construction management suits those who want the project side, though it usually means further study because the budgets and programs work differently ($85,900 more). Production management is a shorter move for people with plant, maintenance and safety oversight, needing a short course in manufacturing operations ($10,300 more).
Do you need a degree to be a facilities manager?
No, although it helps with larger employers. Around 31% of people in the role hold a Certificate III or IV, and experience with contracts, budgets and compliance often counts for more than the qualification itself. Hospitals, universities and government departments are the employers most likely to ask for a diploma or degree.
Related roles
- Construction Manager
- Project Manager
- Corporate Services Manager
- General Manager
- Production Manager
- Facilities Administrator
Not sure this is you? Take the career quiz and get a ranked shortlist of roles that fit how you like to work.
Career advice
- How to change careers, and which moves are realisticData on 1,573 career moves across 350 Australian occupations shows 63.3% need no more than a short course, though skill overlap alone won't tell you which ones. Six worked examples, and how to check your own move.
- Skills to put on your resume (with skills finder)A resume skills section built for the job you're applying for. Search your occupation to see the specialist skills, tools and general skills it calls for, with worked examples and what to write if you have no work history yet.
- How to prepare for a job interviewWhat to work through before a job interview: a prep sheet built from the job ad, the stories that cover most questions, and the questions an interviewer can't lawfully ask in Australia.