Maintenance Worker

Salary: $34.26 Hourly
Location : Tacoma, WA
Job Type: Career Service - Full Time
Job Number: 26-00996
Department: Planning and Public Works
Division: PPW River Roads Maintenance Operations
Opening Date: 09/29/2026
Closing Date: 10/13/2026 11:59 PM Pacific


Description
Summary
Why It's a Great Opportunity: Start a great career with Pierce County as a Maintenance Worker on the Maintenance & Operations Team in our Planning and Public Works Department. You will be performing various maintenance functions across Pierce County on roads, surface water areas, and facilities. These tasks will include flagging, performing repairs to roadways, roadway shoulders and related structures, installing and removing culverts, picking up debris, and dead animal removal from roadways. The work will also include cutting brush, trees, and other vegetation in the areas of right of way, ponds, and flood control facilities to assist in the landscaping upkeep of various County roads and properties.

Why It's a Great Department: PPW stewards a healthy and vibrant community by collaboratively planning and investing in our people, infrastructure, systems, and policies. PPW's team has more than 800 members that collaborate, innovate and inspire in performing essential services to the community. The department is responsible for the County road and levee systems, sewer systems, airports, ferries, building permits, environmental review, sustainability, community planning, and code enforcement - just to name a few!
How to be Successful in the Role: Your success will come from showing up on time, caring about the quality of the work you do, functioning well in a team, an eye for detail, desire to learn, and growing your skills. This is a physical job in all kinds of weather, so it takes strength and commitment to be successful. This position requires daily driving of a Pierce County vehicle therefore a safe driving record is a must.

Your Future in this Role: You will have access to professional development through robust online learning and other training opportunities throughout your career to ensure your success. This position has multiple career growth and promotional opportunities in Pierce County to build on a great career while directly impacting the communities in Pierce County.

Core Daily Responsibilities:

• Perform repairs to roadways, roadway shoulders and related structures such as bridges, guard rails and guard rail posts; install and remove culverts; pick up rubbish, debris and dead animals; clean ditches and culverts by using a hand shovel; sweep bridges and traffic islands.
• Cut brush, trees and other vegetation on the right of way; assist in the landscaping of County road rights-of-way and in the planting and maintenance of a variety of ground cover, plants and trees. Plant, transplant, trim, prune, weed, sow seeds, fertilize, mulch, collect and dispose of litter, stakes, and waters landscaped areas; trim and mow grass.
• Perform preventive maintenance on equipment and hand tools; paint, replace and repair guard rail posts and beams; fabricate and paint sign posts, barricades and buildings with a brush, roller or spray gun.
• Square and clean holes in the roadway and knock off rough edges with a pneumatic hammer or other tools and patch with Portland cement concrete, or hot or cold asphalt mix.
• Perform routine road maintenance such as brushing, cleaning culverts, cleaning ditches with a hand shovel or scoop, blading, reshaping and improving shoulders and clearing debris from the roadway surface and right-of-way. Maintenance includes grading, snow clearing and removal, hauling gravel, rock and asphalt oil, as well as sanding and salting ice and snow.
• Excavate and back fills trenches with hand tools; load and unload trucks with heavy materials; shovels asphalt, cinders, rocks, sand and gravel; spreads and rakes asphalt.
• May operate Class I equipment on a regular basis.
• Act as flagger, place traffic cones and other traffic control devices to ensure a smooth flow of traffic.

A classification description with a more detailed list of essential functions can be found

Minimum Qualifications

• One or more years of experience performing skilled or semi-skilled labor such as road maintenance, landscaping, or heavy construction.
• Possession of a valid Driver's License and a safe driving record is required.
• Satisfactory physical condition, as determined by a County-approved physical examination, will be required prior to appointment.

As a condition of employment, the applicant will need to authorize and complete a background check. Information received from the background check is reviewed case-by-case and will not necessarily remove an applicant from consideration.

Supplemental Information
How to Apply:

• Complete and submit a detailed online Pierce County Employment Application by selecting "APPLY" above or visiting
• If you have questions about this opportunity, email the Recruitment Team at and include the job number and title.
• Individuals who need accommodation in the application or interview process may contact Human Resources at View phone number on click.appcast.io at least two days prior to the need.
• Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States without the need for visa sponsorship.

Our Recruitment Practices: This is a competitive and meritorious selection process. Pierce County applications are reviewed by human hiring staff in accordance with the qualifications listed for the positionPierce County understands applicants may use AI tools when preparing application materials. We recognize these tools can make the process easier; however, we ask that everything you submit genuinely reflects your own experience, skills, knowledge, and writing style.

During the interview process, you may be asked to demonstrate your skills, including writing and subject knowledge, and to speak to your experience in your own voice. Applicants should be prepared to respond to interview questions without relying on AI-generated responses or reading prepared answers from a screen. Any misrepresentation may result in disqualification or separation.

Applicants whose qualifications most closely align with the County's needs will be eligible for further consideration. Notification of application status typically occurs within two to three weeks after the closing date. Some applicants may receive short notice to participate in additional selection steps, which may include assessments, phone screens, or interviews.

Upon offer, compensation is based on a range of job-related factors, including the requirements of the role, your skills and experience, and internal pay equity.

Our Welcoming Workplace Commitment: Pierce County is committed to fostering a Welcoming Workplace where employees are supported, respected, and able to thrive. We believe a strong public workforce is representative of the community it serves and that fair and just access to opportunity strengthens public service.

Guided by the County Executive's Forward Together mission, Pierce County works to build communities that are safe, welcoming, and connected. This same commitment shapes how we recruit, develop, and retain our employees. County employees make a direct and visible impact in the lives of residents every day, and we invite you to join us in helping keep Pierce County a place people are proud to call home.
We are unable to sponsor or take over sponsorship of an employment visa at this time.
Employee benefits are not just about the kind of services you get, they are also about how much you may have to pay out of pocket. Pierce County offers a competitive benefits package that offers flexibility and peace of mind. We are proud to offer Employee Resource Groups, a focus on professional development in our , and a County Book Club.


We understand that your life revolves around more than just your career and that your priority is making sure that you and your family maintain health and financial security. That's why choice is a key component of our benefits package. We have a selection of and , , staff training and other compensation benefits that you can mix and match to meet your current and future needs.

Our benefits:

Vacation (Annual Leave)
After approximately six months, employees receive six days of vacation leave.
Since we value your experience, the amount of vacation you can accrue increases the longer you work with us. Vacation accrues on a bi-weekly basis for full-time employees as follows:

Vacation Accruals:
During years 1-3, 12 Days
During years 4-7, 16 Days
During years 8-13, 20 Days
During years 14-18, 23 Days
During years 19, 24 Days
During years 20, 25 Days
During years 21, 26 Days
During years 22, 27 Days
During years 23, 28 Days
During years 24, 29 Days
During years 25 & thereafter, 30 Days

A maximum of 45 days may be carried from one year into the next.
Pro-Rated for Part-Time based on % of 1.0 FTE.

Military Leave:
Pierce County has a proud history of supporting the armed forces and provides members of the armed forces with up to 21 days paid military leave per state fiscal year.

Holidays:
Some full-time employees are entitled to eleven paid holidays as follows:
New Year's Day - January 1
Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday - Third Monday in January
President's Day - Third Monday in February
Memorial Day - Last Monday in May
Juneteenth - June 19
Independence Day - July 4
Labor Day - First Monday in September
Veteran's Day - November 11
Thanksgiving Day - Fourth Thursday in November & Friday after
Christmas Day - December 25

Personal Holidays:
Regular full-time and regular part-time employees, and employees occupying limited duration positions, shall also receive two additional paid personal holidays. Paid personal holidays shall only accrue for those employees on County payroll as of January 1 of each year or the first work day following January 1 and must be taken during the calendar year in which it was accrued.

Furlough:
Some Pierce County employees may be designated to receive 10 "furlough" days per year in lieu of holidays. Furlough days are available for use on January 1 and must be scheduled and taken within the calendar year. Employees who leave employment with Pierce County must reimburse the employer for used furlough days based upon the number of remaining holidays.

Sick Leave:
Sick leave accrues on a bi-weekly basis, at the rate of one day per month.

Insurance Benefits:
Employees and families are covered by medical (including vision), dental and basic life insurance. There are multiple medical plans with very affordable monthly premiums that offer coverage throughout Pierce County. Employees are eligible to enroll each year in a flexible spending plan, which enables them to use tax-deferred dollars toward their health care and dependent care expenses. Employees also have the opportunity to participate in supplemental life and long term disability insurance plans. To view premium rates, summary of benefit coverage, and other information, please visit the website.

Retirement and Deferred Compensation:
Pierce County employees are members of the State of Washington's Department of Retirement System (DRS) and depending on the position or previous DRS enrollment will be able to enroll in one of many programs DRS offers. For additional information, check out the web site.

Employees also have the ability to participate in the Nationwide Deferred Compensation Plan. This is a supplemental retirement savings program that allows you control over the amount of pre-tax salary dollars you defer as well as the flexibility to choose between multiple investment options.

Social Security:
All Pierce County employees are covered by the federal Social Security and Medicare systems. The county and the employee pay an equal amount into the system.
ORCA Passport Program
Pierce County employees may participate in the County's ORCA (One Regional Card for All) Passport program.
Your Pierce County issued ORCA card is loaded with an annual Passport pass. The pass automatically renews every year. The pass will provide you with free transportation on regularly scheduled service on several public transit systems.

Miscellaneous Benefits:
Please visit website for more information.

Telework/Remote Options:
Some departments allow for telework or work-from-home options dependent on the body of work. Learn more about our telework policy
**All employees are required to be WA State residents after 30 days of employment.