Maintenance Supervisor

Job Description

Job Description

Description:

At Good Carbon Co., we're redefining what it means to build and manage housing. As a vertically integrated real estate company, we focus on creating sustainable, energy-efficient, and affordable multifamily communities throughout Western New York. From concept to completion, we're a team of innovators, builders, and changemakers-committed to doing work that's not only smart, but good.

About the Role  

 

The Maintenance Supervisor leads the daily execution of field maintenance services across Good Carbon Co.’s multifamily portfolio, ranging from smaller residential properties to larger apartment communities. This role is accountable for three primary outcomes: maintenance work is completed correctly and on time, work-order and labor information is accurate, and residents are kept informed throughout the process.

The Maintenance Supervisor serves as the operational connection between the Maintenance Manager, Maintenance Coordinator, field leadership, and Maintenance Technicians. This role translates priorities into daily assignments, removes barriers, maintains accountability, and ensures every issue is followed through to completion. This is primarily a leadership role—not a hands-on technician position. While this position may assist during emergencies or when operationally necessary, success is measured by the performance, development, consistency, and accountability of the team.

Key Responsibilities

 

Field Operations Leadership

• Lead daily field maintenance activity across the assigned portfolio.
• Partner with the Maintenance Coordinator to prioritize, assign, sequence, and adjust work based on life safety, urgency, resident impact, property condition, technician capability, and location.
• Balance technician workloads based on skill, availability, geography, and property complexity.
• Provide clear direction to the Field Maintenance Supervisor and Maintenance Leads and hold them accountable for daily execution.
• Conduct regular property visits, technician ride-alongs, and quality inspections.
• Confirm completed work meets company standards before it is considered fully resolved.
• Identify and remove barriers involving access, materials, equipment, approvals, vendors, or technical capability.
• Escalate repairs outside the team’s expertise and coordinate approved vendor or contractor support.
• Own the preventive maintenance calendar and ensure scheduled work is completed on time.
• Coordinate with other Maintenance Supervisors on unit turns, staffing coverage, emergencies, and portfolio-wide priorities.
• Respond to emergencies involving water loss, heat loss, fire alarms, power outages, storm damage, and other life-safety or property risks.
• Partner with the Building Operations Systems team and other appropriate partners during emergency response.

Work-Order Management

• Own field execution of the work-order lifecycle from assignment through verified completion.
• Ensure every work order is properly categorized, prioritized, assigned, dated, updated, documented, and closed.
• Require complete technician notes describing the issue, work performed, materials used, time spent, and any follow-up needed.
• Review aging and overdue work orders regularly and establish recovery plans for off-track items.
• Ensure emergency, urgent, routine, preventive, and recurring work orders are handled according to established service standards.
• Investigate repeat work orders and callbacks to determine whether the root cause was properly resolved.
• Coordinate follow-up work and maintain accountability until the issue is fully completed.
• Ensure work orders are not closed when additional work, resident communication, documentation, or verification is still required.
• Identify recurring property, equipment, vendor, or process issues and recommend long-term solutions.

Resident Communication & Service

• Ensure residents receive timely and professional communication regarding appointments, access needs, delays, next steps, and completion.
• Proactively communicate delays before residents need to request an update.
• Confirm completion and resident satisfaction for escalated repairs, repeat issues, and other designated work orders.
• Respond to escalated resident concerns and resolve maintenance-related service failures.
• Partner with Property Management when access, lease compliance, relocation, accommodations, or broader resident concerns affect maintenance work.
• Identify patterns in resident complaints and recommend operational improvements.
• Maintain consistent service standards across subsidized, affordable, and market-rate properties.
• Ensure all resident interactions are respectful, professional, and compliant with Fair Housing requirements.

Labor, Reporting & Data Integrity

• Own the accuracy and timeliness of technician labor reporting, including time entry, work-order allocation, job costing, and property coding.
• Review and approve timesheets according to established payroll deadlines.
• Monitor overtime and ensure it is operationally necessary and appropriately approved.
• Review technician productivity, travel time, repeat visits, workload, and unassigned time.
• Address inaccurate or incomplete time and work-order documentation promptly.
• Partner with the Maintenance Coordinator to review weekly and monthly reporting.
• Use available data to identify performance trends, staffing needs, training opportunities, and recurring property issues.
• Provide the Maintenance Manager with recommendations and recovery plans for results that are off track.

Team Leadership & Development

• Coach, train, and develop the Field Maintenance Supervisor, Maintenance Leads, and Maintenance Technicians.
• Establish clear expectations for safety, attendance, productivity, workmanship, documentation, communication, and resident service.
• Conduct regular field observations, coaching conversations, and performance check-ins.
• Build team capability across HVAC, plumbing, electrical, appliance repair, carpentry, flooring, building systems, and limited exterior maintenance.
• Identify individual and team skill gaps and coordinate necessary training or certification opportunities.
• Participate in interviewing, selecting, onboarding, and integrating new team members.
• Recognize strong performance and reinforce behaviors aligned with company expectations.
• Document performance concerns and partner with the Maintenance Manager and Human Resources on coaching, corrective action, and performance improvement.
• Develop field leadership capability and reduce operational dependency on any one individual.

Safety & Compliance

• Reinforce OSHA requirements, company safety policies, PPE standards, incident reporting, and near-miss procedures.
• Stop work when unsafe or noncompliant conditions exist and ensure corrective action is completed.
• Support inspection readiness for HUD, HQS, NSPIRE, Section 8, HCR-monitored, and other regulated properties.
• Coordinate with the Life Safety Coordinator to ensure required inspection corrections are completed within established deadlines.
• Support compliance with City of Buffalo rental registration, certificate of occupancy, and property maintenance requirements.
• Enforce lead-safe work practices consistent with EPA RRP requirements and applicable New York State standards.
• Maintain Fair Housing-compliant conduct during all resident interactions.
• Escalate life-safety, code, habitability, and regulatory concerns immediately.

Requirements:

• 5+ years of residential or multifamily maintenance experience.
• 2+ years of experience leading a maintenance or skilled-trades team.
• Demonstrated experience supervising five or more employees, with the ability to support a team of 10–20 technicians.
• Working knowledge of HVAC, plumbing, electrical, appliance repair, carpentry, and building-envelope systems sufficient to direct and evaluate work.
• Experience using Yardi or a comparable property management, work-order, or maintenance management system.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to communicate clearly with residents, technicians, contractors, and leadership.
• Demonstrated ability to manage emergencies, competing priorities, and changing field conditions.
• Strong judgment, follow-through, and problem-solving skills.
• Valid New York State driver’s license with an acceptable driving record.
• Reliable transportation for daily portfolio travel.
• Ability to participate in after-hours emergency escalation.
• This is a field-based position requiring regular travel between properties throughout Western New York, with the ability to climb stairs and ladders, access basements, mechanical rooms, crawl spaces, and roofs, and occasionally lift or move up to 50 pounds. The position may involve exposure to construction activity, dust, noise, temperature changes, snow, ice, and emergency property conditions.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Buffalo-area housing stock, contractors, vendors, code requirements, and winter operations.
• Experience supporting a mixed subsidized, affordable, and market-rate portfolio.
• Familiarity with HUD, HQS, NSPIRE, Section 8, HCR, or LIHTC requirements.
• OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 certification.
• EPA RRP certification or lead-safe work-practice experience.
• Bilingual English/Spanish communication skills.