A facilities manager organizes and maintains the facilities utilized by a company or other establishment. The job’s scope can be quite broad depending on the particular place of employment, but in the general case, a facilities manager will have to oversee the allocation of space, distribution of the different facilities in accordance with the users’ needs, as well as respond to any complaints or assistance requests arising from users of the new facilities. Additionally, the facilities manager is the point of contact for the government if the building is required to undergo a renovation procedure, and it’s usually the facilities manager’s duty to prepare the site for the renovation.
A Bachelor’s degree is, in most cases, enough for becoming a facilities manager. Some companies will prohibit their facilities managers from progressing up the hierarchy without a Master’s degree though, and in some cases, they’ll even refuse to employ people with no Master’s degree in a subject like administration, business, finances or economics. Strong organizational skills and good multitasking are very beneficial for efficiently working as a facilities manager.
A facilities manager can earn between $45,000 – $78,000, depending on their place of occupation and the number of facilities under their supervision. The job has some bonuses attached to it in cases where new installations are performed, as well as other activities outside of the regular working schedule. The median for 2009 was $58,000, significantly higher than previous years.