Maintenance Technician

Maintenance work at a residential community is rarely glamorous, but it's genuinely important. When a resident's heat goes out at midnight or a work order backlog piles up after a holiday weekend, the maintenance technician is the person who holds the property together. Cottonwood Residential is filling that role at Cason Estates Apartments in Murfreesboro, TN, and they're looking for someone who takes the craft seriously.

What the Work Actually Looks Like

Day to day, you'll move through a mix of scheduled work orders and reactive repairs across the community. Plumbing issues, electrical troubleshooting, carpentry, appliance repairs, grounds-related fixes , the variety keeps things interesting, but it also means you need a genuine base of hands-on skills rather than depth in just one trade. HVAC troubleshooting is a particular area of emphasis here, so comfort diagnosing heating and cooling problems will serve you well. If you carry an EPA Type II or Universal certification, or a CPO, bring that with you. If not, those credentials are worth pursuing as you grow in the role.

You'll also share on-call rotation for after-hours emergency calls. That's worth naming plainly: evenings and weekends are part of the job, and urgent situations don't wait for business hours. The Service Manager provides support during those calls, so you're not working without backup, but you do need to be the kind of person who can respond calmly under pressure and represent the community well even at odd hours.

The physical demands are real. You'll be on your feet most of the day, lifting up to 50 lbs, climbing ladders, working in tight spaces, and covering ground across the property. A valid driver's license is required.

Who Fits This Role Well

The candidates who thrive here tend to share a few traits beyond technical ability. They communicate clearly with residents , not just fixing the problem, but leaving the interaction feeling professional and considerate. They manage their own time across a work order queue without constant hand-holding. And they treat the property with the same care they'd give their own home.

• Solid troubleshooting skills across plumbing, electrical, and general carpentry
• HVAC experience, especially diagnostics and repair
• EPA Type II or Universal certification (preferred, not required)
• CPO certification (a plus)
• Valid driver's license
• Comfort working evenings, weekends, and on-call rotations
• Ability to read safety and operating manuals and complete company documentation in English

Cottonwood offers health, vision, dental, life, and disability benefits with coverage available quickly after hire, a 401k and HSA with company match, 10.5 paid holidays, and three weeks of paid time off eligible in the first year. For a maintenance role, that's a competitive package worth weighing seriously.

One honest note for anyone considering this path: maintenance technician roles at well-run communities are one of the cleaner routes into a Service Manager or Maintenance Supervisor position. You build a portfolio of completed work, develop vendor relationships, and learn how a property operates from the ground up. That experience transfers directly if you want to move up within Cottonwood or across the industry later on.