Maintenance Technician

What You'll Actually Do

This is a hands-on maintenance technician role at Lake St. James Apartments in Conyers, GA, a residential community managed by Cottonwood Residential. The work covers the full range of apartment maintenance: plumbing repairs, electrical work, general carpentry, make-ready turns, and responding to service requests across the property. You'll also carry on-call responsibilities, meaning after-hours emergencies are part of the job. The Service Manager supports you on those calls, but you need to be the kind of person who can handle an urgent situation at 10pm without falling apart.

Physical demands here are real. You're on your feet most of the day, climbing stairs, working in tight spaces, lifting up to 50 lbs, and occasionally on ladders or scaffolding. If you've worked apartment maintenance before, none of that surprises you. If you haven't, it's worth knowing before you apply.

A typical week might include a handful of work orders (plumbing calls, HVAC filter swaps, appliance issues), contributing to unit turns between residents, and keeping an eye on the property grounds. Punch lists don't manage themselves, and in a busy community, the backlog can build fast if you're not organized.

What You Bring

• Experience with plumbing, electrical, and general carpentry repairs in a residential setting
• A valid driver's license
• EPA Type II or Universal certification (a real plus, not just a nice-to-have if you want to stand out)
• CPO certification (helpful if the property has a pool)
• Ability to communicate clearly with residents and document work orders accurately
• Willingness to work evenings, weekends, and rotating on-call shifts

Strong candidates in this kind of role tend to be self-starters who don't need someone walking them through every work order. They communicate proactively when a repair turns into something bigger than expected, and they understand that a resident waiting on a fix is having a worse day than you are. That mindset matters more than any single certification.

The Role in Context

Cottonwood Residential has built a reputation around a self-guided tour model that puts resident experience at the center of operations. That culture extends to maintenance. A fast, quality repair done with a decent attitude does more for retention than most marketing. If you're the technician residents trust, you'll feel that in the job.

Benefits kick in within the first 30 days and include health, dental, vision, life, and disability coverage. The company offers a 401k with a match, an HSA match, three weeks of PTO in year one, and 10.5 paid holidays. That's a solid package for a maintenance role and worth factoring into your comparison if you're weighing offers.