Senior Maintenance Technician - Cortland North Brookhaven

It's 10 PM on a Tuesday and a resident calls in: no heat. You're on call, you know HVAC, and you go handle it. That's a normal part of this job, and it's worth knowing upfront.

Cortland's North Brookhaven community is looking for a Senior Maintenance Technician to function as the technical backbone of the maintenance team. This position sits just below the Service Manager in the org structure, which means you're mentoring junior techs, stepping into the lead role when the manager is out, and owning the more complex work orders that need real diagnostic skill rather than a basic fix.

What the Day-to-Day Actually Looks Like

The bulk of the work covers advanced troubleshooting and repair across electrical, plumbing, HVAC, appliances, and general building systems. Preventative maintenance on HVAC equipment is a consistent part of the schedule, not an afterthought. You'll also monitor building and security systems including automatic doors and cameras, manage the team's tools and parts inventory, document completed work, and flag recurring issues so they get addressed before they become bigger problems.

Unsafe conditions get corrected fast. That's a non-negotiable part of this role, and you're expected to make sure your team moves with the same urgency you do. Resident interactions come with the territory too. When you're fixing something in someone's home, how you communicate matters as much as how well you repair it.

On-call rotation is real here. Emergencies don't schedule themselves, and this position participates in after-hours response. If that's a dealbreaker, that's worth knowing now rather than after you start.

What Cortland Is Looking For

• Universal EPA 608 certification required; CPO preferred
• 3 to 5+ years in maintenance, facilities, or multifamily housing
• Advanced skills in HVAC, electrical, plumbing, appliance repair, and building systems
• Comfortable mentoring junior technicians and supporting team leadership
• Strong troubleshooting instincts and solid communication with residents and staff
• Physically able to lift heavy items, use tools safely, climb ladders, and work in varying weather
• Willing to participate in on-call and emergency response schedules
• High school diploma or equivalent required

The candidates who tend to stand out at this level aren't just technically sharp. They anticipate what the team needs, keep the preventative maintenance program on track without being told, and treat resident communication as part of the craft. A tech who can fix a condenser unit and explain the situation to a resident without making them feel like an inconvenience is genuinely hard to find.

Cortland is a vertically integrated multifamily owner and operator, ranked among the top 10 in the country. They handle design, construction, and property operations in-house, which tends to mean there's more internal structure and resources available to the maintenance team than you'd find at a smaller fee management shop.