FiFoDiDo

FiFoDiDo Editorial · 14 October 2026

Tickets & trainingGetting a FIFO job

How to Become a Maintenance Planner

Maintenance planners and schedulers make sure the right job, parts and people are ready before equipment is pulled off line. It's a common next step for tradespeople. Here's how to get into it.

Planner

Maintenance planners and schedulers keep mining and industrial equipment running reliably. A planner works out what maintenance is needed, plus the parts, tools and labour each job requires. A scheduler works out when it happens, around production, equipment availability and crews. Many people do both.

At a glance

  • Where you'll work: mine sites, processing plants, LNG facilities, power stations, workshops.
  • Usual way in: a trade background, or a maintenance admin or planning support role.
  • Uni needed? No. Some planners have engineering diplomas or degrees.
  • Time to qualify: usually a few years of trade or maintenance experience first.
  • Rosters: FIFO and DIDO on site, often more regular hours than the trades.

What the job involves

  • Writing up maintenance work orders.
  • Working out parts, tools and labour for each job.
  • Scheduling inspections, services and repairs.
  • Planning shutdowns.
  • Keeping the maintenance system up to date.
  • Tracking completed and outstanding work.

At school

  • Maths and English.
  • Computing.
  • Engineering or business studies.

Organisation, writing and spreadsheet skills all help.

How to qualify

There's no single route. Common ones are:

  • A mechanical, electrical or instrumentation apprenticeship, then moving into planning.
  • A maintenance administration or planning support role.
  • A vocational qualification in engineering, maintenance or asset management.
  • An engineering diploma or degree.

A trade background is especially valuable. It helps you understand how equipment fails and what a repair really involves.

Your first job

Job titles to search for:

  • Maintenance Administrator
  • Maintenance Planning Assistant
  • Maintenance Scheduler
  • Junior Maintenance Planner
  • Work Management Coordinator
  • Shutdown Planner

Admin-skilled applicants often start in planning support. Tradespeople usually move across after some years on the tools.

Tickets and training

  • Maintenance planning and scheduling courses.
  • Maintenance management systems, such as SAP or similar. Employers often train you on their own system.
  • Strong spreadsheet and reporting skills.
  • Project scheduling software.
  • Asset management or reliability training.
  • Site inductions.

Where it can lead

Maintenance Administrator → Planning Assistant → Maintenance Planner → Senior Planner → Planning Superintendent → Maintenance or Asset Manager

Other directions include reliability engineering, shutdown management and asset performance analysis.

What employers look for

  • Organisation, and juggling competing priorities.
  • Good communication with trades, production and stores.
  • Thinking ahead to problems before they stop production.
  • Comfort with data and systems.

Is it for you?

It suits you if you like solving logistics problems and working with data, and want to coordinate the work rather than be on the tools every day.

Pay, rosters and jobs

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