Job profile:
Facility Manager (m/f/d)
Facility managers take care of building maintenance and the management of buildings and facilities. They play an extremely important role in ensuring a functioning and pleasant infrastructure for everyone in the building.
You can find out exactly what your tasks are, what earning opportunities there are and what skills you need here.
Are you looking for a job as a Facility Manager? (m/f/d)
Are you looking for a Facility Manager (m/f/d)?
Are you looking for an exciting facility management project?
What is a facility manager? Definition and overview
Buildings and their equipment must be supervised and kept in optimal condition - this is exactly what facility managers do in their job. Their employers are companies that manage their buildings internally or service companies and real estate management companies. Facility managers ensure that the technical building equipment works and that building management runs efficiently.
Importance of facility management: an expertise that should not be underestimated
Facility management translates as property management.
Facility management (FM) therefore refers to all processes and services that ensure the safety and functionality of buildings and facilities. We humans spend around 87% of our time in buildings, so the role of facility managers is very important for our everyday lives.
In many cases, facility managers have a technical, business or construction management background. Knowledge from these areas is important in facility management in order to overcome challenges such as energy efficiency, maintenance work, project management and staff deployment.
There is often a misconception that a facility manager is the same as a janitor. However, the role of facility manager is usually much broader and often refers to a management position that requires specific training or a degree. Rather, janitors are a component of facility management, while FM itself is an umbrella term that encompasses many different topics. In addition, as a facility manager, you are often responsible for several properties or construction projects at the same time.
The profession of facility manager should not be underestimated, as it covers a broad range of tasks and therefore requires knowledge from a wide variety of areas. This is why a degree in facility management provides an excellent basis for the profession.
Facility manager salary Switzerland: A comprehensive overview
The average salary for facility managers in Switzerland is around CHF 88,000 gross per year. The best salaries are usually paid in larger cities. As with all professions, it is important to note that other factors such as your own experience, academic degree and the size of the employer also play a significant role in the level of your salary.
Starting salary as a facility manager: Junior facility manager salary
Facility management tasks: What does a facility manager do?
The tasks of facility managers are varied and range from coordinating janitors and cleaning staff to materials management and IT activities. They plan the optimal management of individual or multiple buildings and their infrastructure and monitor the operation of systems such as the heating system or energy supply.
You therefore spend most of your time coordinating staff and liaising with various people, processing invoices and keeping an eye on the big picture. After all, as a facility manager, you are the interface between the client and the people who take care of the various maintenance measures. The aim is always to keep large buildings, facilities, plants or factories in perfect condition and to enable efficient management.
As a facility manager, you ensure order in and around the building, organize and manage the winter service, calculate the costs for the client, communicate with the tenants, take care of the heating and air conditioning systems and ensure that problems are rectified as quickly as possible. You also have to be quick, polite and efficient.
Specific facility management tasks can be
Commercial planning and optimization of building management
Planning and monitoring of renovation projects
Maintenance of systems, commissioning of repair work
Supervise the construction and planning phase of a building
Planning and management of investment projects
Purchase of materials
Office services (e.g. organizing catering)
Planning the deployment of personnel
Communication with tenants
Record and document management data
In some cases, the broad field of facility management is divided into three areas: infrastructural, technical and commercial management. This means that your tasks may differ depending on the focus or may only relate to one of these fields.
How do you become a facility manager? - Training, studies & further education
To become a facility manager in Switzerland, vocational training or a degree is generally required. Nevertheless, there are various ways to start a career in facility management. Although senior facility managers usually have an academic background, specialists can continue their education in facility management and work in this field. Career changers often have many years of technical work experience or an academic background.
Facility Management studies: the academic path
For a career in facility management, a facility management degree is recommended, as this professional field is more complex than many people initially think. The Facility Management course combines business, social and technical aspects of building management and should therefore not be underestimated.
In Switzerland, there are various degree programs in Facility Management and Real Estate.
The course covers important topics such as construction informatics, financing, building technology and much more.
Possible degree programs in Facility Management in Switzerland are:
In many cases, the respective university also requires internships or an internship semester in order to gain the necessary experience for later professional life.
Facility manager training: A practical alternative
Facility manager training enables you to work as a building and property manager even without an academic background. For example, an apprenticeship in building services or building cleaning or a federal certificate of proficiency (EFZ) as a commercial clerk or draftsman for architecture form a good basis. Nevertheless, it is advisable to follow this basic training with more specific training.
You can complete various facility management courses at institutes such as the ZHAW or feusi.
Possible facility management training courses are
Further training: Facility Management
There are many different further and advanced training courses in the field of facility management and building management. For you as a facility manager, further training is very important to keep up to date with the latest developments, such as smart home and security. Such courses and facility management training are available at various locations, in person or online.
Possible topics for further training in facility management are:
Smart Home
Building security and property protection
Energy efficiency and sustainability
Facility management for janitors
Facility Management Basics
Facility Manager lateral entry
Facility management career changers are also advised to complete a facility management course. When selecting personnel, employers look for a strong academic background or several years of professional experience in a similar field. Therefore, an absolute lateral entry as a facility manager is unlikely.
Skills of facility managers: Hard and soft skills
The prerequisite for working as a facility manager is suitable professional training. This includes relevant training as well as a bachelor's or master's degree in facility management. The latter paves the way to the management level of a real estate management company. There you will also have management responsibilities.
An eye for craftsmanship makes it easier for you to deal with service providers who work on your behalf. Commercial knowledge is an important basis for the planning of renovation measures or plant construction, which every facility manager needs on the job. You should also be familiar with the IT programs commonly used in the industry.
(Construction) technical understanding
IT skills (GEFMA-certified CAFM systems, MS Office)
Affinity for numbers and statistics
Business management knowledge
Strong communication skills and ability to work in a team
Further education certificates from an academy or vocational school
Leadership qualities
English language skills
Assertiveness
Outstanding reliability
Critical and analytical thinking
Creativity
Problem solution
Resilience
Places of work: Where do facility managers work?
Facility managers can be deployed in any type of building. Whether it's an apartment building, company headquarters, swimming pool, factory or hospital: facility managers ensure that these facilities are optimally maintained and managed.
They are largely responsible for ensuring that the people who spend time in the respective locations feel comfortable and safe there.
As a facility manager, you can be employed directly by the companies whose buildings you look after or work for a facility management service provider. The locations and industries in which facility managers are needed are extremely diverse.
Facility manager careers: opportunities on the job market
Both people with a CAS and graduates with a degree in facility management have a good chance of finding a job quickly. The real estate industry is booming and therefore offers many jobs for facility managers. If you specialize in sustainability, you have particularly good career prospects in facility management. This is because planning energy-efficient renovations or optimizing buildings is an important topic for many companies in the course of the energy transition.
In addition, digitalization is playing an increasingly important role in facility management: smart homes, building networking, data management and much more are among the daily challenges in this area. Skills and knowledge of digital tools and digitalization are therefore particularly advantageous.
Top vacancies for facility managers: Jobs in Switzerland
FAQ
As a facility manager, you will earn an average of CHF 88,000 gross per year in Switzerland, although higher pay is very possible depending on the location and size of the company. After completing a Bachelor's degree, you can expect a starting salary of around CHF 80,000.
As a Business Development Manager in Switzerland, you earn an average of CHF 115,000 gross per year. Experienced business developers who work in large companies can also earn up to CHF 160,000 per year.
While janitors usually take care of maintenance in buildings, facility managers look after entire properties and ensure optimal management. The tasks of janitors are usually part of facility management, but they are not the same profession.
There are various ways to become a facility manager. Nowadays, it is common to complete a Bachelor's degree in Facility Management. However, you can also pursue this profession with a technical or business management qualification.
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