I. Job Profile Job Title Fire Alarm and Life Safety Engineer Department System Engineering Department
Direct Supervisor Utility Maintenance Manager Direct Subordinates None
II. Job Summary:
1. Responsible for the reliability, compliance, maintenance, and lifecycle management of plant fire alarm and life safety systems.
2. Plans inspections, testing, preventive maintenance, repairs, system improvements, and emergency restoration activities.
3. Coordinates contractors, EHS, Facility, Production, Security, monitoring companies, and authorities having jurisdiction as required.
III. Job Functions and Duties
NO. Representative Duties
1 Manage fire alarm and life safety systems, including control panels, initiating devices, notification appliances, sprinkler supervisory and waterflow signals, fire pump signals, emergency lighting, exit signs, fire doors, fire/smoke dampers, and special suppression interfaces.
2 Maintain a complete equipment register, point list, panel/network inventory, zone map, riser interface list, and current system status for all covered facilities.
3 Develop and maintain daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, semiannual, annual, and multi-year inspection, testing, and preventive maintenance plans.
4 Review and respond to fire alarm, supervisory, trouble, disabled, bypassed, and communication conditions; coordinate timely repair and restoration.
5 Lead or support functional testing of alarm initiation, notification, central-station transmission, fire pump signals, air-handling shutdown, door release, elevator recall, smoke control, gas shutoff, and other approved cause-and-effect functions.
6 Administer fire protection impairment procedures, including system isolation, notifications, fire watch, temporary protection, restoration, and closure documentation.
7 Review fire alarm and life safety drawings, point lists, sequence of operations, battery calculations, voltage-drop calculations, network diagrams, product submittals, and as-built documents.
8 Plan and coordinate new installations, modifications, replacements, permitting support, commissioning, acceptance testing, and turnover documentation.
9 Manage contractors, service agreements, quotations, purchase requests, schedules, site access, safety requirements, and vendor performance.
10 Maintain compliance with applicable fire alarm, fire protection, electrical, building, and life safety requirements, including company standards and adopted codes.
11 Maintain inspection reports, test records, annual tags, deficiency logs, repair records, permits, warranties, software backups, and system programming documentation.
12 Investigate nuisance alarms, repeat trouble conditions, device failures, communication issues, and other recurring problems; complete root-cause analysis and corrective action.
13 Develop critical spare-parts plans and lifecycle replacement strategies for panels, power supplies, batteries, modules, detectors, notification devices, and communication equipment.
14 Provide emergency response and after-hours support for fire alarm and life safety system failures, impairments, and restoration activities.
15 Provide technical training and operating guidance to Facility, Utility, Security, EHS, and other affected personnel.
16 Nothing in the Position Description restricts management's right to assign or re-assign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.
IV. Qualification
Job Requirements Language English is required. Mandarin is preferred but not required. Ability to read, understand, and interpret safety rules, codes, drawings, specifications, operating instructions, maintenance manuals, test reports, and written procedures. Ability to communicate effectively with technicians, engineers, leadership, contractors, inspectors, and emergency-response personnel.
Experience Three or more years of experience with fire alarm, life safety, fire protection, electrical controls, or related building systems in an industrial, manufacturing, commercial, or institutional environment. Experience with addressable fire alarm systems, central-station monitoring, sprinkler monitoring, and system commissioning is preferred.
Education Bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering, Fire Protection Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Technology, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education, technical training, and relevant experience.
Physical Condition The employee is regularly required to stand, walk, climb stairs, use ladders or lifts, bend, reach, and work in equipment rooms, production areas, and rooftop locations. The position may require lifting to 50 pounds and working in hot, cold, noisy, dusty, or outdoor conditions. Visual acuity, color recognition, depth perception, and the ability to read device labels, wiring, drawings, and test instruments are required. Required personal protective equipment may include safety glasses, hearing protection, steel-toed footwear, fall protection, and electrical PPE as applicable.
Other Requirements Ability to troubleshoot electrical and low-voltage circuits, analyze practical problems, manage multiple priorities, and work independently. Must be able to support scheduled shutdowns, emergency response, occasional overtime, and after-hours work. Knowledge of permit, impairment, LOTO, electrical safety, and contractor-control procedures is required. NICET Fire Alarm Systems certification or equivalent manufacturer training is preferred.
Knowledge, Skills & Abilities utilized on the job Professional Knowledge, Skills Working knowledge of fire alarm and life safety requirements, including NFPA 72, NFPA 25, NFPA 13, NFPA 20, NFPA 70, NFPA 70E, NFPA 80, NFPA 101, applicable building/fire codes, and local requirements.
Knowledge of addressable fire alarm panels, initiating devices, notification appliances, releasing systems, power supplies, batteries, networked panels, and central-station communication.
Knowledge of sprinkler waterflow, valve tamper, fire pump, dry-system, deluge, clean-agent, CO₂, and other life safety system interfaces.
Ability to read and develop fire alarm drawings, riser diagrams, point lists, cause-and-effect matrices, sequence-of-operation documents, and as-built records.
Ability to perform or oversee inspections, testing, commissioning, troubleshooting, and verification using appropriate meters, software, and fire alarm test equipment.
Strong root-cause analysis skills for nuisance alarms, recurring trouble conditions, device failures, communication faults, and system impairments.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, CMMS/document-control systems, PDF review tools, and AutoCAD or similar drawing software.
Project planning, scheduling, budgeting, procurement, contractor management, and construction coordination skills.
Clear technical writing, report preparation, recordkeeping, and communication skills.
Strong organization, judgment, teamwork, and emergency-response coordination skills.
Training Required Fire alarm system manufacturer training and applicable NFPA 72 inspection, testing, programming, or maintenance training.
LOTO, electrical safety / arc-flash awareness, lift and fall-protection training, and other site-required safety training.
Plex/EPAC or applicable CMMS training, document-control procedures, impairment/fire-watch procedures, and company emergency-response training.
V. Work Environment:
Work is performed in offices, manufacturing areas, equipment rooms, electrical rooms, rooftops, warehouses, and outdoor locations. The employee may be exposed to heat, cold, noise, dust, moving equipment, energized systems, ladders, lifts, and emergency conditions. Required PPE and all site safety procedures must be followed.
VI. Key Performance Indicators:
1. On-time completion rate for required inspections, testing, and preventive maintenance.
2. Number of open fire alarm trouble, supervisory, disabled, and bypassed conditions.
3. Average closure time for deficiencies and failed test items.
4. Frequency of nuisance alarms, repeat alarms, and recurring system faults.
5. Duration and documentation compliance of system impairments.
6. Accuracy and completeness of drawings, point lists, reports, and maintenance records.
7. Project completion performance for scope, schedule, budget, commissioning, and turnover.
8. Individual work injuries and safety incidents (OSHA recordable).
