HVAC Career Spotlight: Parts Manager

We have talked before about how an HVAC career offers opportunities for growth, making it a smart choice for motivated people with the right skills and interests. Someone who starts out as a service technician often learns professional and management skills that, on top of his or her technical skills, can open the door to a variety of HVAC careers.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at one of the jobs that a technician can grow into: the role of HVAC parts manager.

Why make the move to parts manager in your HVAC career?

There is no question that working as a service technician is a very rewarding HVAC career for the right candidates. However, it does mean doing work that is often physically challenging.

As a service technician, you may find yourself working in tight, musty spots such as crawl spaces and attics. HVAC technicians routinely spend time crouched, squatting, or kneeling while they install, service, and repair heating and cooling systems.

Often, HVAC technicians have to lift or move heavy parts and equipment such as air conditioning units or furnaces. That is in addition to the tools a technician must carry every day on the job.

Speaking of every day, the hours for a technician can be long and may sometimes require being on call for emergency repairs on nights or weekends. The plus side is that, for a full-time technician, those extra hours earn overtime pay.

For a technician who wants to stay in the industry but transition into a less physically demanding job with more predictable hours, becoming a parts manager can be a great HVAC career move.

What does a parts manager do?

An HVAC parts manager is in charge of managing an HVAC company’s inventory to meet both the demand for parts in the field and the business’s budgetary needs. A parts manager’s job generally includes:

• Pricing, ordering, and stocking parts
• Monitoring and forecasting levels of demand
• Maintaining an inventory of all parts in and out
• Creating purchase orders
• Distributing parts to installation, service, and repair technicians
• Driving/delivering parts to job sites
• Restocking trucks with parts — both for day-to-day job requirements and for specific projects such as system installations
• Building good relationships with part vendors and suppliers
• Providing good service to internal (technician) and external (end) customers
• Meeting cost control requirements

The parts manager is responsible for ordering and maintaining stock at a level that allows installation, service, and repair crews to complete their work on schedule. At the same time, the manager must always be conscious of spending the company’s supply dollars wisely.

Additionally, an HVAC career in parts management often includes other tasks. For example, at Lane Associates — a New York City metropolitan area HVAC service and repair company — parts manager Thomas McDermott maintains the company’s vehicle fleet as well as its parts inventory.

Besides keeping track of inspections, warranties, oil changes, and maintenance schedules for more than 40 vehicles, Thomas steps in if a technician’s truck breaks down somewhere — making sure a tow truck is dispatched and getting the technician back on the road ASAP.

Thomas has also been able to put his own stamp on the parts manager job, making some logistic changes to improve efficiency. “Some job sites open at 7 AM, but others don’t open until 8 or 9 AM,” he says. “By loading up our trucks at night, our driver can get an early start dropping parts off, so that whatever time the workday starts for each job, the necessary parts are there.”

What are some benefits of becoming a parts manager?

As a management position, the job of HVAC parts manager generally offers a salary comparable to or higher than what a service technician earns.

A parts manager often gets the same benefits as a technician, such as health insurance, a pension, and paid holidays and vacations. Depending on the company, the manager might also get added benefits such as a company vehicle, annual raises, and bonuses.

While a parts manager does need to be able to do some lifting, it is far less physically demanding than a service technician job. Additionally, the parts manager generally works during regular business hours and does not need to be on call on weekends or for emergencies.

What skills does this HVAC career require?

Most companies looking to hire an HVAC parts manager want someone with some experience as a technician — usually, from 1 to 5 years minimum. Many companies also require a valid driver’s license and clean driving record, because the job often involves delivering parts to job sites.

Since it is a management position, it is beneficial to have leadership experience and/or to demonstrate strengths in areas such as:

• Willingness to take ownership of tasks
• Strong work ethic and ability to multitask
• Excellent record keeping (purchase orders, invoices, receipts, and so on)
• Time management and ability to work at a fast pace
• Customer service/people skills
• Computer literacy and excellent math skills
• Good track record of attendance/dependability

In addition, parts counter or warehouse experience can also give you a leg up in getting hired as a parts manager.

How does having previous HVAC technician experience help?

Thomas McDermott knows firsthand how valuable service technician experience is to success in an HVAC career: He worked as a technician for 15 years before making the move to parts manager.

“When you’ve had hands-on technical experience in the field, it makes doing a job like HVAC parts management so much easier,” he says.

For example, different technicians sometimes use different names to describe the same part, which could be confusing for someone who is new to the business. But as a former HVAC technician, Thomas can read the description of the job and figure out what part a technician needs, no matter what he or she calls it.

Or, technicians sometimes leave out simple but necessary supplies, such as sandpaper, when quoting a job, but Thomas knows from experience what needs to be included. In addition, his own experience in when and how parts are used helps him forecast inventory requirements and keep the company well equipped with the parts that are typically needed.

How can you transition to the role of HVAC parts manager?

Thomas was able to move from HVAC technician to parts manager with a former employer when the job opened up and he simply asked his old boss to give him a shot at the position.

As much as having hands-on experience and familiarity with parts and terminology helped him get the job, so too did showing the eagerness to try something new and the willingness to learn. You’ll find these are the keys to success, not just in parts management but in any HVAC career.

To get started in an HVAC career, check out our resources for creating a winning resume and our list of HVACR employers in NYC.

HVACR Career Connect NY was created to promote the exceptional quality-of-life benefits of a career in HVAC and Refrigeration service, and also to provide a clear path for getting started in the profession. In doing so, we serve as a resource for employers in the New York City metro area to find and hire smart and capable new technicians. We also serve as an educational resource to support business growth and to help service technicians succeed in their chosen profession.