Becoming a maintenance technician in Algeria: tasks, specialties, diplomas, on-call duty, career (2026)

A blocked bottling line, a broken boiler, an overheating compressor, an imaging machine down in a clinic: behind every restart there is a maintenance technician. The job mixes mechanics, electricity, automation and a little IT, and it is one of the most sought-after in Algerian industry. It is learned in vocational training, from CAP to BTS, and leads all the way to management. This guide starts from the offers published on Chghol to describe the posts, the profile asked for and the steps to get hired.

What a maintenance technician does

• Corrective work: diagnose a breakdown, replace the part, get the machine running again as fast as possible, then record the cause.
• Preventive work: lubricate, inspect and change wear parts on a schedule, before the breakdown happens. This is where machine availability is won.
• Improvement: change a fitting, add a sensor, simplify a setting so the same breakdown does not come back.
• Follow-up: fill in work orders, keep the breakdown history and the spare-parts stock, often in a CMMS (computerised maintenance management system).
• Safety: lock out the machine before working on it, follow procedures, train operators in first actions.

The specialties behind the title

Several offers state the specialty in the title: « industrial maintenance in mechanics », « in electricity », « in automation », « electricity and air conditioning », « submersible pumps ». Read the tasks: a « utilities » post in a pharmaceutical plant is mostly about water treatment and cooling, a « vehicle fleet » post about vehicle mechanics. See all the maintenance technician offers.

Where the jobs are, and who is hiring

Across the whole site, Algiers holds 796 of the 1,346 offers, close to six in ten. For maintenance, Algiers’ share falls to 22 of 51: factories are also in Oran (7), Blida (6), Béjaïa (3), and in Ghardaïa, Biskra, Bouira, Sétif and Boumerdès (2 each). The towns named in the offers trace the industrial map: Rouïba, Oued Smar, El Harrach, Birtouta, Chéraga and Ouled Fayet around Algiers, Beni Mered in the Mitidja, Boudouaou in Boumerdès, Tafraoui near Oran, Ourlal in the Zibans.

• Food industry: Cevital (5 offers), Sarl Nougatine (2), Palmary, Ramy Milk Company, Nada Fromagerie. Fast lines, strict hygiene, maintenance working with the shifts.
• Medicines: Biopharm (2), Hikma, El Kendi (MS Pharma), Merinal, Laboratoires Frater Razès, LBVET. Utilities and electromechanics posts in a regulated environment; see our guide to the pharmaceutical industry.
• Textiles, plastics and materials: Tapidor (4), Chiali Profiplast, SITEP Tuboplast, Groupe industriel Goumidi (2).
• Services and health: a clinic, a hotel caterer, a logistics firm (SALD), a telecom operator.

If you come from production, maintenance is the most natural next step: our guide to production operator jobs describes the lines you will be looking after.

The diplomas that lead to it

Vocational training registration is done on takwin.dz, a few weeks before the two intakes of February and October; our guide to vocational training details the levels and entry conditions. Between 15 and 30, apprenticeship (law no. 18-10 of 10 June 2018) lets you prepare these diplomas while working in a company, with a pre-salary.

Safety, working hours and on-call duty

Maintenance is one of the most exposed jobs in the factory: moving parts, electricity, pressure, height. Law no. 88-07 of 26 January 1988 makes the employer responsible for protecting workers, protective equipment, safety training and occupational medicine; executive decree no. 91-05 of 19 January 1991 sets the general protection requirements. In practice, you never work on a machine without having locked it out (stopped, cut off from its energy and secured).

• Working time: 40 h a week (ordinance no. 97-03 of 11 January 1997). Many factories organise maintenance in shifts, like production.
• Night: between 9 pm and 5 am (law 90-11, art. 27), forbidden under 19 (art. 28).
• Overtime: limited to 20 % of legal working time and paid at least 50 % extra (art. 31 and 32); see our guide to overtime and bonuses.
• On-call duty: being reachable outside your hours for an urgent breakdown. How it is organised and paid is set by the collective agreement or the internal rules: ask for the details before signing.

Getting hired in 5 steps

1. 1

   Choose your specialty

   Mechanics, electricity, automation, refrigeration or biomedical: look at the offers in your wilaya to see what is in demand near you.

2. 2

   Get a recognised diploma

   A BTS opens most technician posts; a CAP or BT is often enough for maintenance agent, especially with experience.

3. 3

   Write a technical CV

   List the machines and brands you know, the PLCs, the software (CMMS, drawing), the breakdowns you have solved and your safety training.

4. 4

   Prepare the interview and the test

   You will often be asked to read an electrical or pneumatic diagram, explain a diagnosis or identify a part. Revise the basics and prepare two breakdowns told step by step.

5. 5

   Set an alert

   A Chghol « maintenance technician + your wilaya » alert tells you as soon as an offer is published.

Moving up and knowing your worth

The classic path goes from maintenance agent to technician, then methods technician (the one who prepares maintenance plans), team lead or supervisor, and maintenance manager (7 management offers on 4 November 2026). Rare specialties, such as automation, utilities in pharmaceutical plants or biomedical, are easier to negotiate. None of the 51 offers showed a salary: the maintenance technician salaries page helps you place yourself. At interview, talk in net monthly terms and ask for the details of bonuses and on-call allowances.

Frequently asked questions