Maintenance Leadership Spotlight Jonathan Dufner

MAINTENANCE LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT

"You Don't Have to Know Everything. You Just Have to Keep Wanting to Learn More."

Jonathan Dufner on curiosity, respect, and what maintenance leadership should look like

Jonathan Dufner has been in the maintenance field since he was 16, working summers with the maintenance department at his high school. He came to multifamily in 2020, walked into a property with more than 300 open work orders, and spent his first years digging out. Today he is a Service Supervisor with Simpson Housing in Austin, where he runs maintenance and facilities operations, sits in on budgets and capital planning, and mentors Service Supervisors and technicians across the area. He has strong opinions about what this industry gets wrong, and he has earned them.

Jonathan was 16 the first time someone paid him to fix something. He spent summers with the maintenance department at his high school, and some days had a rhythm you could not make up: fix irrigation leaks on the practice field in the morning, break for football practice on that same field, then clock back in to finish the job.

After that came a building supply store, then the oilfield. Then came 2020. "COVID changed everything," he says. "I was laid off from the oilfield and found an opportunity in multifamily. I didn't expect it to become my career."

Today he is a Service Supervisor with Simpson Housing in Austin, leading maintenance and facilities operations at his property and mentoring Service Supervisors and maintenance technicians across the area. What keeps him here is that the job refuses to sit still. "I still enjoy solving technical problems, but these days I get just as excited about improving processes, using technology, and finding better ways to operate a property."

The week that taught him everything

The lesson that still shapes how he leads came from Winter Storm Uri in 2021. He was onsite by himself for nearly a week dealing with frozen pipes, floods, residents without heat, and one problem after another. He worked almost nonstop and ended up in the ER from dehydration and exhaustion.

"That week definitely taught me to be resourceful. You can prepare as much as possible, but when a real disaster happens, things aren't going to go according to plan. Sometimes you just have to deal with what's in front of you and figure it out as you go."

The recognition problem

Jonathan is direct about the industry's biggest blind spot. "I think apartment maintenance still has a respect problem. The trades are finally getting more recognition for the skill they require, which is great. But apartment maintenance is still perceived like we're only there to change light bulbs and air filters."

He is careful not to overstate the case. "We're not master plumbers, electricians, or HVAC technicians, and I'm not going to pretend we have the same specialized training. But a good maintenance technician has to be competent across all of those areas and be able to jump between them all day long."

The gap between skill required and credit given has consequences. "It can be disheartening to spend years building that skill set and still have what you do minimized. If this industry wants to attract young talent, society's perception of apartment maintenance has to change. Young people need to know that apartment maintenance can actually be a great career, not just something you fall into."

Responsibility without ownership

The most common mistake Jonathan sees properties make is a structural one. "One of the biggest mistakes I see is giving maintenance leaders responsibility without giving them enough ownership. If someone is accountable for the condition of the property, preventative maintenance, compliance, the team, vendors, and maintenance spending, they need the time and authority to manage those things."

That includes the money. "They should understand the budget, know where the department stands financially, and have a voice in how that money is spent. It's hard to hold someone accountable for financial results they aren't included in."

He is not arguing for a supervisor who never picks up a wrench. "There are always times to grab the tools and jump in with the team. But their biggest value is leading the maintenance operation, not just being another person running work orders."

Jonathan knows what the alternative looks like because he lives it. Asked what he is proudest of that outsiders would never see, he named his partnership with his Property Manager. "I'm included in budgets, capital planning, vendor decisions, projects, compliance, and decisions that affect the property as a whole. To me, that's what a strong onsite team should look like. Different roles and responsibilities, but shared ownership of the property and its success."

What technology actually changed

Jonathan is bullish on technology, and specific about why. "AI is a big one for me. It's another resource when troubleshooting, and it can take a lot of the legwork out of planning preventative maintenance or building out schedules."

The advance he is most enthusiastic about has nothing to do with physical tools.

"Maintenance professionals and residents don't always share the same language, and today's tools can help bridge that gap in both verbal and written communication. That's huge in maintenance, where being able to communicate in the moment matters, but so does documenting what happened clearly afterward."

Stay curious

The thread running through all of it is the quality Jonathan says separates a good technician from a great one. "I think it's curiosity. The best technicians I've worked with are always asking questions. They don't just want to know how to fix something, they want to know why it failed in the first place, whether it could have been prevented, and if there's a better way to fix it next time."

It is also his advice to anyone starting out. "Understanding budgets, vendors, residents, and why decisions get made will open a lot more doors than just knowing how to make the repair." And learn from the people around you: "Some of the best training you'll get is just being willing to admit you don't know something and asking someone who does."

Then he says the line that sums up a career that started with irrigation leaks and football practice on the same field. "You don't have to know everything. You just have to keep wanting to learn more."

The Maintenance Leadership Spotlight series features the people running maintenance operations in multifamily and the lessons they have learned doing it. Know a maintenance leader whose story deserves to be told? We would love to hear about them.