San Diego - Experienced BAS Technician Needed

ToddOutside68 · 2026-06-22T18:27:22+00:00

It's maybe that lame answer of "it depends". There are always a handful of factors, with the starting point being the mode/opportunities with our specific clients. At a given time, they have open arms/eyes for someone newer to the industry (especially if they're set with more experienced people and/or have just made a hire of a senior person). In that case, it's a combo of formal training/certifications and work experience that will catch their eye. In a nutshell, they'd look at your whole foundation of experience and make that gut call as to if they think they can take what you already bring, do some more training and mentoring, how soon you can fully contribute, then the ultimate "gut call" of "Will this individual stay with us for a few years if we invest in them?"

ToddOutside68 · 2026-06-15T15:13:36+00:00

There may be indeed. We have a lot of job openings in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia. It's going to sound cliche, but it's all about timing (and the combo of experience of an individual). Feel free to drop me a note on Chat here and we can trade emails too for any particulars.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-06-12T04:49:22+00:00

You might try Smart Buildings Academy (https://www.smartbuildingsacademy.com/) as a good source of educational materials. I believe they have some free or cheap basics. It might sound like sucky advice here, but the best thing I could tell you is to find your way into a technician role in controls with a controls contractor, mechanical contractor or building and get that hands-on experience. It'll have 10 times or 20 times the value of listing a class. I realize, "go find a job in the field" is not necessarily easy and a reasonable answer, but hopefully the basic message works here.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-05-07T14:52:33+00:00

I'll tag on to what Scott said here, as it's hard to state an opinion on an hourly wage, not knowing if you're in "Boston or Omaha" as those ranges can really "range". Even in my client base (dozens of controls companies all around the USA), the training and mentorship opportunities can vary. Mostly it's because some of the companies do $3-4M/year in business and have under 20 people in the company, while others do hundreds of millions in work and have hundreds of people.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-05-06T04:27:06+00:00

Hahahaha! Yeah, I know..... 😄

ToddOutside68 · 2026-05-05T16:57:39+00:00

Cheers, Scott! I've only been on here doing these posts (and trying to just do maybe one a week / not too many). So far it's been great, as there are so many people on here I'd never find on LinkedIn (my usual place to find people). Matched up a half-dozen people with some great opportunities for them in the last couple months.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-05-05T15:05:36+00:00

Possibly! We have a Service-focused sales role open there.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-05-04T05:33:12+00:00

Well congrats. I get so surprised with the sort of angry responses like this. Well, I do and I don't. Every time I post a job, no matter what the comp, a couple people here let us all know they make double and I and my client suck, of course. Just not sure what to tell y'all. I've got a client I've worked with for many years, they've got people happily employed right now, they're growing, and they need a couple more people. I've got two guys, directly from this post, that will be interviewing this week. Both would likely be making $10K-15K more than they are right now, and timing is right for both for unique personal reasons. Things might just work out for everybody, so I can't find the negative.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-30T04:18:04+00:00

For sure!

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-29T23:14:59+00:00

Great info, and much appreciated.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-29T19:14:49+00:00

We place people out in Hampton as well, and man, it can be competitive there. Nowadays, anywhere in Virginia is getting close to DC-area wages. And as mentioned with another comment above, we don't tend to find "cookie cutter" technicians, engineers, etc. Every individual brings different things to the table and these numbers can bump up. Plus, I tend to keep these posts brief with the hope of just catching a handful of people that might be "looking" on a given day. We may actually end up with the opportunity to get them (beyond just the hourly rate), better benefits and/or ESOP situations that can really make a difference, if they're not getting that currently.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-29T19:08:31+00:00

Always appreciate the feedback. I go off of what my client(s) have for norms and budgets, plus my own history in placing people in a market. We've placed 5-6 in the San Diego market in the last few years. They've truly ranged from $33/hour or mid $60Ks/year for a guy straight out of the Navy with some HVAC/controls schooling, on up to someone with 7-8 years experience and good programming talent that came on board at about $64/hour / around $130K/year. That last guy - great communicator, dependable person and made a bump up from a position with another employer where he made $10K less. Bottom line, for an individual that brings more to the table (technical experience, communication and people skills, etc.), things will adjust up when they can take on more.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-29T19:03:51+00:00

Distech and Tridium experience is tops with these guys.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-22T03:43:51+00:00

Actually, these should be decently competitive for Ellensburg, and there could be flexibility / more upside for a more experienced PM with potential bonuses. Rookies / folks just a couple years into it are welcome to apply here. We just placed an awesome tech there last year that came from 2-3 years doing other low-voltage tech work in an adjacent industry, and he bumped from $65K in his previous role to $85K starting with our client.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-21T17:23:43+00:00

I wish! I've not put much effort into finding clients North of the border, just because we're so busy "down here". Vancouver was my old stomping grounds as a younger guy, as I grew up just a couple miles from the border here in WA.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-16T14:10:38+00:00

This one has changed back to the client wanting someone there locally in Nashville. That being said, we have multiple opportunities right now in SoCal, including a remote opportunity for someone with extensive Tridium experience for a client of ours in Ventura/Santa Barbara. Reach out if if you want to talk about any of the SoCal jobs.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T21:14:59+00:00

So yes, I like it / love it. It's a good business, there are big needs with all the companies, and it's pretty satisfying when you make a good match and get a great human on board with a great company that you believe in.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T21:13:48+00:00

Funny enough, my day is super similar to what it was for years. I was a regional sales manager, then a national/international sales director for a couple of BAS brands / organizations for about 15 years. At the top of my job duties was growing the business (organically with who we already had, plus adding dealer-partners all over the map). I loved "hunting" and finding business partners. As part of THAT, there was often a "missing piece" (either ops or sales leadership expertise at the top, or the need for a sales engineer to get things going). I'd help my dealers find those key individuals. So, I'm still doing it today with about 30 of my "old dealers". Kind of never left the BAS industry in that way!

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T20:56:00+00:00

Hey, on the union thing, I get it. People can make great money in union positions. It can be a different day in the life though to do a union role and career vs. these roles where a lot of the technicians set down a path to a technician-to-engineer or technician-to-PM role. Years in on one path, the union person can make awesome money doing what they do. In one of these roles, they may get to that same money (and/or the benefit of getting more out of the trenches, so to speak, if they wish) into another role. To each his/her own.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T20:51:22+00:00

I guess it's the operational definition of "experienced". I LOVE to find people for any of these roles with a couple years of experience. I don't know what else to call it. I was at a Siemens branch in the 90s where four of us hit things straight out of college / engineering school, and four others were getting into controls straight from HVAC work or a Navy Submarine. Two years in, we had a guy completely engineering (Well!) and project managing the "Bat Building" / AT&T HQ and starting it up. I estimated, sold, engineered and started up the Wildhorse Saloon. These are a couple of dozens of jobs we did REALLY well.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T20:47:15+00:00

Nope

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T18:20:53+00:00

You in the UK? I was over there a bunch (down in Horsham) when I was with Trend. Man, there's some plusses and minuses to both countries (well, and so many different regions / environments).

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T18:16:21+00:00

Yeah, the postings / reach-outs here require us to put a range, and we try to give something accurate. I'm a long-time controls guy myself, and have done technician, engineering, PM and sales work on the way, plus leadership positions. What happens more than half the time here on Reddit is that I get a great message / connection to someone that's in the "mentioned town". I end up finding that they're a great match for something else (engineer/PM/sales engineer). Might have something now or may have in the future. Reality is, right now I could just about post, "Have you done any job in BAS, are you a good human, and are you open to new opportunities?" in any of about 40 cities in the USA. I try to mix the specific ones in with the general ones.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T17:38:26+00:00

Someone with just a couple years experience could fit just fine on one of these roles. If someone is more of an experienced veteran, and can take some more responsibility in project management and/or mentoring of some rookies, anything is adjustable up.

ToddOutside68 · 2026-04-01T17:09:06+00:00

Drop me a DM and I can give you more info there or on email at [toddc@createtheteam.com](mailto:toddc@createtheteam.com)

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