Fire Alarm & Suppression Technician

Installation, Service & ITM — Fire & Life Safety Systems

Hard Fire Suppression Systems | Worthington, OH | Full-time

About Us

Hard Fire Suppression Systems is a third-generation, family-owned Ohio fire and life safety company with 80 years of reputation built on doing the work right. We specialize in special hazard systems — clean agent, fire alarm, and special sprinkler systems — for the customers who can’t afford failure: data centers, critical infrastructure, industrial facilities, hospitals, and commercial buildings across Ohio.

We’re an authorized distributor for Gamewell-FCI, Fike, and Kidde. Other life safety companies subcontract us for specialty work they can’t handle in-house. Our team includes some of the most experienced technicians in the state.

We’re not the biggest. We’re the company customers call when good enough doesn’t cut it.

The Role

We’re hiring a Fire Alarm & Suppression Technician to install, service, inspect, and troubleshoot the systems that protect our customers’ most critical facilities. You’ll work across our fire alarm and special hazard lines — Gamewell-FCI panels, Fike and Kidde clean agent systems, pre-action and specialty sprinkler — in the kind of buildings where a system failure isn’t an inconvenience, it’s a catastrophe.

This is a field role with real autonomy. You’ll be trusted to walk into a building, figure out what’s actually wrong, fix it correctly, and document it so the owner and the AHJ both know exactly where they stand. Nobody is going to look over your shoulder — and nobody is going to tell you to cut a corner, either.

You’ll work directly with our division managers and alongside technicians who have decades in this trade. If you want to go deeper into special hazard work than most technicians ever get to, this is where that happens.

What You’ll Do

• Install, program, test, and commission fire alarm and detection systems — Gamewell-FCI and other manufacturers
• Service, inspect, and troubleshoot clean agent and special hazard suppression systems — Fike, Kidde, and others
• Perform inspection, testing, and maintenance in accordance with NFPA 72, NFPA 25, NFPA 2001, NFPA 10, and the Ohio Fire Code
• Diagnose troubles, ground faults, device failures, and nuisance alarms on live systems — and get them back in service
• Perform repairs and code-required corrections identified during inspection
• Write clear, accurate inspection reports — deficiencies, code references, and what it will take to correct them
• Support acceptance testing and witnessed tests with Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs)
• Work with scheduling and the ITM team so deficiencies become quoted, scheduled, and completed work
• Participate in the on-call rotation for emergency service
• Keep your vehicle, tools, and test equipment stocked, calibrated, and in order
• Help train apprentices and less experienced technicians as you grow with us
  
  

What You Won’t Need

• A complete set of licenses on day one — we sponsor, schedule, and pay for Ohio certification and NICET
• Experience on every manufacturer we carry (we’ll send you to factory training)
• A willingness to sign off on work that isn’t right — we don’t operate that way and never have
  
  

Compensation & Benefits

• Competitive hourly pay, commensurate with experience and certification
• Overtime, plus on-call and emergency callout pay
• Pay increases tied to certifications and licenses you earn
• Company vehicle, fuel card, tools, and test equipment
• Health insurance
• Paid time off
• 401(k) with company match
• Company-paid training and testing — NICET, Ohio fire protection certification (special hazard, sprinkler, fire alarm, fire extinguisher), and manufacturer factory training
• Uniforms and PPE provided
  
  

Why This Job, Specifically

A lot of technician jobs are a route — the same inspections, the same buildings, the same three device types, forever. This isn’t that. We do the special hazard work other life safety companies subcontract to us because they can’t handle it in-house. You’ll see clean agent systems, pre-action systems, and complex fire alarm networks in facilities that cannot go down.

We’re a small, specialized team. The work you do is visible, the quality you deliver is noticed, and the customers you take care of stay with us for decades. If you want to become one of the most capable technicians in the state rather than one of the busiest, this is the right place.

Requirements

What We’re Looking For

Required

• 3 years of hands-on experience in fire alarm, fire suppression, sprinkler, or a closely related technical trade (low-voltage, electrical, building controls, HVAC controls)
• Ability to read and work from plans, riser diagrams, wiring diagrams, submittals, and manufacturer manuals
• Real troubleshooting ability — the discipline to find the actual cause instead of swapping parts until something works
• Strong written documentation; inspection reports get read by building owners, insurers, and AHJs
• Professional presence on customer sites — hospitals, data centers, and plants are demanding environments
• Comfortable with hand and power tools, a multimeter, and standard test equipment
• Valid Ohio driver’s license and clean driving record
• Able to work from ladders and lifts, above ceilings, in mechanical rooms, and occasionally in tight spaces; able to lift 50 lbs
• Willing to take part in on-call and after-hours emergency service
• Able to pass a background check and drug screen — many of our customer sites require it
  
  

Strongly Preferred

• Current Ohio fire protection certification in one or more categories — Fire Alarm and Detection Equipment; Engineered or Pre-Engineered Extinguishing Equipment (Other Than Water); Portable Fire Extinguishers; Automatic Sprinkler and Standpipe
• NICET certification (Level II or higher) in Fire Alarm Systems, Inspection and Testing of Fire Alarm Systems, or Special Hazards Suppression Systems
• Factory or manufacturer training — Gamewell-FCI, Fike, Kidde, Notifier, Silent Knight, EST, or Ansul
• Experience with clean agent systems, including room integrity testing and discharge testing
• Experience with pre-action, deluge, or other specialty sprinkler systems
• Backflow tester certification
• OSHA 10/30, aerial and scissor lift certification, or confined space training
  
  

We’ll consider a strong technician from an adjacent trade who has the aptitude and the interest to learn this one. We can teach fire protection and we’ll pay for your licensing. We can’t teach work ethic, integrity, or how to think clearly under pressure.