Maintenance Superintendent - 1st shift - Protein

The Opportunity

We are recruiting on behalf of a leading protein manufacturer for a Maintenance Superintendent to oversee maintenance operations at a large-scale pork processing facility.

This is a high-impact leadership position responsible for driving maintenance strategy, asset reliability, workforce development, and operational performance across a complex manufacturing environment. The successful candidate will lead maintenance teams, partner with plant leadership, and play a critical role in maximizing equipment uptime, controlling costs, and supporting long-term operational excellence.

The Role

As Maintenance Superintendent, you will provide leadership and direction for all maintenance and reliability activities across the facility. You will be responsible for developing maintenance strategies, improving asset performance, managing departmental budgets, and ensuring engineering resources are aligned with production objectives.

Working closely with Operations, FSQA, Safety, and Plant Leadership, you will drive a proactive maintenance culture focused on reliability, continuous improvement, and employee development.

Key Responsibilities

Maintenance & Reliability Leadership

• Lead all maintenance and reliability activities across the facility.
• Develop and execute maintenance strategies that improve equipment performance, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Drive preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered maintenance programs.
• Ensure effective planning and scheduling of maintenance activities to maximize asset utilization and minimize downtime.
• Lead root cause failure analysis efforts and implement sustainable corrective actions.

Operational Excellence

• Partner with operations leadership to achieve production, efficiency, and cost targets.
• Support critical processing, packaging, refrigeration, utilities, wastewater, and facility systems.
• Monitor maintenance performance metrics and implement action plans to improve results.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on reliability, productivity, and asset performance.

Financial Management

• Manage departmental budgets, labor costs, maintenance spend, and contractor expenditures.
• Identify and implement cost-saving opportunities without compromising safety, food safety, or operational performance.
• Support capital planning and execution for equipment upgrades, replacements, and facility improvements.
• Ensure responsible management of maintenance inventory and spare parts programs.

Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop supervisors, planners, and maintenance technicians.
• Build a high-performance culture focused on accountability, engagement, and continuous learning.
• Support succession planning and workforce development initiatives.
• Ensure staffing levels and technical capabilities align with operational requirements.

Safety, Compliance & Food Safety

• Champion a world-class safety culture throughout the maintenance organization.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory, environmental, and food safety requirements.
• Maintain engineering standards that support GMPs, sanitation requirements, and audit readiness.
• Support internal, customer, and regulatory audits as required.

Strategic Asset Management

• Develop long-term reliability and asset management plans.
• Drive modernization initiatives and implementation of maintenance technologies.
• Utilize CMMS data, reliability metrics, and predictive analytics to improve decision-making.
• Support the development and execution of capital projects that enhance plant performance and reliability.

About You

• 8+ years of progressive maintenance leadership experience within food manufacturing, protein processing, meat processing, or a related manufacturing environment.
• Previous experience leading maintenance teams in a large-scale manufacturing operation.
• Strong background in maintenance planning, reliability engineering, and asset management.
• Demonstrated success improving equipment reliability, reducing downtime, and controlling maintenance costs.
• Experience managing budgets, capital projects, and contractor relationships.
• Strong understanding of electrical, mechanical, utilities, refrigeration, and processing systems.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Technology, or a related field preferred.