Senior Maintenance Manager - Food

We are seeking a Senior Maintenance Manager to lead the maintenance and reliability function at a highly automated food manufacturing facility operating 24/7. This role is responsible for ensuring maximum equipment reliability, minimizing downtime, and leading a skilled maintenance team across multiple shifts.

The position will play a key role in developing preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, driving continuous improvement, and supporting operational excellence in a fast-paced production environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the maintenance and engineering teams across a 24/7 operation within a ~250+ employee facility.

• Ensure high equipment reliability and uptime across automated processing and packaging lines.

• Implement and manage preventive and predictive maintenance programs to reduce downtime and improve asset life.

• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) and corrective actions following equipment failures or production disruptions.

• Manage and prioritize maintenance planning and scheduling to support production targets.

• Lead continuous improvement and reliability initiatives to improve OEE and plant performance.

• Oversee capital projects, equipment upgrades, and automation improvements in partnership with engineering and operations teams.

• Manage maintenance budgets, spare parts inventory, and contractor relationships.

• Ensure all maintenance activities comply with food safety, quality, and safety standards.

• Partner closely with Operations, Quality, and Engineering to support production goals and plant performance.

Requirements

• 10+ years of experience in maintenance leadership within food, beverage, dairy, or high-speed manufacturing.

• Proven experience managing maintenance teams in a 24/7 production environment.

• Strong knowledge of automated processing and packaging equipment.

• Experience implementing preventive/predictive maintenance programs and reliability strategies.

• Demonstrated ability to lead teams, develop talent, and drive performance improvements.

• Experience working with CMMS systems, TPM, and continuous improvement methodologies.

• Strong troubleshooting, problem-solving, and leadership skills.