We are seeking an experienced Director of Engineering & Maintenance for a growing food manufacturer in the Eastern Lexington area. This leadership role will oversee all maintenance, engineering, reliability, utilities, and capital project activities while supporting an expanding manufacturing facility with new production lines and increased capacity. The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineering and maintenance leader with mandatory experience in high-speed salty snack manufacturing, including baked and/or fried snack products. This is an exciting opportunity to build a proactive maintenance organization, lead key capital investments, and help shape the future growth of the operation.
Job Responsibilities:
● Provide overall leadership for Maintenance, Engineering, Reliability, Utilities, and Facility Operations.
● Build and develop a high-performing maintenance organization focused on reliability, accountability, and continuous improvement.
● Lead, coach, and develop maintenance managers, supervisors, planners, and technicians.
● Drive the transition from reactive maintenance to a proactive, preventive, and predictive maintenance culture.
● Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance programs that maximize equipment uptime and asset life.
● Improve equipment reliability, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and maintenance performance through data-driven decision making.
● Lead troubleshooting of critical manufacturing equipment and implement permanent corrective actions.
● Develop maintenance KPIs including downtime, PM compliance, MTBF, MTTR, and maintenance costs.
● Lead all capital projects from concept through startup, including equipment selection, budgeting, installation, commissioning, and validation.
● Support new product launches through equipment modifications and process improvements.
● Manage equipment upgrades, line expansions, and manufacturing capacity improvements.
● Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure projects are delivered safely, on time, and within budget.
● Oversee all facility utility systems including steam, refrigeration, compressed air, nitrogen, electrical distribution, and building infrastructure.
● Ensure utility systems operate safely, efficiently, and reliably to support production requirements.
● Develop long-term facility maintenance strategies supporting future expansion.
● Lead equipment and process improvement initiatives that improve throughput, reduce downtime, and lower operating costs.
● Utilize Lean Manufacturing and Root Cause Analysis methodologies to eliminate recurring equipment failures.
● Develop engineering standards, maintenance procedures, and equipment documentation to support sustainable performance.
● Ensure all engineering and maintenance activities comply with USDA, FDA, GMP, OSHA, and company food safety requirements.
● Support internal and external audits while maintaining safe, compliant manufacturing operations.
Required Skills/Qualifications:
· Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related technical discipline preferred.
· 10+ years of progressive engineering and maintenance leadership experience within food manufacturing.
· Previous leadership experience overseeing maintenance, engineering, reliability, and capital projects.
· Required experience in salty snacks, chips, pretzels, crackers, or similar baked and/or fried snack manufacturing.
· Strong knowledge of preventive maintenance, reliability engineering, utilities, and facility infrastructure.
· Demonstrated experience leading capital equipment installations, manufacturing expansions, and startup activities.
· Experience managing maintenance teams in high-speed automated manufacturing environments.
· Strong understanding of mechanical systems, packaging equipment, conveyors, ovens, fryers, seasoning systems, and processing equipment.
· Excellent leadership, communication, project management, and problem-solving skills.
- Experience supporting high-speed snack manufacturing equipment including Bartelt pouching equipment, Ishida scales and baggers, Triangle bagging systems, seasoning systems, X-ray inspection, conveyors, and related packaging automation.
- Experience managing utility systems including steam, refrigeration, compressed air, nitrogen, and facility infrastructure.
- Experience leading facility expansions and startup operations.
- Experience implementing CMMS systems and world-class preventive maintenance programs.
- Experience building engineering and maintenance organizations within high-growth manufacturing environments.
- Proven success developing teams while improving equipment reliability and operational performance.
Pay: $150,000.00 - $190,000.00 per year
Benefits:
Work Location: In person
