Job Title: Maintenance Engineer
Location: Belton, SC
Reports to: Manufacturing Engineering Manager
Employment Type: Full-time
Seniority Level: Mid to Senior Level
Industry: Manufacturing | Industrial Maintenance | Reliability Engineering
Job Function: Facilities Management | Maintenance | Reliability | Engineering
Job Summary: The Maintenance Engineer serves as the plant's technical expert for equipment reliability, advanced troubleshooting, maintenance strategy, and manufacturing support. This role is responsible for improving equipment uptime, reducing operational risk, developing maintenance standards, and leading resolution of complex equipment issues across the facility.
The ideal candidate possesses a broad technical background spanning mechanical systems, electrical systems, controls, automation, hydraulics, pneumatics, CNC equipment, and industrial reliability practices. This individual will play a critical role in preserving and expanding organizational knowledge while driving continuous improvement across maintenance and manufacturing operations.
Key Responsibilities:
Equipment Reliability & Technical Leadership
- Serve as the primary technical resource for complex equipment-related issues.
- Lead troubleshooting efforts for chronic and high-impact equipment failures.
- Analyze downtime trends and identify opportunities to improve reliability and maintainability.
- Develop and implement permanent corrective actions through structured root cause analysis.
- Support the development of maintenance standards, procedures, and best practices.
Advanced Troubleshooting & Maintenance Support
- Diagnose and resolve complex mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, servo, and controls-related failures.
- Provide escalation support for maintenance technicians during major equipment breakdowns.
- Work directly with OEMs, contractors, and suppliers to resolve technical issues.
- Support emergency response activities related to critical production equipment.
- Assist in rebuilding, upgrading, and modernizing existing equipment.
Automation & Controls Support
- Support PLC, HMI, VFD, servo, robotics, and industrial communication systems.
- Assist with integration, commissioning, and startup of new equipment and automation systems.
- Maintain technical documentation, backups, and change records for critical equipment.
- Identify automation opportunities that improve reliability, safety, and productivity.
Reliability Engineering
- Lead root cause investigations using methodologies such as 5-Why, Fishbone, FMEA, and A3 Formatting.
- Develop and optimize preventive and predictive maintenance strategies.
- Support TPM, precision maintenance, lubrication excellence, and condition monitoring initiatives.
- Establish equipment criticality rankings and maintenance plans based on business risk.
Capital Projects & Continuous Improvement
- Support equipment selection, installation, commissioning, and acceptance activities.
- Develop technical scopes of work and provide engineering support for capital projects.
- Assist in the preparation of Capital Authorization Requests (CARs) and business justifications.
- Identify cost reduction, productivity improvement, and reliability improvement opportunities.
Knowledge Transfer & Workforce Development
- Mentor and develop maintenance technicians, engineers, and supervisors.
- Create troubleshooting guides, training materials, SOPs, and maintenance documentation.
- Capture and standardize critical technical knowledge to reduce dependence on single-person expertise.
- Support development of future technical leaders within the organization.
Safety & Compliance
- Promote and maintain a strong safety culture.
- Ensure compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and company standards.
- Support facility, environmental, and safety improvement initiatives.
- Participate in risk assessments and equipment safety reviews.
People, Leadership & Development
- Mentor and develop maintenance technicians, engineers, and supervisors.
- Support development of future technical leaders within the organization.
- Capture and standardize critical technical knowledge to reduce dependence on single-person expertise.
- Foster cross-functional collaboration and continuous improvement across maintenance and manufacturing operations.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mechatronics, Industrial Technology, or a related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
- Minimum 5 years of industrial maintenance, reliability engineering, manufacturing engineering, or related experience.
- Demonstrated expertise troubleshooting complex manufacturing equipment and systems.
- Strong understanding of:
o Mechanical systems
o Electrical systems
o Hydraulics and pneumatics
o Industrial automation
o Machine controls
- Ability to read and interpret:
o Electrical schematics
o Mechanical drawings
o Hydraulic diagrams
o Pneumatic schematics
o Technical manuals
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience supporting CNC machining centers, lathes, grinders, and automated manufacturing equipment.
- Experience with cobot and industrial robotic systems such as ABB, Fanuc, or UR.
- PLC programming and troubleshooting experience.
- Experience with CMMS systems and maintenance planning.
- Reliability certifications such as:
o CMRP
o CMRT
o CRL
o CMCP
- Lean Manufacturing, TPM, and Continuous Improvement experience.
- Project management and capital equipment implementation experience.
Physical Requirements:
- Extended periods of standing, walking, and working within a manufacturing environment.
- Ability to inspect, troubleshoot, and interact with industrial equipment.
- Ability to communicate verbally and in writing for extended periods.
- Ability to reach, grasp, climb, and safely access equipment when required.
- Ability to respond to emergency equipment situations and support production operations.
Essential Job Functions:
- Serve as the plant's primary technical expert for equipment reliability and maintenance strategy.
- Lead troubleshooting efforts for complex and high-impact equipment failures.
- Develop and implement maintenance standards, procedures, and reliability best practices.
- Support PLC, HMI, VFD, servo, robotics, and industrial communication systems.
- Lead root cause investigations and develop corrective actions.
- Optimize preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
- Support capital project planning, installation, commissioning, and startup activities.
- Develop technical documentation, SOPs, troubleshooting guides, and training materials.
- Mentor maintenance technicians, engineers, and supervisors.
- Promote compliance with safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
- Identify and implement opportunities for cost reduction, reliability improvement, and productivity gains.
Why Join Us?
This position offers a unique opportunity to become the technical cornerstone of a manufacturing operation committed to continual improvement, reliability excellence, automation, and operational performance. The successful candidate will have significant influence on equipment strategy, maintenance effectiveness, workforce development, and future technology implementation.
Equal Opportunity Employer
This employer is required to notify all applicants of their rights pursuant to federal employment laws. For further information, please review the Know Your Rights (https://www.eeoc.gov/poster) notice from the Department of Labor.
