Company Overview
A privately held, family-owned wood products manufacturer with approximately 225 employees across all functions. The business operates a primary manufacturing facility, a smaller secondary production facility with approximately 125 employees in production.
Job Overview
This is a high-impact leadership role created to own the full maintenance and reliability function across all facilities and equipment. The right person will transform a currently reactive maintenance culture into a planned, predictive, and accountable one by reducing unplanned downtime, extending asset life, and freeing executive leadership to focus on strategic growth.
We are seeking a dynamic and experienced Senior Manager of Maintenance & Engineering to lead our maintenance operations and engineering initiatives. This pivotal role involves overseeing all facets of industrial maintenance, facilities management, and engineering projects to ensure optimal equipment performance, safety, and efficiency across our manufacturing facilities. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong leadership, technical expertise, and a proactive approach to continuous improvement.
Responsibilities
Technical Leadership & Problem Solving
- Serve as the technical authority on complex electrical, PLC, mechanical & boiler maintenance issues across all production equipment
- Lead or facilitate root cause analysis (RCA) on critical failures — do not accept symptom-level explanations
- Develop technical standards, repair specifications, and approved methods for recurring failure modes
- Evaluate and challenge findings presented by technicians; distinguish between thorough diagnosis and convenient narratives
- Oversee or participate in major repairs, retrofits, and equipment modifications
- Maintain a free incident work environment among maintenance technicians
Planning, Systems & CMMS
- Own the CMMS platform end-to-end: data integrity, PM scheduling, work order discipline, parts inventory management
- Build and enforce a preventive and predictive maintenance program across all assets
- Drive the Maintenance Planner to full effectiveness — establish authority, accountability, and organizational follow-through
- Create scheduling cadences that reduce reactive firefighting and increase planned work ratios
- Establish and report on leading and lagging maintenance KPIs (OEE, planned vs. reactive ratio)
- Prioritize critical asset repairs, critical spare parts identification and effective follow up
Team Development & Accountability
- Lead, coach, and develop the Maintenance Manager, Maintenance Planner, and skilled technicians. Interview & hire new technicians as necessary.
- Establish clear performance expectations, accountability structures, and skill development plans
- Address the leadership gap in the Maintenance Manager role through direct coaching and structured delegation
- Build a culture where problems surface early, root causes are pursued, and results are owned
- Oversee & support the smaller secondary manufacturing facility, and the heavy equipment and truck shop team (1 technician + helper)
- Efficient management of the maintenance staff overtime
Capital & Asset Strategy
- Lead the development of a multi-year capital plan for aging and critical equipment
- Provide technical justification for repair vs. replace decisions
- Partner with the Plant Manager on production capacity and up-time requirements
- Manage maintenance and CapEx budgets with full accountability for outcomes
Required Skills
- Proven management experience leading maintenance or engineering teams within manufacturing or industrial environments; Proven track record developing frontline maintenance leaders and technicians, not just managing.
- Strong mechanical knowledge with the ability to read schematics and technical diagrams.
- Extensive experience with programmable logic controllers (PLCs), CMMS software, and industrial automation systems.
- Skilled in supervising complex projects from planning through execution with excellent project management capabilities.
- Fluency in English with effective communication skills for team leadership and cross-department collaboration.
- Demonstrated supervisory experience with a focus on safety protocols, troubleshooting electrical/mechanical issues, and implementing maintenance strategies. Join us as we continue to innovate in veneer manufacturing by maintaining top-tier equipment performance through expert leadership in maintenance & engineering!
- Hands-on background in industrial electrical and/or PLC troubleshooting — you can read a ladder diagram, trace a fault, and challenge a technician's diagnosis with your own informed questions
- Mechanical engineering intuition: ability to evaluate critical tolerances, failure mechanisms, and repair specifications on industrial machinery
- Demonstrated experience leading a strong maintenance culture or transformation: taking a reactive maintenance culture to a planned/predictive model
- Experience building or rebuilding a PM/CMMS program from the ground up.
Strongly Preferred
- Background in wood products, paper mill, or heavy industrial & continuous process manufacturing
- Formal reliability engineering training or certification (CMRP, CRE, or equivalent)
- Capital project management experience, and budgeting.
- Someone hands on and can handle a breakdown as well as work side by side with other maintenance team members.
Pay: From $125,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid time off
- Vision insurance
Experience:
- Industrial maintenance: 3 years (Preferred)
- Maintenance management: 3 years (Preferred)
- CMMS: 2 years (Preferred)
- Programmable logic controllers: 3 years (Preferred)
Work Location: In person
