Maintenance Manager – Food Manufacturing

Position Summary

Our Client is seeking an experienced Maintenance Manager to lead maintenance operations within a fast-paced food manufacturing environment. This individual will be responsible for managing the maintenance team, preventive maintenance programs, equipment reliability, vendor relationships, departmental budgets, and maintenance-related projects.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on leader who understands manufacturing equipment and can balance day-to-day maintenance needs with long-term reliability and cost-control initiatives. This role will work closely with Production, Engineering, Quality, and outside vendors to minimize downtime and keep the facility operating safely and efficiently.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead, develop, and manage the plant maintenance team, including Maintenance Technicians and other skilled trades personnel.
• Develop, manage, and maintain preventive maintenance (PM) schedules for production machinery, facility equipment, and supporting systems.
• Ensure PMs are completed accurately and on schedule while identifying opportunities to improve equipment reliability.
• Troubleshoot equipment failures and coordinate repairs to minimize production downtime.
• Manage maintenance work orders, priorities, emergency repairs, and planned maintenance activities.
• Review and approve employee timesheets, overtime, scheduling, and labor allocation for the maintenance department.
• Develop and manage the maintenance department budget, including labor, parts, outside services, repairs, and capital expenditures.
• Obtain, review, and compare vendor quotes for equipment repairs, replacement parts, machinery, facility projects, and outside services.
• Manage vendor and contractor relationships, ensuring projects are completed safely, on time, and within budget.
• Assist with the evaluation, purchase, installation, and commissioning of new machinery and production equipment.
• Maintain appropriate spare-parts inventory and work with vendors to control costs and improve parts availability.
• Track equipment downtime, maintenance costs, PM completion, and other key maintenance KPIs.
• Identify recurring equipment issues and implement corrective actions to improve reliability and reduce unplanned downtime.
• Partner with Production to schedule maintenance around manufacturing demands and production schedules.
• Support continuous improvement, equipment upgrades, automation, and facility improvement projects.
• Ensure maintenance activities comply with applicable food safety, GMP, OSHA, and company safety requirements.
• Maintain accurate maintenance records, equipment documentation, service histories, and vendor information.
• Participate in audits and ensure maintenance documentation and facility conditions meet food manufacturing standards.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of industrial maintenance experience within a manufacturing environment.
• Previous maintenance leadership, supervisory, or management experience required.
• Food or beverage manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Experience managing maintenance budgets, vendor quotes, contractors, and equipment-related projects.
• Strong mechanical and electrical troubleshooting knowledge.
• Experience with production machinery, motors, conveyors, pumps, gearboxes, pneumatics, hydraulics, and electrical systems.
• PLC and industrial controls knowledge is highly preferred.
• Experience utilizing a CMMS to manage work orders, PM schedules, equipment history, and maintenance activities.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced production environment.
• Strong leadership, communication, organization, and problem-solving skills.

Preferred Experience

Candidates with experience in high-speed food manufacturing, packaging, processing, bottling, or similar continuous production environments will be highly considered.

Experience working in facilities governed by GMP, HACCP, SQF, FDA, USDA, or other food safety standards is a plus.