Reliability Engineer - Stuffers & Clippers

Serve as the Equipment Subject Matter Expert (SME) across all processing plants. Ensure reliability, maintenance, and operational efficiency of processing equipment along with maintaining equipment and parts availability.

Essential Functions:

• Oversee and manage preventive maintenance programs for processing equipment to optimize uptime and performance.
• Ensure equipment availability meets Operational Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metrics, striving for consistent improvement in year-over-year key performance indicators (KPI’s).
• Develop and conduct training sessions for local plant maintenance personnel on equipment operation, maintenance procedures, and best practices.
• Equip maintenance teams with the necessary tools and knowledge for efficient equipment management and troubleshooting.
• Identify and source alternate equipment spare parts to ensure minimal downtime and efficient repairs.
• Maintain an adequate inventory of critical spare parts, ensuring local and national availability to support prompt maintenance actions.
• Perform downtime analysis.  Monitor and analyze equipment downtime trends, initiating root cause analysis for any downtime exceeding 30 minutes within an 8-hour shift.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement corrective actions and preventive measures based on findings.
• Ensure all equipment achieves a first pass quality metric rating of greater than 99.5%, implementing improvements as necessary to meet quality standards.
• Act as the primary SME for one or more equipment groupings, including but not limited to injection, massage, rollstock, trim, smoke house, cook tanks, Cryovac vacuum packaging, high-pressure processing, pasteurizing, and robotic boxing and palletizing.
• Travel up to 50% of the time.
• Perform other duties as necessary.

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Mechanical, or related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of experience in reliability engineering or maintenance management within the food processing or manufacturing industry.
• Deep understanding of meat processing equipment and related technologies.
• Proven track record in preventive maintenance, equipment reliability, and root cause analysis.
• Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with diverse teams across multiple locations.

Language Skills:

Exceptional communication skills (oral and written), with the ability to articulate complex ideas clearly and concisely across different levels and functions of the organization.

Mathematical Skills:

Must have basic math skills and the ability to perform calculations of formulations, ingredients, yields, man-hours, etc.

Must be able to create, read, and analyze charts, graphs, and logs.

Reasoning Ability:

Highly analytical with superior problem-solving abilities, skilled in making data-driven decisions.

Certificates, Licenses, and Registration:

Certifications in lean manufacturing, such as but not limited to Lean Six Sigma, Lean Management, Lean Principles, Leader Standard Work (LSW), and Lean Production, are helpful.

Physical Demands:

Must be able to lift overhead up to 30 pounds

Must be able to stand and/or walk for extended periods of time, in a refrigerated environment as well as in cooking areas.

Work Environment:

Must be able to work in a refrigerated or cooking environment

Must be able to work in a meat-processing environment