Facility & Equipment Maintenance Manager

The Facility & Equipment Maintenance Manager is responsible for leading the plant’s equipment maintenance, facility maintenance, and infrastructure activities to ensure safe, reliable, and efficient manufacturing operations in our Maxton, NC facility. This position provides leadership to the maintenance team while maintaining a strong technical focus on equipment reliability, troubleshooting, facility systems, electrical and controls systems, and continuous improvement.

The ideal candidate will combine strong maintenance leadership and organizational skills with the technical capability to effectively troubleshoot complex manufacturing equipment, support equipment and facility upgrades, and develop the technical capabilities of the maintenance organization.

In this role, you will make an impact in the following ways:  

• Drive Maintenance Strategy & Reliability: Lead preventative and predictive maintenance initiatives by leveraging equipment data, prognostics, and analytics to improve reliability, reduce downtime, and enhance manufacturing performance.
• Lead Capital & Equipment Improvements: Support the selection, procurement, and implementation of manufacturing equipment and technologies that align with operational requirements and long-term business objectives.
• Deliver Project Execution Excellence: Manage maintenance and operational projects by balancing scope, schedule, resources, and stakeholder expectations to achieve sustainable business results.
• Build High-Performing Teams: Develop talent, foster engagement, and create an inclusive environment where team members leverage diverse skills and perspectives to achieve shared objectives.
• Strengthen Cross-Functional Partnerships: Collaborate effectively with operations, engineering, quality, and leadership teams to solve problems, align priorities, and support organizational success.
• Leverage Data for Decision-Making: Utilize data mining, visualization, and analysis techniques to identify trends, uncover opportunities, and support informed operational and maintenance decisions.
• Champion Safety & Compliance: Model proactive health and safety behaviors, identify risks, and promote a culture focused on continuous improvement and an injury-free workplace.
• Communicate & Align Stakeholders: Deliver clear, audience-focused communication while balancing the needs of multiple stakeholders and ensuring alignment with business goals and commitments.

To be successful in this role you will need the following: 

• Prior supervisory or management experience leading a skilled industrial maintenance and/or facilities team.
• Significant experience in industrial maintenance, manufacturing equipment support, or facility operations within a manufacturing or assembly environment.
• Demonstrated experience troubleshooting industrial machinery and manufacturing equipment, with the ability to lead systematic root-cause analysis and develop effective corrective actions for recurring equipment problems.
• Working knowledge of industrial electrical and controls systems, including PLCs, electrical drives/VFDs, motors and motor controls, transformers, switchgear, and industrial electrical distribution systems.
• Experience troubleshooting mechanical, electrical, controls, hydraulic, and pneumatic systems.
• Experience with plant utility and facility systems, including industrial compressed-air systems and air compressors, industrial heating systems, chillers, HVAC, and associated process-cooling equipment.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, control drawings, mechanical drawings, hydraulic and pneumatic diagrams, and equipment technical documentation.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing preventive and corrective maintenance programs with a focus on improving equipment reliability and production uptime.
• Experience establishing, monitoring, and improving maintenance and reliability KPIs, including equipment downtime, equipment availability, MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), MTTR (Mean Time to Repair), preventive-maintenance completion, schedule compliance, and maintenance costs. Ability to use maintenance data and trends to identify chronic equipment issues, prioritize improvement activities, and measure the effectiveness of corrective actions.
• Strong knowledge of industrial safety practices and demonstrated experience with Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) programs, including development and maintenance of equipment-specific energy-control procedures, periodic inspections, employee training, and verification of hazardous-energy isolation.
• Strong knowledge of industrial electrical safety requirements and safe electrical work practices, including NFPA 70E, establishing electrically safe work conditions, shock and arc-flash hazard awareness, appropriate PPE, and energized electrical work controls.
• Working knowledge of applicable regulatory and code requirements affecting industrial maintenance and facility operations, including OSHA requirements, NFPA standards, the National Electrical Code (NEC), environmental requirements, and applicable state and local codes.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain facility and equipment compliance through inspections, preventive maintenance, documentation, corrective actions, contractor management, and coordination with EHS and other plant functions.
• Experience planning, prioritizing, and managing preventive and corrective maintenance activities based on safety, equipment criticality, production requirements, and business impact.
• Ability to effectively manage contractors, equipment suppliers, service providers, and other external technical resources.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook, with the ability to analyze maintenance data, develop reports and presentations, maintain technical documentation, and effectively communicate maintenance performance, project status, and equipment reliability metrics.

• Strong communication, organizational, leadership, and problem-solving skills with the ability to work effectively across maintenance, engineering, production, safety, quality, and other plant functions

  Education, Licenses, Certifications: 
  A STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) or related bachelor degree or higher, required.
  This position may require licensing for compliance with export controls or sanctions regulations. 
  
  Experience: 
  Significant level of relevant work experience, including supervisory and leadership experience, required.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or a related technical discipline. 
• Current North Carolina electrical license.
• Extensive hands-on experience troubleshooting, modifying, and upgrading industrial machinery and automated manufacturing equipment.
• Advanced experience with PLC troubleshooting, programming, controls-system modifications, and integration of automated manufacturing equipment.
• Strong experience with variable-frequency drives, servo drives, motors and motor controls, transformers, switchgear, and industrial power-distribution systems.
• Demonstrated experience planning and executing machine upgrades, equipment retrofits, new equipment installations, and facility infrastructure projects.
• Experience developing scopes of work and managing equipment and facility projects, including budgeting, contractor/vendor selection, installation, commissioning, documentation, and project closeout.
• Advanced troubleshooting and root-cause-analysis skills, with demonstrated ability to resolve complex equipment problems without excessive reliance on component replacement or outside technical support.
• Experience with predictive and condition-based maintenance technologies such as vibration analysis, infrared thermography, oil analysis, ultrasound, and electrical condition monitoring.
• Experience with TPM, Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), Lean Manufacturing, or other structured continuous-improvement methodologies.
• Experience managing capital projects, maintenance budgets, spare-parts/MRO strategies, and outside contractors.
• Experience supporting equipment and facility systems in a medium-sized or larger manufacturing or assembly operation.

Leadership Expectations

The successful candidate will be expected to provide both technical and organizational leadership for the maintenance function. Key expectations include:

• Develop, coach, and mentor maintenance personnel to improve electrical, controls, mechanical, and troubleshooting capabilities across the team.
• Establish clear expectations and accountability for safety, work quality, response time, preventive maintenance, and equipment reliability.
• Build a proactive maintenance culture focused on preventing failures rather than primarily reacting to equipment breakdowns.
• Use downtime data, maintenance history, KPIs, and root-cause analysis to identify chronic equipment issues and prioritize reliability improvements.
• Work closely with production and engineering leadership to coordinate planned maintenance, equipment improvements, installations, and production-support activities.
• Ensure maintenance activities and equipment modifications are completed in accordance with applicable safety requirements, engineering standards, regulatory requirements, and plant procedures.
• Effectively balance internal maintenance resources with contractors and external technical support while developing greater technical capability within the plant maintenance organization.