Director of Engineering and Maintenance

We are seeking an experienced Director of Engineering & Maintenance for a brand new manufacturing plant in the Lexington, KY area. This leadership role will oversee all maintenance, engineering, reliability, utilities, and capital project activities.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on engineering and maintenance leader with mandatory experience in high-speed salty snack manufacturing, including baked and/or fried snack products. This is an exciting opportunity to build a proactive maintenance organization, lead key capital investments, and help shape the future growth of the operation.

Job Responsibilities:

• Provide overall leadership for Maintenance, Engineering, Reliability, Utilities, and Facility Operations.
• Build and develop a high-performing maintenance organization focused on reliability, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Lead, coach, and develop maintenance managers, supervisors, planners, and technicians.
• Drive the transition from reactive maintenance to a proactive, preventive, and predictive maintenance culture.
• Develop and execute preventive and predictive maintenance programs that maximize equipment uptime and asset life.
• Improve equipment reliability, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE), and maintenance performance through data-driven decision making.
• Lead troubleshooting of critical manufacturing equipment and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Develop maintenance KPIs including downtime, PM compliance, MTBF, MTTR, and maintenance costs.
• Lead all capital projects from concept through startup, including equipment selection, budgeting, installation, commissioning, and validation.
• Support new product launches through equipment modifications and process improvements.
• Manage equipment upgrades, line expansions, and manufacturing capacity improvements.
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to ensure projects are delivered safely, on time, and within budget.
• Oversee all facility utility systems including steam, refrigeration, compressed air, nitrogen, electrical distribution, and building infrastructure.
• Ensure utility systems operate safely, efficiently, and reliably to support production requirements.
• Develop long-term facility maintenance strategies supporting future expansion.
• Lead equipment and process improvement initiatives that improve throughput, reduce downtime, and lower operating costs.
• Utilize Lean Manufacturing and Root Cause Analysis methodologies to eliminate recurring equipment failures.
• Develop engineering standards, maintenance procedures, and equipment documentation to support sustainable performance.
• Ensure all engineering and maintenance activities comply with USDA, FDA, GMP, OSHA, and company food safety requirements.
• Support internal and external audits while maintaining safe, compliant manufacturing operations.

Required Skills/Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, or related technical discipline preferred.
• 7 years of progressive engineering and maintenance leadership experience within food manufacturing.
• Previous leadership experience overseeing maintenance, engineering, reliability, and capital projects.
• Required experience in salty snacks, chips, pretzels, crackers, or similar baked and/or fried snack manufacturing.
• Strong knowledge of preventive maintenance, reliability engineering, utilities, and facility infrastructure.
• Demonstrated experience leading capital equipment installations, manufacturing expansions, and startup activities.
• Experience managing maintenance teams in high-speed automated manufacturing environments.
• Strong understanding of mechanical systems, packaging equipment, conveyors, ovens, fryers, seasoning systems, and processing equipment.
• Excellent leadership, communication, project management, and problem-solving skills.
• Experience supporting high-speed snack manufacturing equipment including Bartelt pouching equipment, Ishida scales and baggers, Triangle bagging systems, seasoning systems, X-ray inspection, conveyors, and related packaging automation.
• Experience managing utility systems including steam, refrigeration, compressed air, nitrogen, and facility infrastructure.
• Experience leading facility expansions and startup operations.
• Experience implementing CMMS systems and world-class preventive maintenance programs.
• Experience building engineering and maintenance organizations within high-growth manufacturing environments.
• Proven success developing teams while improving equipment reliability and operational performance.