Maintenance Planner

Title: Maintenance Planner

Location: PVOH

Who we are:

Voted one of the Nation's Best and Brightest Companies to Work for, Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) is a global leader in specialty chemical, fiber, and resin production. With top-of-the-line research and production facilities and a vast network of supplies from around the world, Kuraray leads the industry in specialty dental, fiber, resin, and elastomer products. Kuraray America is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuraray Company, Ltd. Based in Tokyo, Japan. Kuraray has operations in 32 countries and employs more than 12,000 employees, including over 800 in the United States.

Why Kuraray:

Kuraray is building a better tomorrow, today. Our team members are dedicated to expanding our business with committed professionals who share essential values such as integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability.

As a part of Kuraray America, Inc., our team shares the advantages of working for the leader in specialty chemicals, resins, and fibers. Our international presence and resources allow us to be a world-leading innovator in the industries we service. Yet, despite our size, our people are more than just a number. As a new team member, you can expect to earn responsibility quickly. Our commitment to our people is visible in our comprehensive benefits package. As a Kuraray team member, you will have the opportunity to enjoy competitive salaries and benefits, incentive opportunities, and an excellent work environment.

Position Summary:

The Maintenance Planner is responsible for planning and coordinating maintenance work to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable plant operations. This role interfaces closely with Production, Maintenance, Engineering, Reliability, HSE, and external contractors to prepare detailed job plans and schedules that support predictive, preventive, condition‑based, and corrective maintenance activities, plant transitions, outages, and turnarounds.

The Maintenance Planner is a key member of the Planning & Scheduling Team and reports directly to the Maintenance Manager.

Responsibilities:

Safety & Compliance

• Perform all duties in compliance with Kuraray America, Inc. (KAI) safety policies, procedures, and Leadership expectations.
• Ensure maintenance work plans align with HSE requirements, regulatory codes, and internal operational standards.
• Identify and escalate noncompliance or risks and support corrective actions as needed.

Maintenance Planning & Scheduling

• Plan maintenance activities to meet Predictive, Preventive, and Condition‑Based Maintenance (CBM) requirements in alignment with production and operational plans.
• Review, validate, and clarify work requests to ensure accuracy, completeness, and appropriate prioritization.
• Conduct field walk‑downs to verify job scope, resource needs, safety requirements, and execution feasibility.
• Develop detailed job plans and work packages, including labor estimates, materials, tools, equipment, permits, and external services.
• Define scopes of work for contractors and support cost estimating and budget approval processes.
• Initiate procurement of materials and services and track availability to support schedule execution.
• Responsible for planning work scopes related to fixed and rotating equipment.

Work Order & Schedule Support

• Support the creation of daily, weekly, monthly, and rolling three‑week maintenance schedules, including production transitions and planned outages.
• Organize planned work to minimize equipment downtime and maximize safe, efficient use of resources.
• Identify schedule constraints, risks, trends, or gaps and recommend corrective actions to leadership.

Systems, Reporting & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor compliance with maintenance task completion and advise Maintenance, Production, and HSE teams of issues impacting program effectiveness.
• Analyze work order feedback and maintenance history to assess effectiveness and support continuous improvement.
• Maintain accurate asset, maintenance history, and service data within SAP.
• Report maintenance plan performance, workload, and effectiveness at daily and weekly planning meetings using data summaries and visual reporting tools.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives related to planning, scheduling, and maintenance execution processes.

Outages & Turnarounds

• Support planning and scheduling of outages, statutory inspections, overhauls, and turnarounds.
• Coordinate resources and job sequencing to meet cost, schedule, quality, and safety objectives.

Additional Duties

• Complete other duties and special projects as assigned by the Maintenance Manager.

Minimum Qualifications:

• High school diploma or GED.
• Minimum 3 years of maintenance planning experience in a multi‑discipline process or manufacturing environment.
• Proficient user of SAP Preventive Maintenance (PM) and SAP Material Management (MM) modules.
• Strong ability to develop detailed maintenance plans and schedules for internal resources and external contractors.
• Proven problem‑solving skills with the ability to effectively coordinate job requirements across maintenance, production, and support functions.
• Ability to define and articulate work order scope and plans; schedule work, set priorities, establish goals, and meet target dates.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills with a strong commitment to teamwork and collaboration.
• Ability to perform effectively under pressure while maintaining high standards of customer service, confidentiality, ethical behavior, and continuous improvement.
• Valid driver license

Competencies:

• Customer Focus
  • Building strong customer relationships and delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Business Insight
  • Applying knowledge of business and the marketplace to advance the organization's goals.
• Cultivates Innovation
  • Creating new and better ways for the organization to be successful.

• Action Oriented
  • Taking on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Ensures Accountability
  • Holding self and others accountable to meet commitments.
• Drives Results
  • Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstance
• Collaborates
  • Building partnerships and working collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives.
• Values Difference
  • Recognizing the value that different perspectives and cultures bring to an organization
• Communicates Effectively
  • Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Courage
  • Stepping up to address difficult issues, saying what needs to be said.
• Instills Trust
  • Gaining the confidence and trust of others through honesty, integrity, and authenticity.
• Situational Adaptability
  • Adapting approach and demeanor in real time to match the shifting demands of different situations.

We offer a competitive compensation package that includes base pay and an annual incentive. This program is designed to reward individual performance and align overall rewards with corporate and team performance.

Our employees benefit from a robust healthcare package that includes wellness reimbursements, along with generous perks such as three weeks of paid time off, ten company holidays, paid parental leave, education reimbursement, and a matching 401k plan, among other offerings.

Applicants must be authorized to work for ANY employer in the U.S.

Learn more at kuraray.us.com/careers/

Kuraray America, Inc. is an Equal Employment Opportunity/disability/protected veteran status

No third-party candidates accepted.