What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Maintenance Engineering position at Leadman & Associates?
Leadman & Associates is recruiting for a Director of Maintenance Engineering role for a maintenance-focused leader with deep experience in Food & Beverage manufacturing. This position is ideal for someone who excels at driving reliability, uptime, and long-term asset performance in a complex production environment through strong leadership, systems, and strategy.
While the title includes engineering, the core focus of this role is maintenance leadership, not day-to-day execution. You will lead and align Maintenance, Engineering, and Facilities teams, serving as the strategic owner of site reliability and long-term asset health.
You will own the maintenance vision for the site and partner closely with Operations to ensure safety, reliability, and capital planning support overall business objectives.
Why You Should Consider This Role
- Clear succession path into the Site Director role in 3-5 years
- Opportunity to own and elevate maintenance strategy at a large Food & Beverage manufacturing site
- Strong visibility and partnership with Operations and site leadership
- Ability to influence capital planning, reliability programs, and asset lifecycle strategy
- True leadership role with accountability and autonomy, not micromanagement
- Monday–Friday schedule with pre-planned project work (no constant firefighting)
- Extended time off, including a multi-week holiday shutdown, rare in manufacturing
- Robust time-off program, rare for manufacturing leadership roles:
- 15 paid holidays annually
- 23 PTO days per year for Directors (with additional accrual at long-term service milestones)
- High six figure salary, 25% annual bonus, LTI eligibility, 401K match - and the list goes on
In This Role, You Will
- Lead all maintenance, engineering, facilities, reliability, and site-based capital activities
- Set and execute a comprehensive preventive and predictive maintenance strategy
- Drive measurable improvements in equipment reliability, uptime, and maintenance KPIs
- Unify Maintenance, Engineering, and Facilities into a cohesive, high-performing organization
- Own maintenance and capital budgets, ensuring effective spend and ROI
- Lead site-level capital projects from concept through execution, delivering on time and on budget
- Build, coach, and develop strong leaders and frontline teams
- Ensure compliance with OSHA, safety, and regulatory requirements
- Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, and external vendors
- Drive a continuous improvement culture using Lean manufacturing principles
- Manage vendor and contractor relationships
- Support ISO and safety management systems, including audits and corrective actions
What You Bring to the Table
- 8 years of leadership experience in maintenance and/or engineering within Food & Beverage manufacturing
- Proven success leading maintenance transformation and reliability initiatives
- Strong background in preventive and predictive maintenance programs
- Experience managing capital projects and asset reliability strategies
- Demonstrated ability to lead teams in unionized production environments
- Solid understanding of Lean manufacturing and continuous improvement
- Working knowledge of CMMS, production systems, and project management tools
- Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline required - Mechanical, Electrical, or Chemical Engineering preferred
Why This Role Stands Out
This is not a “keep the lights on” role. It’s a chance to set the direction, raise standards, and build a sustainable maintenance culture that supports long-term operational excellence. The right leader will bring structure, discipline, and strategic thinking while remaining connected to the realities of the production floor.
Apply today to learn more.
*Must be a U.S. Citizen