POSITION SUMMARY
The Maintenance Manager will have full accountability for all maintenance operations across the facility — leading a team of mechanics, electricians, and maintenance technicians across all shifts. The full maintenance scope spans mechanical forging presses, trim presses, heat treat furnaces, shot blast systems, billet saws, overhead cranes, and all plant infrastructure. This is a hands-on leadership role with direct involvement on the production floor, driving a proactive maintenance culture and delivering measurable results in uptime, safety, and cost.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Mechanical Press Maintenance — Primary Focus
- Own the reliability and uptime of the facility's mechanical forging press fleet — including eccentric shaft presses, connecting rods, clutch and brake systems, counterbalances, flywheels, and associated drive systems
- Develop and enforce preventive and predictive maintenance programs specific to large mechanical forging presses — including vibration analysis, oil analysis, thermography, and periodic inspection protocols
- Direct troubleshooting and repair of press mechanical failures — diagnose root causes, direct corrective actions, and implement permanent fixes to prevent recurrence
- Manage press clutch and brake systems — inspection, adjustment, lining replacement, and performance monitoring
- Oversee press die change and setup operations from a maintenance perspective — lubrication systems, die cooling, bolster maintenance, and knockout systems
- Coordinate and manage planned press overhauls and shutdowns — define scope, schedule contractors, sequence work, and ensure quality completion within budget
Electrical & Controls Maintenance
- Maintain and troubleshoot electrical systems throughout the facility — motor controls, PLC systems (Allen-Bradley preferred), VFDs, press electrical interlocks, and HMI interfaces
- Oversee maintenance of press programmable controls, automation interfaces, and monitoring systems
- Manage electrical panel maintenance, power distribution systems, and facility electrical infrastructure
- Ensure all electrical work meets NFPA 70E arc flash and electrical safety requirements
Hydraulic & Pneumatic Systems
- Maintain hydraulic systems throughout the facility — hydraulic power units, cylinders, valves, and piping on presses, trim equipment, and auxiliary systems
- Manage pneumatic systems including air compressors, dryers, distribution, and press pneumatic circuits
- Develop hydraulic oil analysis and fluid management programs to extend component life and prevent failures
Facilities, Cranes & Infrastructure
- Oversee maintenance of overhead cranes, hoists, and lifting equipment — coordinate inspections, certifications, and repairs
- Manage in-house heat treat furnace maintenance — multiple gas-fired batch furnaces used for normalizing, annealing, and stress relieving of carbon and alloy steel forgings; includes burner systems, temperature controllers, thermocouples, atmosphere controls, refractory, and quench systems
- Ensure heat treat equipment is maintained to AMS2750 pyrometry requirements — coordinate TUS and SAT testing schedules, thermocouple replacement, and calibration records
- Maintain facility electrical, HVAC, compressed air, and utility systems
- Oversee maintenance of shot blast systems — blast wheels, liners, media handling, dust collection, and conveyor systems used to clean and condition forged surfaces post-heat treat
- Maintain billet saw equipment — band saws or cold saws used to cut steel bar stock to billet prior to forging; includes blade management, coolant systems, and measurement systems
- Manage facilities projects including building maintenance, lighting, compressed air, and infrastructure improvements
Team Leadership & Administration
- Lead, develop, and schedule a maintenance team of mechanics and electricians across all shifts — manage hiring, performance reviews, and skills development
- Implement and administer a CMMS system — manage work orders, PM schedules, parts inventory, and maintenance KPI reporting
- Develop and manage the annual maintenance budget — labor, parts, outside services, and capital repairs
- Manage parts and MRO inventory — establish min/max levels, preferred vendors, and critical spare parts program for press components
- Coordinate outside contractors for specialized repairs, overhauls, and capital projects
- Champion LOTO compliance across all maintenance activities — develop and maintain LOTO procedures for all equipment
- Participate in safety investigations, root cause analysis, and corrective action implementation for maintenance-related incidents
- Report maintenance KPIs to plant leadership — uptime, MTBF, MTTR, PM compliance, and maintenance cost per unit
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- 7+ years of industrial maintenance experience — with at least 3 years in a maintenance supervisory or management role
- Direct experience maintaining large mechanical forging presses is strongly preferred — eccentric/crank presses, clutch and brake systems, flywheel drives, and press drive trains
- Strong working knowledge of industrial electrical systems, PLC troubleshooting (Allen-Bradley preferred), and motor controls
- Hands-on hydraulic and pneumatic systems experience — troubleshooting, repair, and system design
- Demonstrated ability to lead and develop a skilled maintenance team across multiple shifts
- Experience with CMMS systems — work order management, PM scheduling, and maintenance reporting
- LOTO program ownership and NFPA 70E electrical safety compliance experience
- Proven ability to manage a maintenance budget, control costs, and justify capital maintenance expenditures
Preferred
- Direct forging industry maintenance experience — familiarity with the demands of press-intensive, high-energy forging operations
- Experience with forging press OEMs such as Ajax, Bliss, Erie, National, Sumitomo, or Schuler
- Overhead crane maintenance and inspection oversight experience
- Heat treat furnace maintenance experience
- Journeyman-level electrical or millwright background with subsequent move into management
- Experience with predictive maintenance technologies — vibration analysis, thermography, or oil analysis programs
- Heat treat furnace maintenance experience — gas-fired batch furnaces, temperature controllers, pyrometry compliance (AMS2750)
- Shot blast system maintenance experience — blast wheel, liner, and media system upkeep
