Maintenance Manager

Title: Maintenance Manager (Manufacturing)
Location: Chicago, IL
Hire Type: Perm Position
Shift : Day shift, with flexibility for supporting off shift teams 
Compensation: $120-130k
Bonus/ Incentives/ Stock Options: Annual Bonus potential
Benefits: Medical, Dental, Vision, 401k
Must have Skill Set: 

• Bilingual English/Spanish – Must be comfortable communicating with a predominantly Spanish-speaking workforce.
• Food Manufacturing Maintenance – 4–5+ years of maintenance experience within food manufacturing; bakery, cooking, or heated environments preferred.
• Preventive Maintenance & Reliability – Proven experience building, managing, and improving PM programs, work orders, SOPs, and equipment reliability.
• Maintenance Leadership – Experience leading supervisors/technicians with a strong focus on safety, efficiency, budgeting, and hands-on problem solving.

Overview:

Job Duties: 

• Lead the overall maintenance function, including preventive maintenance, repairs, fabrication, equipment installation, modifications, and facility support.
• Manage and continuously improve the facility's preventive maintenance program, including schedules, procedures, labor requirements, materials, and documentation.
• Lead and develop a team of 3–6 maintenance supervisors and approximately 12 technicians, providing coaching, training, and technical guidance.
• Plan and assign daily maintenance activities while prioritizing production needs, equipment reliability, safety, and downtime reduction.
• Oversee the work order process from creation and assignment through completion, documentation, and follow-up.
• Monitor equipment performance and identify opportunities to improve reliability, productivity, and operating costs.
• Partner with production, inventory, and plant leadership on maintenance projects, equipment needs, spare parts, contractors, purchasing, and project scheduling.
• Establish and maintain critical spare parts inventories and ensure appropriate parts are available for preventive maintenance and repairs.
• Develop and maintain standard operating procedures and preventive maintenance documentation in accordance with quality and food manufacturing requirements.
• Promote a strong safety culture through regular inspections, audits, training, and reinforcement of safe work practices.
• Review maintenance activities and documentation to ensure work is completed accurately and according to established procedures.
• Track and report preventive maintenance completion, work orders, downtime, and other key maintenance metrics.
• Coordinate maintenance training, including new hire onboarding, internal development, and outside vendor training.
• Support continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing waste, errors, downtime, and production disruptions.
• Step in to provide hands-on support and leadership when necessary.

Qualifications: 

• 4–5+ years of maintenance leadership experience, ideally in a Maintenance Manager or high-level Maintenance Supervisor capacity.
• Food manufacturing experience required; experience in a bakery, heated, cooking, or similar production environment is highly preferred.
• Bilingual English/Spanish required due to the makeup of the facility workforce.
• Well-rounded mechanical and electrical maintenance knowledge with the ability to support both areas.
• Demonstrated experience managing preventive maintenance programs and maintenance work order systems.
• Strong understanding of equipment reliability, troubleshooting, safety, and production uptime.
• Experience developing and maintaining SOPs, PM procedures, and maintenance documentation.
• Strong organizational, communication, problem-solving, and leadership skills.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced manufacturing environment and interacting with employees at all levels.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Excel, Word, and Outlook.
• Lean or Six Sigma experience is preferred.
• Must be comfortable working hands-on around production equipment when needed.
• Ability to work in a manufacturing environment with varying temperatures and high humidity and regularly perform physical activities such as standing, walking, bending, climbing, stooping, and crouching.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.