Maintenance Manager

fairlife, LLC is a Chicago-based nutrition company that creates great-tasting, nutrition-rich and dairy products to nourish consumers.

With nearly $2B in annual retail sales, fairlife’s portfolio of delicious, lactose-free, real dairy products includes: fairlife® ultra-filtered milk; Core Power® High Protein Shakes, a sports nutrition drink to support post-workout recovery; fairlife® nutrition plan™, a nutrition shake to support the journey to better health.

A wholly owned subsidiary of The Coca-Cola company, fairlife, LLC has been recognized by both Fast Company and Nielsen for its industry leading innovation.

To learn more about fairlife and its complete line of products, please visit fairlife.com.

The construction of fairlife's manufacturing facility in Webster, NY is underway. This state-of-the-art, 750k sq ft, greenfield plant is expected to be operational in late 2025 and will lay the foundation for fairlife's next phase of growth as the leading dairy nutrition provider. While coupling the industry’s latest technologies and fairlife's operational excellence to build this world-class facility, fairlife plans to hire 250 new employees and bring in approximately 5 million lbs. of milk a day, with room to grow over the coming years.

job purpose: The Maintenance Manager for the new Webster, NY plant is responsible for overseeing the facility and equipment maintenance including all utilities, process and packaging equipment, parts procurement, planning, automation, and department budget. This critical leadership role has ownership over developing and managing the preventative maintenance program, plant overhaul program, and strategic approach to maintenance excellence for a state of the art, greenfield plant, currently under construction. The individual will possess a strong technical background and proven history to lead a talented group of supervisors, mechanics, ICTs, planners, and parts procurement.

responsibilities

Responsible for managing the performance and development of all maintenance department staff and hourly personnel including identifying skill needs and training opportunities.

Responsible for the effective planning, scheduling and execution of all maintenance activities including preventative, predictive, breakdown and overhaul maintenance activities

Responsible for maintaining and repairing all production (process and packaging) equipment, building and utilities equipment and assets including boilers, chillers, cooling towers, air compressors, HVAC equipment, wastewater systems, etc.

Develop and optimize preventative maintenance program including task details, PM durations to ensure proactive execution and consistent plant operation

Develop and utilize predictive maintenance program to prevent failures on critical equipment. Condition based tools to include ultrasonic and vibration analysis, thermal imaging, tribology, etc.

Development and management of all aspects of the plant CMMS system and calibration system for tracking, documentation, and planning

Documentation of all schematics, diagram changes, and PLC programming documentation changes to keep plant records current.

Perform risk assessment of critical spare parts and manage inventory to appropriate levels

Responsible for all regulatory utility records and annual services: backflow prevention, boiler inspections, transformer oil sampling, steam trap audits and chemical record retention

Build and oversee the department budget utilizing data analysis to study part turns, obsolete parts, min/max values and propose new solutions to manage inventory

Deploy and manage critical tasks and projects via weekly CI/strategic campaign meetings

Source and work closely with vendors for projects, tasks and emergency repairs

Develop strategic approach around KPI’s and department performance measures focused on equipment reliability, BDA, planned downtime, and the cost of maintenance

Purchasing and Purchase Order management, understanding department general ledger accounts, categories and working close with the Plant Controller/Finance Department

Leadership and technical development of mechanics and ICTs to build the capabilities of the department

Work close with other departments on RCA/CA strategies requiring thorough documentation in Quality Control platform

Maintain critical regulatory instrument calibrations

Work with engineering, OEMs and/or suppliers to perform equipment / asset value engineering or redesign to improve performance. Also provide maintenance expert POV to engineering when specifying new equipment design or placement.

skills/qualifications required:

Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering or related discipline required

A minimum of 5 years of Maintenance leadership or equivalent experience that is directly related to the duties and responsibilities outlined

Performing maintenance duties in dairy, brewing, pharmaceutical or food manufacturing environment preferred. Aseptic processing and high speed bottling experience a plus

Proven understanding of GMP’s and ability to identify and mitigate food safety risks

Experience in plant start-ups, equipment commissioning, and developing new processes and standards

A proven track record of implementing TPM principles creating short- and long-term value in a technical manufacturing environment

Strong understanding of CMMS systems, work order execution, and PM programs

Proven ability to lead a team to achieve goals with trust and integrity

Skilled in examining and re-engineering mechanical components to improve reliability

Strong interpersonal and communication skills and the ability to work effectively with a wide range of constituencies in a diverse community

Ability to make administrative and procedural decisions and judgments on sensitive, confidential issues

Ability to analyze and assess training and development needs and manage performance

Ability to communicate effectively, both verbally and in writing

Working knowledge of controls, instrumentation, information technology and information systems

Knowledge of budgeting cost estimating and fiscal management principles and procedures

Ability to handle ambiguity and work in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment

position location: Webster, NY

reports to: Director of Engineering

travel requirements: Up to 50% travel for the first 12 months, 10% thereafter

*Base pay offered may vary depending on geography, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. A full range of medical, financial, and/or other benefits, dependent on the position, is offered.

Base pay range:

$115,000—$130,000 USD

fairlife, LLC is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws. All qualified applicants and employees will be given equal opportunity. Selection decisions are based on job-related factors.

In addition to its nondiscrimination commitment, the Company will also provide reasonable accommodation of qualified individuals with known disabilities unless doing so would impose an undue hardship on the Company. If you have a disability and would like to request accommodation in order to apply for a position with us, please email .