Director, Maintenance Excellence

Milliken and Company; Spartanburg (SC); On-site; USD 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Milliken and Company seeks a Director of Maintenance Excellence to drive a global transformation of maintenance from reactive to preventive and predictive using a reliability-centered maintenance framework. You will set standards for best practices across sites and ensure teams have tools, training, and processes for maximum equipment reliability and efficiency.

You will partner with plant managers to identify chronic issues, implement RCA solutions, and establish standards for MTBF, MTTR, work

Qualifications

• Bachelor-level degree in engineering or related field.
• 10+ years of industrial maintenance leadership experience.
• Experience creating or directing a global maintenance framework.
• Knowledge of SMRP Best Practices.
• Strong CMMS knowledge and cost modeling.
• Reliability tools such as FMEA, RCA, condition monitoring.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a company-wide maintenance excellence strategy including preventive and predictive maintenance via RCM.
• Establish standardized maintenance processes aligned with Milliken Performance System and SMRP best practices.
• Organize multi-site maintenance excellence maturation across global facilities.
• Collaborate with plant managers to identify chronic equipment issues and implement RCA solutions.
• Set standards for KPIs like MTBF, MTTR, planned vs unplanned work, and OEE.

Skills

Maintenance leadership

Reliability engineering

Cross-functional influence

Safety culture

Process improvement

Education

BS Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering

Tools

SAP PM

MaintainX

MAINTelligence

Job description

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Director, Maintenance Excellence

Date: Sep 22, 2026

Location: Spartanburg, SC, US, 29303

Company: Milliken and Company

Milliken & Company is a global manufacturing leader whose focus on materials science delivers tomorrow's breakthroughs today. From industry-leading molecules to sustainable innovations, Milliken creates products that enhance people’s lives and deliver solutions for its customers and communities. Drawing on thousands of patents and a portfolio with applications across the textile, flooring, chemical and healthcare businesses, the company harnesses a shared sense of integrity and excellence to positively impact the world for generations. Discover more about Milliken's curious minds and inspired solutions at Milliken.com and on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

POSITION OVERVIEW

As our Director, Maintenance Excellence, you will be the driving force behind transforming our maintenance operations from reactive to preventive and predictive through a reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) framework. You'll set the standard for best practices across multiple sites, ensuring our teams have the tools, training, and processes to achieve maximum equipment reliability and efficiency. Your work will directly impact production output, cost savings, and the safety of our people.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

• Develop and implement a company-wide maintenance excellence strategy, including preventive and predictive maintenance through a reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) framework.
• Establish standardized and best-practice maintenance processes for Milliken facilities, ensuring alignment with Milliken Performance System Planned Maintenance methodology and with SMRP (Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals) best practices. Included are processes for CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) to include work order tracking, asset history, and KPI reporting.
• Establish an appropriate organizational structure to drive a multi-year maturation of maintenance excellence performance across sites globally
• Partner with plant managers and site maintenance teams to identify chronic equipment issues and implement effective use of standard and advanced root cause analysis (RCA) solutions.
• Establish standards for key performance indicators such as MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), MTTR (Mean Time to Repair), planned vs. unplanned work ratios and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).

QUALIFICATIONS - REQUIRED

• BS Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering
• 10+ years industrial maintenance leadership experience in chemicals, textile or related industry
• Experience creating, implementing or directing a global maintenance excellence framework and achieving measurable improvements in uptime and cost reduction.
• Working knowledge of SMRP (Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals) Best Practices Framework
• Strong knowledge of CMMS platforms (e.g., SAP PM, MaintainX, MAINTelligence, etc.)
• Strong knowledge of maintenance cost models
• Expertise in reliability engineering tools such as FMEA, RCA, and condition monitoring technologies.
• Exceptional communication skills to influence and align cross-functional teams.
• A passion for safety, sustainability, and operational excellence.

QUALIFICATIONS – PREFERRED

• 15+ years combined maintenance and operations leadership experience in chemicals, textile or related industry
• Prior experience being a plant manager or multi-site plant manager

Milliken is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, sex or gender (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, including but not limited to lactation), sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression (including transgender status), ancestry, national origin, citizenship, age physical or mental disability, genetic information, marital status, veteran or military status or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

To request a reasonable accommodation to complete a job application, pre-employment testing, a job interview, or to otherwise participate in the hiring process, please contact [e-mail].