Director of Maintenance & Continuous Improvement

CLM Search; Detroit (MI); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

CLM Search is seeking a Director of Maintenance & Continuous Improvement to lead maintenance excellence, asset reliability, and operational improvement across multiple automotive facilities in the United States. The role partners with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, HR, and Plant Leadership to translate strategy into site-level action and measurable results.

The position emphasizes standardized maintenance systems, equipment uptime, and disciplined problem solving using

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, manufacturing, operations, business, or related field.
• Progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, maintenance, or continuous improvement.
• Experience leading multi-site maintenance and improvement programs.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-site strategy for Maintenance Excellence and continuous improvement.
• Establish standardized maintenance systems, governance, and performance metrics.
• Lead preventive and predictive maintenance programs and asset-management initiatives.
• Drive cost-saving projects and measurable improvements across safety, quality, and delivery.
• Coach and develop maintenance and CI leaders across sites.

Skills

Lean methodolgy

Kaizen

Value-stream mapping

5S

Standardized work

Root-cause analysis

Structured problem solving

Leadership

Change management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, or related technical discipline

Job description

Job Title: Director of Maintenance & Continuous Improvement

Location: United States – Multi-Site

About the client and role

• Our client, a leading manufacturing organization operating within the automotive sector, is seeking a Director of Maintenance & Continuous Improvement to lead maintenance excellence, asset reliability, and operational improvement across multiple manufacturing facilities.
• This is a senior operational leadership position responsible for developing and implementing standardized maintenance systems, improving equipment uptime, strengthening asset-management practices, and driving continuous improvement throughout the organization.
• Working closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, HR, and Plant Leadership, the successful candidate will translate strategic operational objectives into practical site-level execution plans and measurable results.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a multi-site strategy for Maintenance Excellence and Continuous Improvement aligned with wider operational and business objectives.
• Establish standardized maintenance systems, reliability expectations, asset-management practices, governance routines, and performance measures across manufacturing facilities.
• Lead the deployment and sustainability of preventive and predictive maintenance programs, equipment reliability initiatives, spare-parts management, downtime reduction, and standardized maintenance processes.
• Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and plant maintenance teams to improve equipment uptime, process capability, maintainability, launch readiness, and lifecycle asset performance.
• Support capital planning, maintenance budgeting, equipment readiness, and operational risk reduction using data-driven maintenance strategies.
• Lead continuous improvement initiatives including Kaizen, value-stream mapping, 5S, standardized work, structured problem solving, and waste-elimination activities.
• Identify, prioritize, and track cost-saving and operational improvement projects, ensuring measurable and sustainable results.
• Utilize operational KPIs, customer performance measures, and plant-level data to identify trends and improvement opportunities.
• Drive improvements across safety, quality, delivery, productivity, equipment effectiveness, customer performance, and cost.
• Develop practical standards, procedures, dashboards, and visual-management systems to improve visibility and accountability across operations.
• Provide leadership, coaching, and development to maintenance, engineering, and continuous improvement leaders across multiple sites.
• Build organizational capability through training, mentoring, knowledge sharing, succession planning, and best-practice deployment.
• Promote cross-site collaboration and ensure successful maintenance and continuous improvement initiatives are replicated across the wider manufacturing network.
• Act as a change leader, supporting teams in applying Lean principles, root-cause analysis, maintenance best practices, and structured problem solving.
• Collaborate closely with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, IT, Finance, Human Resources, Program Management, and Plant Leadership.
• Partner with senior and plant leadership to establish long-term operational priorities and improvement strategies supporting profitability, growth, launch execution, and customer performance.
• Support new equipment, technology, and manufacturing-process launches by ensuring appropriate maintenance readiness, operating standards, training, and sustainment plans are in place.
• Ensure compliance with applicable safety requirements, corporate standards, regulatory requirements, and industry expectations.
• Champion a proactive safety culture and establish governance processes that drive consistent execution, accountability, and measurable performance across all locations.

Skills and Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, or a related technical discipline.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive leadership experience across manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, operations, or continuous improvement, including experience with multi-site responsibility.
• Demonstrated success leading maintenance reliability, asset management, operational excellence, Lean transformation, or continuous improvement within a manufacturing environment.
• Strong knowledge of Lean methodologies including Kaizen, value-stream mapping, 5S, standardized work, root-cause analysis, and structured problem solving.
• Proven ability to translate strategic objectives into plant-level execution plans, governance processes, performance metrics, and measurable financial or operational results.
• Strong leadership, coaching, facilitation, communication, change-management, and cross-functional influencing skills.
• Strong commercial and operational awareness, with experience using operational metrics, financial data, and project tracking to support decision-making.
• Experience implementing maintenance excellence, equipment reliability, preventive and predictive maintenance, and asset-performance strategies.
• Ability to travel regularly between manufacturing facilities, with travel of up to approximately 50% depending on business requirements.

Preferred Qualifications

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Lean, Six Sigma Black Belt, quality, operational excellence, or equivalent professional certification.
• Background across Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, or Program Launch.
• Experience developing Lean and continuous improvement roadmaps, maturity assessments, training programs, and cross-site best-practice deployment.