Director of Maintenance Reliability

Waupaca Foundry, Inc.; Waupaca (WI); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Short and long term disability

Life insurance

401(k)

Employer funded retirement plan

Paid vacations/holidays

Wellness program

Fitness membership

Employee assistance program (EAP)

Job summary

Waupaca Foundry, Inc. is seeking a Maintenance Reliability Manager to lead enterprise-wide reliability initiatives across our Wisconsin facilities.

You will develop preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, drive root cause analyses, and partner with plant teams to maximize equipment uptime and lifecycle. This role requires a bachelor's in engineering and at least five years of maintenance leadership experience, with travel up to 25% to support projects and supplier activities.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering or equivalent.
• Minimum 5 years of maintenance management experience.
• Strong leadership, safety, and problem-solving skills.

Responsibilities

• Safety management: Monitor and support safety policy and procedures to foster a world‑class safety culture.
• Reliability strategy development: Lead reliability initiatives to maximize asset availability.
• Preventive/predictive maintenance: Develop and optimize PM schedules to reduce downtime.
• Root cause analysis: Lead investigations to identify causes and implement corrective actions.
• Leadership and coaching: Mentor maintenance staff to strengthen skills and promote safety.
• Maintenance and engineering oversight: Coordinate preventive maintenance and engineering projects.
• Performance analysis: Track KPIs and drive improvements in TRIR, MTBF, MTTR, and costs.
• Asset and inventory management: Oversee critical spare parts and optimize costs.
• Project management: Lead high-impact maintenance/engineering projects.
• Reporting and communication: Provide updates to leadership and stakeholders.

Skills

Safety management

Reliability strategy

Preventive maintenance

Root cause analysis

Leadership & coaching

Project management

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Job description

Waupaca Foundry, Inc. is North America’s leading supplier of iron castings and has a history of innovation with a legacy of product quality. Waupaca Foundry employs approximately 4,400 people company-wide.

Waupaca Foundry is committed to relentless improvement, forward-thinking sustainability initiatives, and providing a reliable experience to the millions who use our castings every day. Our goal is to employ individuals who take pride in their work within a culture of continual innovation.

Waupaca Foundry is proud to be an employer of choice for those driven and skilled individuals seeking rewarding careers by producing top quality castings.

You will be right at home at Waupaca Foundry.

The Maintenance Reliability Manager is based in Waupaca, WI and provides enterprise-wide support across all Waupaca Foundry plant locations, including Waupaca, WI, Marinette, WI, and Tell City, IN. This role leads our efforts to advance a world‑class reliability culture across one of the largest maintenance operations in the foundry industry with over 500 maintenance employees across our locations. The position is focused on driving a strategic shift from reactive to reliability‑centered maintenance, leveraging improved management tools, data visibility, and tracking systems to ensure the right equipment is maintained at the right level. Core responsibilities include developing preventive and predictive maintenance strategies, leading root cause analysis on critical failures, and partnering with plant teams to maximize equipment uptime, performance, and lifecycle, all while maintaining a strong safety culture and supporting continuous operational improvement.

Responsibilities

• Safety Management: Monitoring and supporting safety policy and procedures to facilitate a world‑class safety management culture, employee welfare and plant and company goals.
• Reliability Strategy Development: Lead reliability focused initiatives to maximize asset availability and total utilization.
• Preventive/Predictive Maintenance: Develop, optimize and improve PM schedules to reduce unplanned equipment downtime.
• Root Cause Analysis: Lead and support investigations into critical equipment failures to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Leadership and Coaching: Mentor and develop maintenance staff to strengthen technical skills, problem‑solving, while promoting a safety culture and ensuring effective daily work execution.
• Maintenance and Engineering Oversight: Coordinate preventative maintenance program and engineering projects to support continuous improvement, plant growth and modernization.
• Performance Analysis: Tracking KPIs to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary changes: TRIR, MTBF, MTTR, total utilization, maintenance material and labor costs and health state of equipment and facilities.
• Asset and Inventory Management: Collaborate with Supply Chain Team and Maintenance Teams to oversee critical spare parts inventory (MRO) to ensure parts availability while optimizing costs and inventory levels.
• Project Management: Serve as a technical resource and project leader for high‑impact maintenance/engineering projects.
• Reporting and Communication: Providing regular updates on maintenance projects and developments to leadership including Maintenance Task Force Team Member, Operations meetings, Plant Manager reports and any other necessary communication.

Preferred Education / Experience Requirements

Preferred candidate would possess a bachelor’s degree in engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial) or equivalent work experience and 5 years of management experience at Maintenance Manager level or equivalent.

Travel Requirements

Up to 25% travel to suppliers, contractors and other plants to support maintenance project activities.

Analytical Skills

Ability to review performance data and process data to find opportunities for continuous improvement to drive Maintenance KPIs.

Problem Solving & Decision Making Ability

Strong critical thinking skills and the ability to challenge others and the process, driving solutions.

Language & Communication Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication skills for interaction across all organizational levels.

Planning & Organizational Skills

Ability to set prioritization for self and the plant teams. Ability to effectively lead and facilitate communication and continuous improvement actions.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties or functions and may not necessarily comprise all of the “essential functions” for purposes of the ADA.

If selected for consideration, candidates must successfully complete a selection process that includes interviews, reference check/verification, and a pre‑employment drug screen.

Benefits

• Short and long term disability
• Life insurance
• 401(k)
• Employer funded retirement plan
• Paid vacations/holidays
• Wellness program
• Fitness membership
• Employee assistance program (EAP)

Waupaca Foundry is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, status as a protected veteran, among other things, or status as a qualified individual with disability.