Director of Plant Maintenance

McGill Environmental Systems | McGill Compost; Cary (NC); On-site; USD 120,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

McGill Environmental Systems seeks a Director of Plant Maintenance to lead maintenance across multiple sites. You will own preventive maintenance, planning, staffing, budgeting, and reliability programs while coordinating with operations leaders.

The role focuses on cost control, safety, and continuous improvement to keep plants running reliably. The position requires 8+ years in industrial maintenance with leadership experience, strong CMMS knowledge, and the ability to influence in a matrixed

Qualifications

• 8+ years in industrial maintenance with multi-site or regional responsibility.
• 5+ years in leadership overseeing maintenance staff, budgets and scheduling.
• Experience building or improving preventive maintenance and reliability programs.
• Strong knowledge of mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and production equipment.
• Experience with CMMS, work orders, asset histories and planning.
• Ability to develop budgets and present recommendations to senior leaders.
• Proven ability to lead through influence in a matrixed organization.

Responsibilities

• Multi-site leadership of the plant maintenance function across locations.
• Develop preventive maintenance protocols and repair programs.
• Lead budgeting, cost management, and capital decision support.
• Staffing, training, and succession planning for maintenance teams.
• Define performance metrics and drive continuous improvement.
• Ensure safety, regulatory compliance, and proper documentation.

Skills

Maintenance leadership

Preventive maintenance

Equipment reliability

Budgeting

Cross-site coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or related field

Tools

CMMS

Cost modelling tools

Job description

Make a Real Impact with McGill Environmental Systems

• At McGill, our purpose is to rebuild the soils that support life on our planet. We turn biodegradable waste into high-quality compost that helps restore depleted soils and supports a cleaner, greener future. Using advanced composting technology, we handle a wide range of organic materials safely, reliably, and with purpose. We believe real environmental change should benefit people, the planet, and the economy.

Driven by our core values of Excellence, Integrity, Accountability and Collaboration, we are committed to fostering a culture of continuous improvement and a rewarding, safe, and empowering workplace for all.

Purpose of the Role

To provide strategic and operational leadership for plant maintenance across multiple McGill locations. The Director establishes consistent maintenance standards, strengthens preventive maintenance and repair programs, develops the maintenance organization, and improves equipment reliability while controlling cost and supporting safe, dependable plant operations.

How You Make an Impact

You build a maintenance function that gets ahead of problems instead of reacting to them. You balance enterprise standards with the practical needs of each plant, partner closely with plant leadership, and give maintenance employees the direction, systems, resources, and coaching they need to succeed. Through disciplined planning, sound financial modeling, and continuous improvement, you reduce avoidable downtime and help every plant operate more safely, reliably, and efficiently.

Position Summary

The Director of Plant Maintenance is responsible for multi-site leadership of McGill’s plant maintenance function. Site maintenance employees report directly to this role while maintaining a dotted-line relationship to their local plant manager for day-to-day coordination and operating priorities. The Director owns the design and governance of preventive maintenance and repair protocols, maintenance planning, staffing assessment, budgeting and cost management, performance reporting, and improvement initiatives. This role works across facilities and with Operations leadership to standardize expectations while addressing site-specific equipment and production needs.

Key Responsibilities

Multi-Site Maintenance Leadership

• Lead the plant maintenance function across assigned McGill facilities and establish clear priorities, service expectations, and accountability.
• Direct, coach, and develop site-based maintenance employees while partnering with plant managers on daily scheduling, operating priorities, and site needs.
• Create a consistent operating model across locations while allowing appropriate flexibility for differences in equipment, plant design, production demands, and local conditions.
• Maintain a regular on-site presence and deploy maintenance resources across plants based on risk, urgency, and business need.

Preventive Maintenance, Repairs and Reliability

• Develop, document, implement, and continuously improve companywide protocols and programs for preventive maintenance, inspections, planned repairs, emergency repairs, and maintenance recordkeeping.
• Establish asset-specific maintenance schedules and standards for production equipment, including screens, conveyors, motors, hydraulics, electrical components, processing equipment, and mobile equipment used in plant operations.
• Use the company’s computerized maintenance management system to improve scheduling, work-order discipline, parts tracking, maintenance history, and visibility to overdue work.
• Lead root-cause reviews of recurring failures and major breakdowns, then implement corrective actions that prevent repeat issues.
• Coordinate major repairs, shutdown work, outside contractors, and vendor support in partnership with site and Operations leadership.

Financial Planning and Cost Control

• Develop maintenance budgets, repair-versus-replace analyses, and financial models that support sound operating and capital decisions.
• Monitor maintenance spending, contractor costs, parts usage, emergency repair costs, and other key cost drivers; identify and address unfavorable trends.
• Create practical business cases for equipment upgrades, replacements, critical spares, tooling, and reliability improvements.
• Implement cost-control and purchasing practices that improve value without compromising safety, quality, or equipment reliability.

Organization, Staffing and Capability

• Evaluate maintenance staffing levels, skill coverage, shift support, and regional resource needs; recommend an effective structure for current and future operations.
• Clarify roles, work assignments, escalation paths, and decision rights between the Director, maintenance employees, plant managers, and other operating leaders.
• Assess technical skill gaps and establish training, cross-training, mentoring, and progression plans for maintenance employees.
• Participate in recruiting and selection for maintenance positions and help build a strong pipeline of qualified technical talent.

Performance, Safety and Continuous Improvement

• Define and report maintenance performance measures such as preventive maintenance completion, planned versus emergency work, downtime, repeat failures, backlog, repair cost, and schedule compliance.
• Lead improvement initiatives that increase uptime, reliability, planning effectiveness, productivity, and consistency across sites.
• Ensure maintenance work follows company safety requirements, lockout/tagout practices, environmental expectations, manufacturer guidance, and applicable regulations.
• Promote strong housekeeping, tool control, parts organization, work documentation, and quality workmanship.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, industrial maintenance, operations, business, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of technical education and relevant experience.
• 8 or more years of progressively responsible industrial, manufacturing, processing, heavy-equipment, or plant maintenance experience, including multi-site or regional responsibility.
• 5 or more years of leadership experience with responsibility for maintenance employees, budgets, planning, and performance improvement.
• Demonstrated experience building or improving preventive maintenance and reliability programs.
• Strong knowledge of mechanical, hydraulic, electrical, welding, conveying, screening, and production-equipment systems.
• Experience with computerized maintenance management systems, work orders, asset histories, parts inventories, and preventive maintenance scheduling.
• Ability to develop budgets, analyze maintenance costs, model repair and replacement options, and communicate recommendations to senior leaders.
• Proven ability to lead through influence and work effectively within a matrixed structure involving local Plant Managers and enterprise leadership.
• Strong communication, coaching, prioritization, problem-solving, and change-management skills.
• Valid driver’s license and ability to travel frequently among assigned facilities.

Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met to perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Frequent presence in active composting, soil-production, and maintenance environments, including outdoor work in varying weather conditions.
• Ability to walk plant grounds, climb stairs or ladders, navigate uneven surfaces, bend, stoop, kneel, and inspect equipment in confined or elevated areas as permitted by training and site requirements.
• Ability to wear required personal protective equipment and safely work around heavy equipment, noise, dust, odors, and moving machinery.
• Ability to occasionally lift and move up to 50 pounds and to travel by vehicle or air as business needs require.
• Availability to respond to urgent plant maintenance issues outside normal business hours when necessary.

Success Profile For This Role

• Build the System: Create clear, practical maintenance standards that teams can consistently follow and leaders can measure.
• Lead Through Partnership: Balance direct leadership of maintenance employees with strong collaboration and responsiveness to plant managers.
• Plan Proactively: Use data, asset knowledge, and field observation to prevent failures, prioritize risk, and move work from reactive to planned.
• Make Sound Business Decisions: Connect equipment condition, downtime risk, labor, repair cost, and capital needs to well-supported recommendations.
• Develop People: Set clear expectations, coach technical and leadership skills, build bench strength, and create opportunities for growth.
• Drive Accountability: Follow through on commitments, require accurate work documentation, and address missed standards promptly and constructively.
• Protect Safety and Quality: Never compromise safe work practices or workmanship in the interest of speed or short-term savings.
• Adapt and Improve: Learn the needs of each plant, scale what works, and lead change in a practical way that earns field support.