Director of Reliability & Maintenance Engineering

Vanguard Soap; Memphis (TN); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Vanguard Soap is seeking a strategic Director of Engineering, Maintenance & Reliability to lead engineering, maintenance, and asset reliability across our Memphis operations. You will own uptime, asset performance, and capital project execution, maturing maintenance from reactive to proactive reliability-centered practices.

The role requires building a high-performing team of engineers, technicians, and planners while driving data-driven decisions and GMP-aligned safety standards.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive engineering, maintenance, and reliability leadership in manufacturing.
• Experience as Director or Manager of Engineering, Maintenance, Reliability, or Plant Engineering.
• Proven track record implementing preventive/predictive maintenance and reliability programs.
• Hands-on CMMS implementation and reliability metrics (OEE, MTBF, MTTR).
• Track record leading capital projects, automation, and equipment installations.
• Experience in personal care, chemical, CPG, food, or contract manufacturing preferred.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical/Chemical/Industrial/Electrical).
• MBA or Master's in Engineering and/or CMRP certification preferred.

Responsibilities

• Build and lead a world-class maintenance organization across preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance.
• Implement and optimize a CMMS to drive PM compliance and data-driven decisions.
• Establish reliability programs (RCM, RCFA, TPM) to reduce downtime.
• Drive improvements in OEE, MTBF, MTTR, and unplanned downtime.
• Own MRO and critical-spares strategy balancing availability and cost.
• Lead process, project, and facilities engineering across all production lines.
• Oversee capital project lifecycle from justification to startup.
• Deploy automation and new equipment to expand capacity and reliability.
• Maintain facility infrastructure to support safe operations.
• Partner with Operations to improve line efficiency and asset utilization.
• Apply Lean, Six Sigma, TPM to reduce downtime and defects.
• Develop engineering standards, SOPs, and documentation.

Skills

Reliability Leadership

Engineering & Technical Acumen

Capital Project Execution

Maintenance Systems

Continuous Improvement

People Leadership

Business Acumen

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

MBA or Master's in Engineering (preferred)

CMRP certification (preferred)

Tools

CMMS

Job description

Vanguard Soap is seeking a strategic Director of Engineering, Maintenance & Reliability to lead engineering, maintenance, and asset reliability across our Memphis operations. You will own uptime, asset performance, and capital project execution, maturing maintenance from reactive to proactive reliability-centered practices.

The role requires building a high-performing team of engineers, technicians, and planners while driving data-driven decisions and GMP-aligned safety standards.