Director of Vehicle Maintenance & Fleet Reliability

Milwaukee County Transit System; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 118,000 - 147,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Maintenance-friendly environment

Job summary

Milwaukee County Transit System in Milwaukee, WI, seeks a Director of Vehicle Maintenance to lead the Maintenance Department, setting strategy for fleet reliability, safety, and cost efficiency across all facilities. The Director oversees budgeting, labor relations coordination, capital planning, and performance reporting, and directs maintenance managers and the Deputy Director.

The role requires seven years of heavy-duty fleet maintenance leadership, union experience, and CDL eligibility, with

Qualifications

• Seven (7) years of experience overseeing heavy-duty fleet maintenance with progression in responsibility.
• Minimum five (5) years managing supervisors, managers, or major maintenance operations.
• Experience administering labor agreements and managing employee relations in a union-represented environment.
• Public transit maintenance experience strongly preferred.
• Ability to obtain Class B Commercial Driver's License (CDL) with passenger endorsement and air brake qualification.

Responsibilities

• Directs departmental strategy, performance reporting, and financial stewardship; establishes fleet reliability, safety, and cost objectives.
• Leads and develops maintenance managers, sets operational standards, and holds management accountable for productivity, quality, and workforce performance.
• Partners with executive leadership, Transportation, Human Resources, Labor Relations, and union representatives on service priorities, workforce issues, and operational improvements.
• Ensures adequate, safe and service-ready vehicles for scheduled service; establishes fleet availability, preventive maintenance, road-call, repeat-repair, and downtime targets.
• Directs lifecycle fleet planning, asset retirement, replacement forecasts, spare-fleet strategy, and evaluation of diesel, battery-electric, and alternative-propulsion technologies.
• Directs maintenance facility condition assessments, capital renewal priorities, and major facility improvement planning in coordination with relevant departments.
• Establishes staffing plans, management succession and development priorities, and recruitment recommendations consistent with HR policy and delegated approval authority.
• Develops, administers, and monitors the annual maintenance operating and capital budgets; oversees procurement planning, technical specifications, and evaluation of major fleet investments.
• Oversees vendor performance, warranty recovery, parts availability, contract compliance, and supplier-related reliability improvements.
• Directs maintenance response to significant incidents and emergencies; ensures timely escalation, investigation, corrective action, and coordination with Safety and Operations.
• Uses daily, weekly, and monthly performance dashboards to identify trends, direct corrective actions, and report measurable results to executive leadership.
• Establishes a proactive safety and regulatory compliance culture, including hazard correction, maintenance records, audits, and timely corrective action.

Skills

Heavy-duty fleet maintenance

Supervisors / managers

Labor relations

Union experience

Public transit knowledge

CDL with passenger endorsement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in business / Public Administration / Mechanical Engineering / Facilities Management

Tools

Maintenance management systems

Performance dashboards

Data analysis

Spreadsheets

Executive reporting tools

Job description

Milwaukee County Transit System in Milwaukee, WI, seeks a Director of Vehicle Maintenance to lead the Maintenance Department, setting strategy for fleet reliability, safety, and cost efficiency across all facilities. The Director oversees budgeting, labor relations coordination, capital planning, and performance reporting, and directs maintenance managers and the Deputy Director.

The role requires seven years of heavy-duty fleet maintenance leadership, union experience, and CDL eligibility, with