Maintenance Machinist

Sterling Foods; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 34,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

Sterling Foods is seeking a skilled Maintenance Machinist to manufacture, repair, and reverse-engineer precision components for food-processing equipment. The role requires operating manual lathes, mills, and other shop tools while maintaining tight tolerances and adherence to food safety and sanitation standards.

You will collaborate with Maintenance, Engineering, and Operations to minimize downtime and improve reliability, reading drawings, and fabricating replacement parts when OEM items are

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required; machinist training preferred.
• 3+ years manual machining experience preferred in food-manufacturing environments.
• Experience with lathes and mills and reading blueprints.
• Strong precision measurement and tooling knowledge.
• Familiarity with GMP and sanitation practices in food-manufacturing.

Responsibilities

• Operate manual lathes, milling machines, drill presses and other shop equipment.
• Manufacture and repair components for food-processing equipment.
• Reverse-engineer parts using drawings and measurements.
• Maintain tolerances, fits, and surface finishes on machined parts.
• Support maintenance during breakdowns and prepare repair components.
• Read mechanical drawings and document dimensions and modifications.

Skills

Manual lathe operation

Manual milling

Precision measurement

Stainless-steel machining

Blueprint interpretation

Reverse engineering

Shaft and bearing fits

Internal threading

External threading

Tolerances & fits

Cutting-tool selection

Equipment repair

Food GMP & sanitation

CAD basics

Drilling, boring, reaming

Education

High school diploma or GED

Machinist apprenticeship or certification preferred

Tools

Micrometers

Calipers

Dial indicators

Bore gauges

Thread gauges

Job description

Maintenance Machinist - Job Description

Department

Maintenance & Engineering

Reports To

Maintenance Manager / Director of Maintenance

Classification

Hourly - Skilled Trades

Environment

Food Manufacturing

Position Summary

The Maintenance Machinist is responsible for manufacturing, repairing, modifying, and rebuilding precision mechanical components used on food-processing, packaging, conveying, and facility equipment. This position operates manual machine tools and works closely with Maintenance, Engineering, and Operations to minimize equipment downtime and improve equipment reliability. A key responsibility is the ability to reverse-engineer damaged, worn, or obsolete components when replacement parts or drawings are not readily available. All work must be performed in accordance with plant safety, food safety, sanitation, and quality requirements.

Key Responsibilities

• Operate manual lathes, milling machines, drill presses, saws, grinders, and other machine-shop equipment.
• Manufacture replacement components such as shafts, bushings, sleeves, spacers, pins, rollers, brackets, guides, and equipment hardware.
• Repair and modify damaged or worn production equipment components.
• Reverse-engineer existing or damaged parts using measurements, sketches, drawings, and equipment requirements.
• Perform turning, facing, boring, drilling, milling, tapping, threading, reaming, keyway cutting, grooving, and related machining operations.
• Machine internal and external threads and repair damaged threaded components.
• Perform precision measurements using micrometers, calipers, dial indicators, bore gauges, thread gauges, and other measuring instruments.
• Maintain required dimensional tolerances, fits, clearances, and surface finishes.
• Machine and repair shafts for bearings, sprockets, pulleys, couplings, seals, and other rotating components.
• Support repairs involving conveyors, rollers, bearings, gearboxes, motors, pumps, packaging equipment, and food-processing machinery.
• Assist Maintenance technicians during equipment breakdowns when machining or component modification is required.
• Manufacture temporary or permanent repair components when OEM replacement parts are unavailable or have extended lead times.
• Work with Maintenance and Engineering to improve component reliability and eliminate recurring equipment failures.
• Recommend improvements to component materials, dimensions, fits, or designs when appropriate.
• Read and interpret mechanical drawings, blueprints, equipment manuals, sketches, and specifications.
• Create basic sketches and record dimensions for fabricated or reverse-engineered components.
• Select appropriate cutting tools, speeds, feeds, materials, and machining methods.
• Maintain machine-shop equipment, cutting tools, fixtures, tooling, and precision measuring instruments.
• Maintain an organized inventory of commonly used raw materials and machine-shop supplies.
• Complete work orders and document fabricated components, repairs, measurements, and modifications.
• Maintain a clean, organized, and safe machine-shop environment.

Food Manufacturing Responsibilities

• Follow all plant GMP, food safety, sanitation, and quality procedures.
• Use materials appropriate for food-processing applications when required.
• Understand the importance of sanitary equipment design and avoiding potential product-contamination points.
• Prevent metal shavings, cutting fluids, lubricants, tools, and foreign materials from entering production areas or food-contact zones.
• Properly clean fabricated components before they are released for installation on production equipment.
• Maintain separation and control of materials used for food-contact and non-food-contact applications.
• Support production equipment repairs while maintaining plant food-safety requirements.
• Coordinate with Maintenance and Operations before returning repaired equipment to production.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Technical school, machinist apprenticeship, or machining certification preferred.
• 3+ years of manual machining experience preferred.
• Industrial maintenance or manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• Food-manufacturing experience preferred.
• Strong experience operating manual lathes and milling machines.
• Strong understanding of machining tolerances, fits, clearances, speeds, feeds, and tooling.
• Ability to read mechanical drawings and blueprints.
• Strong precision-measurement skills.
• Ability to reverse-engineer components from samples or damaged parts.
• Experience machining stainless steel strongly preferred.
• Ability to work with stainless steel, carbon steel, aluminum, plastics, and other industrial materials.
• Understanding of bearings, shafts, seals, sprockets, pulleys, couplings, and other mechanical components.
• Welding and fabrication experience is a plus.
• Basic CAD or mechanical drawing experience is a plus.

Required Knowledge & Skills

• Manual lathe operation
• Manual milling
• Precision measurement
• Stainless-steel machining
• Blueprint and mechanical drawing interpretation
• Reverse engineering
• Shaft and bearing fits
• Internal and external threading
• Keyways and shaft repair
• Drilling, boring, tapping, and reaming
• Tolerance and clearance calculations
• Mechanical troubleshooting
• Material identification
• Cutting-tool selection and setup
• Equipment repair and modification
• Food-manufacturing GMP and sanitation practices

Safety Responsibilities

• Follow all Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures.
• Follow machine guarding and machine-shop safety requirements.
• Wear required PPE.
• Inspect machine tools and tooling before operation.
• Safely secure workpieces before machining.
• Use appropriate lifting equipment for heavy components.
• Immediately report unsafe conditions, damaged tooling, or machine deficiencies.
• Never bypass safety devices or machine guarding.
• Follow all plant safety and food-safety policies.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand and operate machine tools for extended periods.
• Ability to lift and safely handle machine components and raw materials.
• Ability to bend, reach, climb, kneel, and work around industrial equipment.
• Ability to safely use hoists and other lifting devices.
• Ability to work in production environments that may include heat, cold, moisture, noise, and operating machinery.
• Ability to respond to equipment breakdowns throughout the manufacturing facility.

Performance Expectations

• Quality and accuracy of machined components.
• Equipment repair turnaround time.
• Response to production breakdowns.
• Reduction of equipment downtime.
• Quality of reverse-engineered components.
• Ability to manufacture obsolete or difficult-to-source replacement parts.
• Proper documentation of completed work.
• Machine-shop organization and tooling control.
• Safety and food-safety performance.

Required Knowledge & Skills

• Manual lathe operation
• Manual milling
• Precision measurement
• Stainless-steel machining
• Blueprint and mechanical drawing interpretation
• Reverse engineering
• Shaft and bearing fits
• Internal and external threading
• Keyways and shaft repair
• Drilling, boring, tapping, and reaming
• Tolerance and clearance calculations
• Mechanical troubleshooting
• Material identification
• Cutting-tool selection and setup
• Equipment repair and modification
• Food-manufacturing GMP and sanitation practices

Safety Responsibilities

• Follow all Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) procedures.
• Follow machine guarding and machine-shop safety requirements.
• Wear required PPE.
• Inspect machine tools and tooling before operation.
• Safely secure workpieces before machining.
• Use appropriate lifting equipment for heavy components.
• Immediately report unsafe conditions, damaged tooling, or machine deficiencies.
• Never bypass safety devices or machine guarding.
• Follow all plant safety and food-safety policies.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand and operate machine tools for extended periods.
• Ability to lift and safely handle machine components and raw materials.
• Ability to bend, reach, climb, kneel, and work around industrial equipment.
• Ability to safely use hoists and other lifting devices.
• Ability to work in production environments that may include heat, cold, moisture, noise, and operating machinery.
• Ability to respond to equipment breakdowns throughout the manufacturing facility.

Performance Expectations

• Quality and accuracy of machined components.
• Equipment repair turnaround time.
• Response to production breakdowns.
• Reduction of equipment downtime.
• Quality of reverse-engineered components.
• Ability to manufacture obsolete or difficult-to-source replacement parts.
• Proper documentation of completed work.
• Machine-shop organization and tooling control.
• Safety and food-safety performance.