Maintenance Manager 1st Shift

Chicago, IL; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 97,000 - 129,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

Dental/Vision Insurance

Employee Incentive Plan

Flexible Spending Account

Cash Accumulation Plan-401K

Life/AD&D Insurance

Short- Term/Long-Term Disability

Vacation Plan

Paid Holidays

Tuition Reimbursement

Maternity/Paternity Leave

Pet Insurance

Job summary

New Weds Foods in Chicago, IL is seeking a Maintenance Manager to lead plant engineering and maintenance teams in a high-volume bakery. You will elevate equipment reliability, minimize downtime on continuous-mix lines, and drive a shift toward predictive maintenance.

This role oversees ovens, proofers, spiral freezers, and automated packaging, ensures GMP/OSHA compliance, and partners with QA and sanitation to sustain food safety while managing MRO budgets and contractor work.

Qualifications

• BS degree in engineering or equivalent education and training.
• 6–8 years of plant experience with 3–4 years supervisory experience.
• Working knowledge of GMP, OSHA and production needs.
• Ability to manage contractors and complex maintenance programs.
• Knowledge of maintenance jargon and best practices.

Responsibilities

• Maximize uptime of bakery equipment, including ovens, proofers, and conveyors.
• Implement predictive maintenance strategies and MTTR/MTBF analysis.
• Own CMMS to track work orders and optimize maintenance.
• Lead safety and sanitation compliance, LOTO and audit readiness.
• Manage budget and coordination with contractors on CapEx projects.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Contractor coordination

GMP knowledge

OSHA compliance

Education

BS Degree in Engineering

Tools

CMMS (Maintenance Management System)

Thermal imaging equipment

Vibration analysis tools

Job description

Summary:

The Maintenance Manager leads the plant engineering and maintenance teams inside our high-volume bakery and breading production facility. This role ensures maximum equipment reliability, minimizes downtime on critical continuous-mix lines, and maintains strict compliance with food safety standards. The ideal candidate will transition the facility from traditional preventive maintenance to a data-driven, predictive maintenance (PdM) model, managing specialized equipment like industrial ovens, proofers, spiral freezers, and automated packaging arrays.

Essential Functions:

Asset Reliability & Bakery Automation

• Bakery Equipment Upkeep: Maximize the uptime of critical assets, including automated flour silos, pneumatic ingredient delivery systems, continuous mixers, divider/rounders, intermediate proofers, and tunnel ovens.
• Predictive Strategy: Implement condition-monitoring programs (such as thermal imaging on oven bearings and vibration analysis on high-speed slicer motors) to catch failures before they cause line stoppages.
• CMMS Optimization: Serve as the functional owner of the Computerized Maintenance Management System to track work orders, analyze Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and optimize Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
• Breading Line Automation: Oversee specialized breading production machinery, including continuous dryers, multi-stage mills, particle sizers, and high-speed tumbling/coating systems.

Combustible Dust, Sanitary Design & Compliance

• Combustible Dust Control: Enforce strict maintenance protocols for explosion mitigation systems, dust collectors, and ATEX/NFPA-compliant electrical enclosures to manage airborne flour and ingredient dust hazards.
• Sanitation Alignment: Partner with the Sanitation and QA teams to schedule maintenance interventions that integrate seamlessly into strict equipment washdown and dry-cleaning windows.
• Foreign Material Prevention: Enforce rigid tool-accountability programs and post-repair inspections to eliminate the risk of loose hardware, metal shavings, or conveyor belt fragments entering the food stream.
• Audit Readiness: Maintain audit-ready documentation for GFSI (SQF/BRC), FDA, and local regulatory bodies, with a heavy emphasis on tracking food-grade (H1) lubricants in high-temperature oven environments.

Team Leadership & Safety Culture

• Skills Upskilling: Train and upskill mechanics and automation technicians in PLC troubleshooting, robotics, and the unique mechanical needs of high-speed bakery slicing and bagging equipment.
• Shift Handover: Enforce standardized shift-handover protocols to ensure seamless communication and continuity on complex, multi-shift repairs.
• Safety Leadership: Champion an OSHA-compliant workplace, meticulously managing Lockout/Tagout (LOTO) protocols for confined spaces like mixers, proofer enclosures, and industrial ovens.

Financial & Infrastructure Management

• Budget & MRO: Manage the annual maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) budget, optimizing spare parts inventory for specialized bakery components (e.g., custom oven chains, modular conveyor belting).
• Utility Oversight: Oversee plant utility infrastructure, including high-pressure boilers (for proofer humidity control), air compressors, and industrial refrigeration/chiller systems.
• Contractor Management: Supervise third-party vendors and contractors during capital expenditure (CapEx) installations and major structural facility overhauls.

Benefits:

• Medical Insurance
• Prescription Drug Plan
• Dental/Vision Insurance
• Employee Incentive Plan
• Flexible Spending Account
• Cash Accumulation Plan-401K
• Life/AD&D Insurance
• Short- Term/Long-Term Disability
• Vacation Plan
• Paid Holidays
• Employee Assistance Program
• Adoption Assistance Program
• Tuition Reimbursement
• Maternity/Paternity Leave
• Pet Insurance

Salary:

• $96,975.00-$129,300.00 per year.

Qualifications:

• BS Degree in an Engineering Field Preferred or equivalent Education, Experience and Training.
• 6-8 years of Plant Experience with 3-4 years of supervisory experience.
• Through knowledge of Maintenance jargon, Maintenance Best Practices Knowledge.
• Proven ability to work with contractors for successful use of their needed talents.
• Working knowledge of GMP, OSHA and Production needs.
• People skills to manage a complex department and get the work done on time using experience and competencies.
• Ability to pass required testing

Work Environment:

Ability to work in a variety of environments. Requires standing, bending, lifting as well as sitting. Job requires Physical Stamina to work with team in solving and maintaining equipment problems and installations as needed. Ability to work 8 – 12-hour shifts, sometimes 7 days a week. Requires eye-hand coordination. Ability to work in a plant with many needs and various skill levels from mechanical and electrical to electronic and pneumatic, forklifts and A/C. Candidates with allergies may not be able to work in the plant.

Disclaimer:

The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. New Weds Foods is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

Newly Weds Foods will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States without assistance or support from Newly Weds Foods. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background investigation and drug screen.