Maintenance Specialist

Unilever Deutschland GmbH; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 60,000 - 88,000; Full time

Job summary

Unilever PLC in Chicago is seeking a Maintenance Specialist to coordinate a team of maintenance technicians on their shift, ensuring timely completion of tasks and escalation when needed. You’ll contribute to reliability and safety programs within a fast-paced FMCG manufacturing environment.

The role requires a high school diploma, 2+ years leading maintenance teams, strong troubleshooting, and good communication.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma required.
• Minimum 2 years leading maintenance teams in fast-paced FMCG manufacturing.
• Strong troubleshooting skills and problem-solving ability.
• Excellent communication and teamwork capabilities.
• Experience making reliability/maintenance decisions to meet needs.

Responsibilities

• Communicate issues to shift coordinators to ensure consistent messages and policy application.
• Support maintenance team in troubleshooting, parts procurement, or escalation.
• Build preventative maintenance schedules and prioritize by equipment criticality.
• Work with Production Supervisor to achieve performance and OEE targets.
• Ensure audits for maintenance, quality and safety are carried out.

Skills

Troubleshooting

Communication

Leadership

Team coordination

Independent work

Reliability decisions

CMMS

Allen Bradley controls

Education

High School Diploma

Tools

CMMS

Allen Bradley

Job description

Earlier this year, Unilever announced an agreement to combine its Foods business with McCormick & Company, creating a scaled global flavour powerhouse. The proposed combination would bring together iconic Foods brands, including Hellmann’s and Knorr, with McCormick’s portfolio to create a global leader across spices, seasonings, condiments and complementary food categories, supported by strong retail and foodservice platforms. McCormick brings more than 135 years of heritage, a presence in 150+ countries and a portfolio of trusted brands.The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions, with completion estimated for mid-2027. **JOB PURPOSE** Maintenance Specialist coordinates the team of maintenance technicians on their designated shift. Maintenance Specialist is responsible for ensuring completion of all maintenance tasks in their assigned area and making sure the lead and manager are aware if there are any gaps. The position ensures the correct resources are being applied to each problem and escalates to the manager and lead when additional help is needed. You’ll be part of a team that believes in doing work that matters — for people and the planet. Because here, we don’t just hire for jobs. We invite you to be part of something bigger. **KEY RESPONSIBILITIES** Communicate issues to other shift coordinators to ensure consistent messages and consistent application of all company policies, programs, rules and regulations. Support maintenance team in troubleshooting, finding/procuring parts, or escalating issues as required. Build preventative maintenance schedules and prioritize based on equipment criticality. Responsible for working with on shift Production Supervisor to achieve performance and overall equipment effectiveness targets. Ensure maintenance, quality and safety audits are carried out by the team to ensure compliance with internal requirements. Work with the maintenance lead and reliability supervisor to determine root cause of breakdowns and develop countermeasures for repeat issues. Review short and medium-term plans for equipment maintenance with the maintenance lead and operations team. Develop long-term plans with input from the managers, supervisors and operations team and ensure execution of the plans. Working as a team with Supervisors, Maintenance team members, and Operations to plan, procure and document activities for the enhancement of machines in the assigned area. Contacting vendors and manufacturers as needed for support in resolving issues or deploying projects. Participate in safety or quality reviews and ensure corrective actions are carried out. **REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS** High School Diploma. At least two (2) years of experience as a maintenance supervisor/coordinator in fast paced manufacturing environment within FMCG. Food manufacturing is strongly preferred. Strong troubleshooting skills. Excellent communication skills. Experience leading a team of maintenance technicians toward a common goal. Must be capable of working independently and in a team environment. Experience making reliability/maintenance decisions to meet needs. Proven track record of implementing improvement ideas. **PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS** Experience using a CMMS system Controls/Automation experience with a strong preference to Allen Bradley controls