Maintenance Supervisor

Kerry; Owatonna (MN); On-site; USD 70,000 - 109,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical

Dental

Vision

Paid time off

401(k) plan

Employee Share Plan

Life insurance

Disability insurance

Tuition reimbursement

Job summary

Kerry is seeking a Maintenance Supervisor at its Owatonna facility to lead maintenance, reliability, and engineering functions, ensuring high equipment availability and safe operations in a food manufacturing environment.

The role focuses on maintenance strategy, project execution, and a strong safety culture, with hands-on coaching of technicians and a 60–75% production floor presence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, electrical, or industrial engineering (or equivalent technical field).
• Chief or 1st Class Boiler License.
• 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience in maintenance/engineering environments.
• Strong safety leadership mindset and problem solving skills.
• Food, beverage, or regulated manufacturing experience.
• Reliability, TPM, or continuous improvement exposure.
• Familiarity with utilities (steam, compressed air, water treatment, HVAC).

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute maintenance strategy to ensure reliability, compliance, and cost efficiency.
• Manage annual maintenance budget and drive cost optimization.
• Ensure compliance with GMP, HACCP, safety regulations, and safety requirements.
• Plan and oversee capital projects and equipment installations.
• Lead spare parts management and maintenance execution discipline.
• Oversee weekly maintenance schedule and assign work orders.

Skills

Safety leadership

Problem solving

Reliability

Continuous improvement

Education

Bachelor’s degree in mechanical/electrical/industrial engineering

Boiler license (1st class)

Job description

Kerry is the world's leading taste and nutrition company for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical industries. Every day we partner with customers to create healthier, tastier and more sustainable products that are consumed by billions of people across the world. Our vision is to be our customers' most valued partner, creating a world of sustainable nutrition. A career with Kerry offers you an opportunity to shape the future of food while providing you opportunities to explore and grow in a truly global environment.

About the role

The Maintenance Supervisor role owns the “who, when, and how well” of maintenance, reliability, and engineering functions at the Owatonna agglomeration facility. This role is responsible for ensuring high equipment availability, optimizing asset performance, managing capital projects, and developing a technically capable maintenance organization that supports safe and efficient operations in a food manufacturing environment.

Key responsibilities

Maintenance Execution & Schedule Control

• Develop and execute the maintenance strategy to ensure reliability, compliance, and cost efficiency.
• Manage the annual maintenance budget, monitor spending, and drive cost optimization initiatives.
• Ensure all maintenance and engineering activities comply with GMP, HACCP, food safety, and safety regulations.
• Plan and oversee capital projects and equipment installations, ensuring proper design, commissioning, and documentation.
• Lead the improvement of spare parts management, planning accuracy, and overall maintenance execution discipline.
• Own execution and compliance of the weekly maintenance schedule, assigning work orders to appropriate trades and shifts for corrective WOs, PMs, and rebuilds.

Preventive & Predictive Maintenance

• Lead execution of planned, corrective, and reactive maintenance work.
• Participate in reliability initiatives, equipment upgrades, and continuous improvement projects.
• Collaborate with plant teams to coordinate maintenance shutdowns and minimize production disruptions.
• Spend 60–75% of time on production floor, coaching and supporting Kerry technicians, mechanics, electricians, utilities, and other service providers.
• Audit work quality, adherence to standard job plans, and craftsmanship standards.
• Identify skill gaps and support training, mentoring, and professional development of the maintenance team.

Technical Oversight

• Provide technical leadership across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and utility systems (e.g., boilers, compressed air).
• Assist with troubleshooting complex equipment failures impacting safety, quality, and/or production.

Safety, Quality & Compliance

• Champion a safety first culture, ensuring compliance with Kerry safety standards, LOTO, permit requirements, and safe work practices.
• Ensure maintenance work complies with food safety, GMP, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Reinforce proper chemical handling, housekeeping, and documentation standards.
• Ensure all work orders are accurately executed, confirmed, and closed in SAP PM/CMMS by end of shift.
• Maintain strong data quality to support planning, scheduling, and reliability analysis.
• Provide any insights to improve job plans, parts readiness, and schedule integrity.

Performance Management & Continuous Improvement

• Monitor and report on key performance indicators such as PM compliance, urgent work reduction, downtime drivers, and backlog health.
• Support maintenance projects and equipment improvement initiatives.
• Drive continuous improvement in maintenance processes, reliability practices, and team effectiveness.

Qualifications and skills

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering (or equivalent technical field).
• Chief or 1st Class Boiler License.
• 7–10 years of progressive leadership experience and strong working knowledge of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and utility systems.
• Strong safety leadership mindset and problem solving skills.
• Food, beverage, or regulated manufacturing experience.
• Reliability, TPM, or continuous improvement exposure.
• Familiarity with utilities (steam, compressed air, water treatment, HVAC).

Compensation Data

The pay range for this position is $70,100 - $109,050 in Annual Salary. Kerry typically does not hire an individual at the top or near the top of the range, as we are a pay-for-performance company, and this range is set to continue to reward performance annually while in role. Compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. The specific compensation offered to a candidate within the above range may be influenced by a variety of factors including skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity. In addition, this position is also eligible to earn a performance-based incentive compensation. Kerry offers a competitive benefits package, including medical, dental, vision, paid time off, a 401(k) plan with employee and company contribution opportunities, Employee Share Plan, Life, disability, and accident insurance, and tuition reimbursement. This job posting is anticipated to expire on November 17th, 2026.

We may use artificial intelligence tools to support the review and assessment of applications and assist with scheduling interviews. We do not use AI to make decisions during the interview process. All candidate assessments and hiring decisions are made by our recruitment and leadership teams.

Kerry is an equal opportunity employer. Employment decisions are made without regard to race, color, religion, national or ethnic origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. Kerry will only employ those who are legally authorized to work in the United States for this opening. Any offer of employment is conditional upon the successful completion of a background investigation and drug screen. Additional information can be found at: Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal (dol.gov).