Principal Reliability Advisor - Des Moines, IA

ADM; Des Moines (IA); On-site; USD 110,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

ADM is seeking a Principal Reliability Advisor to drive enterprise reliability programs across multiple processing sites. You will lead root cause analyses, develop robust maintenance strategies, and champion defect elimination.

This role emphasizes data-driven decision-making, FRACAS implementation, and mentoring regional teams to improve asset performance while managing cost and risk. Ideal candidates will have a strong engineering background, 8+ years in reliability, and proven ability to

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or similar technical discipline.
• 8+ years in reliability with at least 3 years in a corporate role, overseeing multiple plants.
• Subject Matter Expert in reliability, with focus on defect elimination.
• Strong knowledge of reliability principles, tools, and methodologies (e.g., FMEA, RCFA, RCM, PMO).
• Experience with Life Data Analysis and statistical tools to assess equipment capability and performance.
• Ability to coach, mentor, and train reliability professionals.
• Effective communication and ability to translate technical challenges into practical solutions.

Responsibilities

• Serve as SME in asset reliability processes and practices.
• Partner with regional teams to drive defect elimination and bad actor management.
• Review asset performance data to identify trends and support improvement plans.
• Guide maintenance and operations to refine preventative/predictive maintenance programs.
• Lead RCA efforts on critical failures and coordinate long-term fixes.
• Develop and embed FRACAS at sites.
• Lead or support asset criticality reviews with regional teams.
• Measure KPIs to track reliability across units.
• Use risk-based approaches to inform asset reinvestment plans and expenditures.
• Mentor reliability teams and upskill site staff.
• Maintain the asset strategies library for core equipment.

Skills

Leadership

Mentoring/Training

Communication skills

Stakeholder management

Strategic thinking

Influencing without authority

Travel readiness

Education

Bachelor’s degree in engineering

Tools

FMEA

RCFA

RCM

PMO

Life Data Analysis

Statistical tools

Job description

This is a permanent, full-time, exempt-level position.

• Ideal work locations for this position include Decatur, IL; Clinton, IA; Beech Grove (Indianapolis), IN; Cedar Rapids, IA; Des Moines, IA; or any larger ADM site. This is not a remote position and the individual will report into an ADM site for work.

ADM is seeking a Principal Reliability Advisor in our corporate Reliability Technology Center. The individual in this role will help drive improvements in asset performance related to unscheduled losses with an increased focused on maintenance strategy development, defect elimination, and asset performance management.

The ideal candidate will be a self-starter who is passionate about safety, a critical thinker, and effective communicator. He/she will also have experience in the end-to-end processes related to Reliability and Maintenance best practices within a large processing operation with multi-site responsibilities.

This position has priorities across multiple business units and will collaborate with Maintenance Managers, other business leaders, and peers across the company to implement and execute an enterprise-wide reliability program to drive a culture of improved asset performance. The successful individual will help implement the root cause failure analysis processes, build out the analytical tools for assessing underperforming assets, and optimize our maintenance strategies to meet sustainable asset performance goals. He/she will ensure that these strategies are implemented consistently in the CMMS and continuously improved upon.

Additionally, the individual in this role will be responsible to improve the skills and capabilities of reliability practitioners within the regional and site-based teams and help solve the more complex equipment reliability challenges at site. This individual is expected to drive significant and sustainable improvements in equipment reliability while optimizing cost and managing risk.

Primary Responsibilities

• Recognized subject matter expert and go to person in asset reliability processes and practices
• Partner with regional RCM and performance excellence teams to drive defect elimination and bad actor management processes to quickly improve asset downtime
• Review and analyze asset performance data and maintenance history to identify trends, predict failures, and supports improvement plans to close gaps
• Collaborate with and guide maintenance and operations teams to develop and refine preventative and predictive maintenance programs
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) efforts on critical equipment failures that materially impacts the business, and work with site and regional partners on long-term fixes to prevent recurrence
• Develop and help embed a Failure Reporting and Corrective Action System (FRACAS) at our sites
• Lead or significantly support asset criticality reviews in partnership with regional and site-based teams
• Measure and monitor Key Performance Indicators to track reliability performance across the multiple business units
• Use statistical risk-based approaches to determine optimal equipment life and use the results to help inform business and enterprise level asset reinvestment/restoration plans and their associated capital and operating expenditures
• Defect elimination process champion and support the upskilling site and regional reliability teams in its use and application
• Support sites and BU partners in developing their zero-based budgets based on asset condition, asset performance and business requirements
• Provide mentoring and training to site and regional teams on the use and application of reliability best practices and related tools
• Custodian of the asset strategies library for core, common and critical equipment

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Mechanical or Industrial), or a similar technical discipline
• 8+ years’ progressive experience in experience in the reliability field, with at least 3 years in a corporate role, ideally with oversight over multiple processing plants
• Subject Matter Expert in reliability with focus on defect elimination processes and practices
• Strong knowledge of reliability principles, tools, and methodologies (e.g., FMEA, RCFA, RCM, PMO)
• Subject Matter Expert in Life Data Analysis and other statistical tools used to assess equipment capability, condition and performance
• Sound understanding of process equipment design, operation and maintenance
• Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, and train reliability professionals
• Ability to translate both technical and business challenges into practical solutions, as it relates to asset reliability
• Ability to create collaborative relationships with stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to manage competing priorities
• Effective communication, and presentation skills
• Proven decision-making quality and drive for results
• Ability to influence without direct authority and lead change through othersAbility to travel to manufacturing facilities as needed (approximately 30%)

Preferred Qualifications

• Certified Reliability Engineer (CRE)
• Certified Maintenance Reliability Professional (CMRP)

Excited about this role but don’t think you meet every requirement listed? We encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this role or another one of our openings.

ADM requires the successful completion of a background check.