Reliability and Projects Engineer

Specialized Career Search, Inc.; Batesville (AR); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Specialized Career Search, Inc. is seeking a Reliability & Projects Engineer for a large-scale mineral processing facility in rural Arkansas.

This hybrid role blends reliability engineering with capital project management to systematically improve equipment uptime, cut unplanned maintenance costs, and drive project execution across mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil scopes. You will partner with the Maintenance Planner and Foreman, build out the CMMS with task libraries and

Qualifications

• 5-10 years in maintenance engineering or reliability in heavy industry.
• Hands-on with rotary kiln operations or pyroprocessing preferred.
• Experience building/improving CMMS; not just using one.
• Strong data analysis and maintenance metrics skills.
• Experience managing or supporting capital projects.

Responsibilities

• Lead reliability-centered maintenance program and shift culture to planned maintenance.
• Build out and maintain CMMS, hierarchies, PM libraries, and dashboards.
• Develop and report reliability KPIs (MTBF, MTTR, costs).
• Perform root cause analyses and translate findings into actions.
• Identify critical equipment and prioritize maintenance resources.
• Design and audit preventive maintenance schemes and track compliance.
• Evaluate condition monitoring technologies for scale.

Skills

Reliability engineering

Maintenance planning

Data analysis

CMMS

Root cause analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering

Tools

MP2 CMMS

Revit

AutoCAD

Navisworks

3D modeling

Job description

We are seeking a skilled and experienced Reliability & Projects Engineer to join our operations team. This is a hybrid technical role – equal parts reliability engineering and capital project management – created to systematically improve equipment uptime, reduce unplanned maintenance costs, and drive project execution at a large scale industrial minerals facility. The position is not a frontline supervisory role. The successful candidate will work alongside our Maintenance Planner and Maintenance Foreman as the technical expert behind our reliability program: building out the CMMS, developing KPI frameworks, leading root cause analyses, producing engineering drawings and 3D models, and managing or co-managing capital projects across mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil scopes.

Key Responsibilities (Reliability Engineering):

• Lead and continuously improve the facility’s reliability-centered maintenance program, shifting the maintenance culture from reactive repair to planned, condition-based strategies.
• Build out and maintain the CMMS (currently MP2), including equipment hierarchies, PM task libraries, maintenance and production modules, and reporting dashboards.
• Develop, track, and report reliability and maintenance KPIs – MTBF, MTTR, planned vs. unplanned maintenance ratios, and maintenance cost per ton – with regular reporting toplant leadership.
• Conduct and facilitate root cause analysis (RCA) on significant equipment failures; translate findings into corrective actions and CMMS updates.
• Identify critical equipment using failure mode analysis; prioritize maintenance resources accordingly.
• Design, implement, and audit preventive maintenance schemes; track PM compliance and demonstrate measurable improvement over time.
• Evaluate and recommend condition monitoring technologies appropriate for facility scale and equipment criticality.

Key Responsibilities (Capital Projects):

• Manage or co-manage capital reliability projects from scoping through commissioning –mechanical, structural, electrical, and civil scopes.
• Develop capital project justifications with supporting reliability data, cost-benefit analysis, and ROI frameworks.
• Produce 3D BIM models and construction-quality 2D engineering drawings for new capital projects, supporting design review, contractor coordination, clash detection, and permitting.
• Build and maintain an as-built documentation library for existing plant equipment and infrastructure using Revit, AutoCAD, or equivalent tools.
• Lead or support planning and execution of major outages and equipment overhauls, coordinating with the Maintenance Planner, Maintenance Foreman, and departmental supervisors.
• Track capital project schedules, budgets, and milestones; elevate risks proactively to the Plant Manager.

Key Responsibilities (Financial & Administrative):

• Assist in annual maintenance budget development, capital planning, and cost forecasting.
• Provide data-drive analysis to support maintenance spending decisions; help identify cost drivers and control expenditures.
• Maintain accurate equipment records and project documentation in the CMMS and project tracking systems.

Key Responsibilities (Safety & Compliance):

• Conduct all work in compliance with MSHA regulations and company safety policies.
• Integrate safety improvements into reliability and capital project scopes – designing out hazards where possible.
• Participate in facility safety programs, audits, and incident investigations as required.

Key Responsibilities (Cross-Functional Collaboration):

• Partner daily with the Maintenance Planner and Maintenance Foreman; serve as the technical resource for complex maintenance decisions.
• Collaborate with Mining, Production, and Process supervisors on equipment performance, project planning, and outage coordination.
• Participate in on-call rotation to share after-hours response load with the maintenance team during critical equipment failures.

Required Qualifications:

• 5-10 years of progressive experience in maintenance engineering, reliability engineering, or a related discipline in a heavy industrial environment.
• Hands-on experience with rotary kiln operations and/or pyroprocessing; lime, cement, or comparable mineral processing strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with bulk material handling equipment; jaw and cone crushers, conveyor belts, screw conveyors, bucket elevators, and dust collectors.
• Working knowledge of roller millers – Raymond roller mills and/or ball mills – for solid fuel and/or ground material applications.
• Experience building or substantially improving a CMMS, not simply using one.
• Proven ability to perform and facilitate root cause analysis and translate findings into corrective action.
• Strong data analysis skills; proficiency with Microsoft Excel; ability to build and interpret maintenance metrics.
• Demonstrated experience managing or supporting capital projects, including scope development, budgeting, and contractor management.
• MSHA mining safety training or equivalent heavy industrial safety qualification.
• Willing to live and work in a rural, small-town environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mining Engineering, or a closely related discipline. Equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered.
• Mechanical and electrical cross-training; candidates with both disciplines are particularly competitive.
• Proficiency in BIM and CAD tools – Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks, or equivalent – including 3D modeling of industrial equipment and structures and production of construction-quality 2D drawings. Experience with as-built documentation of existing facilities is a strong plus.
• Experience with condition monitoring programs; vibration analysis, thermographic inspection, oil analysis, or ultrasound testing.
• Prior experience with SEMA primary crushers or similar bult material handling systems.
• Familiarity with reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), or similar reliability frameworks.
• Exposure to process