Sr. Reliability Engineer

Kentucky Distillers Association; Bardstown (KY); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Kentucky Distillers Association in Bardstown, KY is seeking a Sr. Reliability Engineer for the Heaven Hill bottling site to lead the bottling-site reliability program and reduce losses and lifecycle costs.

You will partner with Maintenance, Operations, Engineering, Quality, and Continuous Improvement to improve asset performance, lubrication, inspection, and predictive maintenance while expanding reliability practices to other facilities over time.

Responsibilities

• Lead the initial bottling-site reliability program for assigned assets, focusing on chronic losses, repeat failures, and lifecycle improvement opportunities.
• Use downtime, OEE, work orders, maintenance, and condition data to prioritize reliability work and quantify performance gaps.
• Lead cross-functional loss-elimination projects from problem definition through implementation, sustainment, and verified benefits.
• Participate in daily and weekly performance routines to connect reliability priorities with line losses and production plans.
• Maintain a visible reliability action plan showing priorities, owners, timing, risks, decisions, expected benefits, and verification status.
• Lead component-level breakdown analysis for critical assets; identify failure modes, contributing conditions, and actions that extend component life.
• Facilitate post-breakdown reviews for significant equipment failures and ensure corrective actions are tracked to verified closure.
• Partner with Maintenance and Operations to improve preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, lubrication, inspection, and basic-care strategies.
• Develop and use asset criticality, FMEA, failure-mode libraries, bad-actor lists, and critical-spare strategies.
• Partner with planners and supervisors to improve failure coding, work-order history, and maintenance feedback.
• Develop condition-monitoring routes and response standards for critical failure modes.
• Develop and maintain a practical obsolescence strategy for critical assets, controls, and components, including risk identification, lifecycle plans, critical-spare decisions, and escalation of replacement needs.
• Promote safe work practices and complete reliability actions in accordance with safety, quality, food-safety, GMP, and site work-control requirements.
• Spend substantial time in bottling, warehouse, and storage areas conducting observations, audits, troubleshooting, and project work; as responsibilities expand, provide similar on-site support at other facilities.
• Support scheduled production and maintenance windows, including off-shift or weekend work when required for critical troubleshooting, trials, or project execution.

Job description

If you are unable to complete this application due to a disability, contact this employer to ask for an accommodation or an alternative application process.

Sr. Reliability Engineer

Operations Shared Services G&A Senior Engineer Bardstown, KY, US

2 days ago Requisition ID: 2214

This role is based at our Bardstown, KY bottling location.

What the Role Is

The Sr. Reliability Engineer will lead the initial reliability program for assigned bottling-site assets, delivering measurable reductions in chronic losses, repeat failures, and lifecycle cost across Heaven Hill. The role partners with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, Quality, and Continuous Improvement to improve asset performance, component life, safety, and throughput. As the program matures, the role will apply proven practices and provide reliability support across additional facilities in alignment with business priorities.

This role combines strong technical and mechanical aptitude with disciplined problem solving and the ability to influence action across the organization. The Engineer supports assigned lines, assets, and projects as business needs require, beginning at the bottling site and expanding to other sites over time.

How You Will Spend Your Time?

Reliability Strategy and Loss Elimination

• Lead the initial bottling-site reliability program for assigned assets, focusing on chronic losses, repeat failures, and lifecycle improvement opportunities; establish repeatable practices that can be deployed at additional facilities over time.
• Use downtime, OEE, work-order, maintenance, and condition data to prioritize reliability work and quantify performance gaps.
• Lead cross-functional loss-elimination projects from problem definition through implementation, sustainment, and confirmed benefits.
• Participate in daily and weekly performance routines to connect reliability priorities with line losses and production plans.
• Maintain a visible reliability action plan showing priorities, owners, timing, risks, decisions, expected benefits, and verification status.

Failure Analysis and Maintenance Strategy

• Lead component-level breakdown analysis for critical assets; identify failure modes, contributing conditions, and actions that extend component life.
• Facilitate post-breakdown reviews for significant equipment failures and ensure corrective actions are tracked to verified closure.
• Partner with Maintenance and Operations to improve preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, lubrication, inspection, and basic-care strategies.
• Develop and use asset criticality, FMEA, failure-mode libraries, bad-actor lists, and critical-spare strategies.
• Partner with planners and supervisors to improve failure coding, work-order history, and maintenance feedback.
• Develop condition-monitoring routes and response standards for critical failure modes.
• Develop and maintain a practical obsolescence strategy for critical assets, controls, and components, including risk identification, lifecycle plans, critical-spare decisions, and escalation of replacement needs.

Capability Building and Standardization

• Advance site problem-solving capability by facilitating and coaching practical methods such as 5-Why, fishbone, A3, DMAIC, and root-cause analysis.
• Work with operators, technicians, and technical trainers to improve centerlines, CILs, troubleshooting standards, escalation paths, and operator basic care.
• Train and coach teams on reliability and problem-solving tools, with field observations and audits to verify adoption and effectiveness.
• Develop, implement, and audit reliability standards including criticality, failure coding, PM/PdM, condition monitoring, critical spares, and breakdown-review practices aligned with the enterprise reliability strategy.
• Partner with the Director, Enterprise Maintenance & Reliability to translate enterprise standards into effective site execution, identify gaps, and share proven bottling-site practices as the role expands to other facilities.
• Document analysis, standards, and lessons learned so successful improvements can be replicated, sustained, and scaled across facilities as the role’s scope expands.

Capital and Lifecycle Improvement

• Provide technical input to capital projects, equipment modifications, and commissioning activities to improve maintainability and reliability by design.
• Drive component design improvements for recurring failures and high-cost lifecycle issues.
• Identify opportunities for component standardization, critical-spare optimization, obsolescence risk mitigation, and vendor support.

Safety, Quality, and Working Expectations

• Promote safe work practices and complete reliability actions in accordance with safety, quality, food-safety, GMP, and site work-control requirements.
• Spend substantial time in bottling, warehouse, and storage areas conducting observations, audits, troubleshooting, and project work; as responsibilities expand, provide similar on-site support at other facilities. Use required PPE and follow all site safety procedures.
• Support scheduled production and maintenance windows, including off-shift or weekend work when required for critical troubleshooting, trials, or project execution.