Utilities Supervisor

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream; Laurel (MD); On-site; USD 90,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream in Laurel, MD is seeking an experienced Maintenance Manager to oversee site engineering practices and operations on the factory floor, ensuring production targets, quality specifications, and food safety standards are met.

You will lead maintenance teams, balance 25–30% maintenance and 75–80% supervision/training, coordinate with production, and drive rapid response to breakdowns while keeping the plant clean, safe and compliant.

Responsibilities

• Manage site maintenance and department. Ensure smooth running of factory machinery, either through managing others or direct fixes.
• Coordinate Production Plan with daily work and equipment readiness to ensure production is met.
• Drive the team to proactively identify issues and act without waiting for instructions.
• Maintain a clean, organized workspace and enforce safe working practices in production areas.

Job description

Effective and consistent management of the site engineering practice and operation. To consistently achieve production and cost targets minimizing waste and downtime, through effective management and upkeep of the processes, teams and equipment, so as to ensure that we achieve customer service level with our customers, through the manufacture of products to the right quality and specification. Covering all aspects of food safety.

This will be achieved by ensuring that engineering teams are effectively coordinated and managed, through having a clear knowledge and understanding of requirements, providing hands‑on technical skills (lead by example), attention to detail and providing all teams with inspiration, guidance, motivation, training and multi‑skilling.

Role and Activity

Site Maintenance and Department

• The position is on the factory floor – definitely a hands‑on role – technical utilities skills required to train, teach and develop employees. 25% - 30% Maintenance work; 75-80% Supervision/Training.
• Ensure smooth running of the factory machinery – either through management of others or fixing the matter directly.
• Production Plan, kept informed and updated of any changes to this plan in order to plan your team’s daily work and equipment readiness enables plan completion, ensure all machinery is available for production when required.
• Drive the team to look for issues, and not wait to be told or instructed to complete a task.
• Awareness of all machinery problems or any unfinished jobs, as well as anticipated timing for repair.
• Keep a full library of machine’s manuals, along with support mechanisms linked to site or group resources when information and support is required.
• Ensure the maintenance team quickly responds to all maintenance calls.
• Ensure effective shift hand‑over within your team making sure they are held accountable for what they do, clear on what was not done (and why), and that the right information on issues and actions are brought to the DRM.
• Create a one person for one job policy unless the job requires more or for training purposes.
• Ensure all areas are operating under control, the workplace, workshop and stores are clean, organized and tidy by maintaining a clean as you go policy in all areas.
• Drive the production process to ensure that the products produced meet customer specification, quality and food safety.
• Ensure the completion of Maintenance Tracking Sheet (MTS) inspections for the Mechanical Integrity of the Ammonia Refrigeration Systems and IIAR Bulletin 109 Inspections for the Ammonia System Equipment.
• Ensures Utilities Systems involving Ammonia Refrigeration, Compressed Air, Boilers, Steam, Condensate Return, Glycol, Brine, HVAC, Fire Sprinklers, Fire Pumps, Fire Risers, Wastewater Pretreatment, and Natural Gas are operated, inspected, and maintained in a safe, productive, and reliable manner to meet our business needs and comply with regulatory requirements including Process Safety Management (PSM) and our Risk Management Plan for environmental concerns.
• Operate and repair electro‑mechanical equipment such as ammonia refrigeration valve groups, freezers, electric motors, pumps, ammonia compressors, condensers, forced air evaporators, compressed air systems, steam systems, PLC’s and utilities processes, machines, and equipment.
• Sustain and improve the PSM process.
• Ensure that daily, weekly and monthly production meets targeted outputs through effective management of equipment and engineering resources.
• Spend majority of work hours with a visible presence in production to guide, coach, monitor and control the issues and activities and be accessible to all.
• Communicate effectively with all the team, not just “Send and Forget” emails.
• Carry out performance reviews with your team and ensure training is done where needed.
• Proactively looking for areas of improvement and to adopt techniques and practices that ensure that there is a quality environment in production.
• Ensure that health and safety requirements are fully met, and a positive safety culture is maintained throughout the factory.
• Ensure that you walk the talk and use the “looking eyes”, attend to the issues as and when they happen. The daily site walk must deliver a clean, tidy site all over.
• Ensure that you are the focal point for the team.
• Represent The Froneri Way of working through the behaviors and characteristics in our Operating Model and Core Values
• To ensure the use of other group resources to ensure synergies are carried through, driving knowledge and issues to be shared.
• Managing PSM program
• Managing or supervising a team
• Briefing & de-briefing the team on daily basis.
• Engineering stock is accurate and is kept at a controlled value, at the same time ensuring critical spares are available.
• Risk assessment of all critical spares.
• Know what has been used and ordered daily.
• Create links with other sites where feasible to not duplicate stores stock.
• Ensure redundant stock does not build up.

Maintenance Tasks

• Ensure the maintenance plan has purpose and evolves to allow the maximum time available for production, no strip and rebuild for the sake of it! Only replace worn/ broken parts – condition based rather than planned based maintenance.
• Drive the tasks through required work from observations and data, not just theoretical plans.
• Full evaluation of, cost, availability and requirement to decide if run to failure or replace.
• Maintenance always follows production, not the other way around.
• Ensure that maintenance tasks adhere to company’s food safety polices at all times.
• Ensure all working practices comply with company rules and procedures in order that you and any other persons using the area of work can do so safely.
• Always keep full and up to date records of all equipment to ensure traceability

Budget

• Be cost efficient and effective - treat all spends as if they are your own.
• To manage, monitor and control costs to ensure that site costs are within budgeted requirements.

Measurable Outcomes

• Time spent on the factory floor
• Technical skills & abilities to personally repair / maintain equipment
• Down time
• Balance between planned & reactive
• Zero rejections for product food safety and quality issues due machinery
• Waste driven by poor equipment performance
• Daily, weekly, monthly production targets are fully met
• Costs are maintained at/below budgeted levels
• Direct Team to receive a performance review
• Training and development plans in place for all team, producing measurable business benefits
• Quality and improvement initiatives being implemented
• Reduction in accidents and incidents on a YOY basis
• An improving trend on the submitted weekly KPI’s
• Projects delivered on time within budget
• Drive actions from quality benchmarking

Levels of Responsibility

• All site process and equipment.
• Break down interventions, maintenance and improvements
• Production Targets
• Maintenance budget
• Health & Safety
• Team management
• Training and development of the team
• Impeccable hygiene standards always

In this position, the employee will regularly work with and around others; in a wet and/or humid environment; in areas of high noise level; and around mechanical, electrical, and pressurized equipment. The work is fast paced.

• Cold Temperatures: Parts of the facility, such as storage and production areas, may be kept at low temperatures.
• Requires use of cold‑protective PPE.
• May involve standing, lifting, and walking in refrigerated zones for extended periods.
• Fast‑Paced: Workers often operate under strict timelines to meet production quotas.
• High‑speed manufacturing floor with frequent movement, line assignment changes, and tight production timelines.
• Standing for Long Hours: Many roles require prolonged standing and repetitive tasks.
• Repetitive hand and arm movements required.
• Must be able to stand for hours with frequent bending, reaching, and lifting.
• Food Safety Regulations: Employees must follow hygiene and safety guidelines, including wearing protective gear (gloves, hairnets, etc.).
• Team‑Oriented: Workers collaborate to ensure smooth production and packaging.

The position involves frequent exposure to nuts and other potential allergens.

The pay scale for this role takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs. At Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their role, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. The pay range for prospective employees in this role is between $90,000 to $110,000 per year, with opportunities for overtime, shift differential, cold premium pay and annual bonuses (variable depending on company performance).

Visa sponsorship not available. Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States now and in the future. The company does not provide visa sponsorship or any immigration support (including STEM OPT training plan and H‑1B lottery registration) for this position.

Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Inc. provides equal employment opportunities for all applicants, regardless of race, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic.