Director of Maintenance

A long-established industrial manufacturer is hiring a Director of Maintenance to lead maintenance operations across its North American plants, anchored at its primary Chicago-area facility. This is a senior, hands‐on leadership seat for someone who has standardized maintenance across multiple sites and can turn reactive shops into planned, reliability-driven operations. You will own the programs, the metrics, and the teams that keep heavy production equipment running, and you will have a clear mandate to build something rather than maintain the status quo. $170K -$190K, based on experience Benefits include: Health, Dental, Vision, 401K w/ match, PTO, holidays Onsite, expected travel at 30% Overview Stand up and standardize preventive and predictive maintenance programs across multiple manufacturing plants, starting with the flagship site Reduce unplanned downtime and raise equipment reliability through planning, scheduling, and root‐cause practices Define and track maintenance KPIs and use them to drive measurable improvement Lead capital improvement and equipment upgrade projects from justification through completion Build, mentor, and lead maintenance teams and supervisors across facilities Keep maintenance operations compliant with all safety and regulatory requirements Partner with plant leadership to align maintenance with production schedules and output goals Own the maintenance budget, resource planning, and cost control Preferred Skills and Experience Bachelor's degree in a relevant field preferred; advanced degree a plus Safety certifications and a working command of workplace safety standards 7 to 15 years of progressive industrial maintenance experience, including a leadership role in a manufacturing environment Strongly Preferred: multi‐site or multi‐plant maintenance leadership Hands‐on technical depth in industrial electrical systems, hydraulics, pneumatics, and plumbing systems Track record implementing preventive/predictive maintenance and continuous improvement that cut downtime Experience managing capital projects and equipment upgrades Strong planning, goal‐setting, budgeting, and execution ability Able to read and interpret technical prints and documents and write clear reports Keywords Director of Maintenance, Maintenance Director, Maintenance Manager, Plant Maintenance, Industrial Maintenance, Manufacturing Maintenance, Reliability, Reliability Engineering, Preventive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance, PM program, CMMS, TPM, Root Cause Analysis, Downtime Reduction, Continuous Improvement, Lean Manufacturing, Industrial Electrical, Hydraulics, Pneumatics, Capital Projects, Equipment Reliability, Maintenance KPIs, Multi‐site Maintenance, Asset Management, OSHA, Safety Compliance, Maintenance Planning