Papermill Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor

White Mountain Paper

Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor

Gorham, New Hampshire

Pay Range: $100,000 – $130,000 per year

The Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor is responsible for the effective execution of all mechanical maintenance and assigned projects at White Mountain Paper. This role develops millwrights, the lubrication technician, the planner/storeroom, other White Mountain personnel, and contractors into a trained, committed maintenance team. The supervisor also provides equipment expertise and technical guidance for Tissue Machine 6, stock preparation, the steam plant, and other mechanical systems in the area.

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or equivalent experience. High school or trade school is acceptable with Journeyman A millwright qualification.
• Experience: Mechanical background required. Electrical background is useful. Maintenance engineer or maintenance supervisor experience is preferred where there is no journeyman trade qualification.
• Ability to read blueprints and shop drawings, and to sketch.
• Familiarity with work orders, priorities, and schedules.
• Knowledge of White Mountain reliability practices.
• Strong planning and organization skills.
• Written and spoken English proficiency.
• Sense of urgency. Ability to issue instructions clearly and explain them. Treats people as individuals. Delegates effectively and allows people to grow. Directs and coaches.
• Proficiency in Outlook, Word, Excel, and the CMMS. Microsoft Project preferred. AutoCAD is a plus.

The Mechanical Maintenance Supervisor is accountable for the mechanical knowledge required of a Journeyman A millwright, including:

• Lockout and tagout, mill hazards, line breaking, hot work, confined space, fall protection, and rigging.
• Precision measurement, fits, and tolerances.
• Bearings, shafts, couplings, alignment, and soft foot.
• Vibration.
• Pumps, mechanical seals, and packing.
• Gearboxes, belts, and chain.
• Hydraulics, pneumatics, and lubrication.
• Fasteners, mechanical drawings, and nameplates.
• Yankee bearings, doctors, and steam joint. Refiners. Rolls and reel. Steam plant mechanical equipment.

1. Control of Job Execution

Directs maintenance in the performance of approved work. Sets the standard for quality, duration, cost, and thoroughness of all work in the area.

• Reviews the planned job package for completeness and correctness. Adjusts labor, materials, parts, methods, and priorities. Advises the Planner of the change and the reason. The Planner sets these items; they remain the supervisor’s responsibility.
• Requests overtime approval when essential and assigns overtime under the current practice and agreement.
• Assigns the next day’s scheduled jobs to mechanics the evening before the job. Assignments match the skill the person has or the skill the person needs to learn.
• Checks jobs in progress for quality and efficiency.
• Visits each job during the day.
• Stays with job progress, addresses delays, and keeps the job moving.
• Ensures housekeeping and safe work practices are followed.
• Improves the procedure where it is weak. Demonstrates the method when that is the gap.
• Holds safety discussions and meetings.
• Observes skill shortfalls and training needs.
• Sets the expectation for time lost between jobs, at breaks, and at shift change.
• Maintains orderly conduct of the team against company policy and work rules.
• Prevents delays. Follows up on overruns and interruptions. Decides unanticipated developments in the time the job requires.
• Knows job cost in man-hours and materials. Looks for ways to improve asset uptime.
• Checks quality and progress at milestone points.
• Motivates and applies discipline when called for.
• Makes the tactical calls. Stays as close to the schedule as the day allows.
• Reassigns the crew and arranges material and equipment when the day changes.
• Communicates with the Planner, Production, and maintenance personnel throughout the day.
• Participates in the Manufacturing Work System for maintenance execution.
• Plans jobs when a package is not available and the work cannot wait.

2. Follow-Up

Looks at what was done and what should change the next time the same job is performed. The mechanic suggests the improvement. Equipment history is used to find repeat problems, build corrective work, and prepare the budget.

• Confirms that all required work is complete.
• Sets the standard that the mechanic is present when job quality is checked.
• Monitors work against the quality specification.
• Coordinates the handoff between shifts.
• Requires accurate time and material on the job, and a closeout with cause, action, component, and condition found.
• Debriefs the mechanic. Sends the improvement to the Planner for the next package.
• Reviews the result of the action taken.
• Acceptance of completed work is indicated by the internal customer.
• Closes the work order, indicating physical completion.
• Initiates corrective work orders from inspections and other finds.
• Facilitates outage critiques.

3. Motivation and Training

Keeps the crew motivated and skilled. Knows the skills the equipment requires and the shortfalls of the people doing the work, including operators where they perform maintenance. Provides internal and external training to close those gaps.

• Indoctrinates new maintenance personnel on expectations.
• Holds safety, quality, complaint, and cost meetings with the team.
• Recognizes failure prevention and repair quality.
• Controls tardiness, absenteeism, and vacations.
• Listens to the team.
• Handles disagreements promptly and fairly.
• Advises Production on how to operate equipment with less damage and less cost.
• Advises the Tissue Machine 6 Manager of equipment that takes excessive maintenance and recommends the repair.
• Looks for ways to eliminate maintenance work and lengthen the time between repairs.
• Performs other maintenance and engineering tasks assigned by the Mill Manager.

4. Maintenance Checkbook

• Owns mechanical maintenance spending: parts, contractor labor, and overtime.
• Cuts the down-day and annual outage lists to the hours and the money available.
• Knows pre-outage cost before the lock.
• Holds the crew to the labor and material goals in the metrics below.

White Mountain Paper

Equal Opportunity Employer

October 2026