Maintenance Mechanic Lead

Position Summary:


The Lead Maintenance Mechanic is a hands-on working lead responsible for coordinating day-to-day maintenance activities and performing advanced troubleshooting and repair of production and facility equipment to ensure safe, efficient, and uninterrupted operations. This role sets daily priorities, assigns work to mechanics/technicians, drives preventive and predictive maintenance compliance, and partners with Production and Quality to minimize downtime. Strong diagnostic skills across mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic systems-plus the ability to coach others-are essential in our fast-paced food manufacturing environment.


Key Responsibilities:

Leadership & Work Direction

• Lead the maintenance shift team: assign and balance daily work orders, set priorities, and ensure timely completion.

• Coach, mentor, and upskill junior mechanics and technicians; provide on-the-job training, and feedback.

• Serve as first point of contact for breakdown escalations; coordinate rapid response and communication to stakeholders.

• Participate in weekly planning with Maintenance/Production to align resources, PMs, and line changeovers.

• Support onboarding and competency verification for new team members; recommend training plans.

Maintenance Execution

• Perform and oversee preventive, corrective, and predictive maintenance on production and facility equipment.

• Diagnose and resolve mechanical, electrical (up to 480VAC), pneumatic, and hydraulic issues; perform PLC/VFD troubleshooting (basic program navigation/monitoring, parameter adjustments, fault tracing).

• Operate and maintain tools and machinery (e.g., welders, lathes, drill presses); perform light fabrication and stainless welding as needed.

• Support equipment installations, startups, and modifications; coordinate vendors and contractors on site.

Reliability, Planning & Inventory

• Drive PM completion, precision repairs, and root cause analysis (RCA) to improve MTBF and reduce MTTR.

• Partner with the Maintenance Planner (or act in that capacity) to scope jobs, identify parts/kits, and schedule work with minimal impact to production.

• Help manage critical spare parts and consumables; provide reorder recommendations to prevent stock outs.

• Recommend improvements to PM/PdM strategies and maintenance SOPs based on failure data and trends.

Compliance, Food Safety & EHS

• Ensure compliance with GMPs, SOPs, HACCP, SQF , OSHA, and all regulatory requirements relevant to food manufacturing.

• Champion safety practices, including, Arc Flash Program, LOTO, machine guarding, hot-work, confined space, and fall protection.

• Lead/participate in audits, corrective actions, and safety/food safety incident investigations.

• Act as a training resource for forklifts, boom/scissor lifts and pallet jacks.

Documentation & Systems

• Maintain accurate records of work orders, PMs, parts usage, and inspections in the CMMS .

• Update equipment history, drawings, schematics, and SOPs as changes occur.

• Track and report team metrics (e.g., PM compliance, downtime, MTTR/MTBF) and propose countermeasures.

• Utilize, implement and coach others on 6S (5S + Safety) where needed.

Collaboration & Communication

• Communicate equipment status, risks, and ETAs to Production, Quality, and leadership in real time.

• Coordinate cross-functional support during changeovers, trials, sanitation, and line startups.

• Provide clear shift handoffs and participate in daily tier meetings.

Qualifications:

• 7+ years of industrial maintenance experience (food manufacturing preferred), including 1-3 years in a lead, senior, or mentor capacity.

• Proficient in troubleshooting mechanical, electrical (up to 480VAC), pneumatic, and hydraulic systems.

• Working knowledge of PLCs and VFDs (fault diagnostics, I/O checks, parameter adjustments; programming experience a plus).

• Experience with MIG/TIG welding , light fabrication, and basic plumbing/carpentry.

• Able to read and interpret technical manuals, drawings, and electrical schematics .

• CMMS experience and familiarity with reliability concepts (RCA, PM optimization, MTTR/MTBF).

• Strong communication, prioritization, and teamwork skills; calm under pressure.

• Professional and courteous etiquette with others

• Certificate or degree in Industrial Maintenance or related field preferred.

• Stainless welding or HVAC experience a plus.

• Must supply a basic set of job-appropriate hand tools.

• Proficiency in AutoCad a plus.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to lift and pull up to 100lbs occasionally.

#LI-DNI

Calbee North America is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to a policy of non-discrimination in employment on the basis of race, color, age, sex , religion, national origin, disability, veteran status, citizenship, ancestry, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or familial status or any other legally protected status.