Senior Vice President of Maintenance & Engineering - Food Manufacturing

Senior Vice President, Maintenance & Engineering

A leading food manufacturer is seeking an accomplished Senior Vice President of Maintenance & Engineering to join its executive leadership team. This executive will provide strategic leadership for engineering, maintenance, reliability, automation, utilities, facilities, and capital projects across a large scale manufacturing operation.

This is an opportunity to shape the technical direction of a complex manufacturing organization while partnering closely with Operations to improve equipment reliability, manufacturing performance, and long term operational capability. The ideal candidate is a strategic engineering leader who is equally comfortable in the boardroom and on the production floor.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and execute enterprise wide maintenance, engineering, reliability, automation, and capital investment strategies that support operational excellence and business growth.
• Provide executive leadership for Maintenance, Engineering, Reliability, Facilities, Utilities, Automation, and Capital Projects.
• Improve equipment reliability, uptime, OEE, asset utilization, and manufacturing performance through preventive, predictive, and reliability centered maintenance programs.
• Lead capital planning, facility expansions, equipment modernization, automation initiatives, and technology investments that improve capacity, efficiency, quality, and return on investment.
• Partner closely with Operations to minimize downtime, improve equipment availability, and solve complex manufacturing challenges.
• Establish engineering standards, maintenance systems, KPIs, and best practices that drive continuous improvement and technical excellence.
• Build, mentor, and develop high performing engineering and maintenance teams while strengthening succession planning and leadership development.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable safety, environmental, food manufacturing, and regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Manufacturing, Chemical Engineering, or a related technical discipline. MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience within a complex, high volume manufacturing environment.
• Significant experience leading maintenance, engineering, reliability, automation, and capital project functions at the executive level.
• Food manufacturing experience within an FDA regulated environment is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting shelf stable food manufacturing or commercial thermal processing operations is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated success improving equipment reliability, OEE, asset utilization, and manufacturing performance.
• Strong knowledge of CMMS, preventive and predictive maintenance, reliability centered maintenance, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, and KPI driven leadership.
• Experience managing large capital budgets, equipment modernization, manufacturing technology, and facility improvements.
• Strong understanding of HACCP, FSMA, GMPs, SQF or BRC, OSHA, and other manufacturing regulatory requirements.
• Proven ability to build high performing technical organizations while partnering effectively across Operations, Supply Chain, Quality, Finance, and Executive Leadership.

What We're Looking For

We're seeking a collaborative executive who combines strategic vision with hands on leadership. The successful candidate will have a track record of improving manufacturing reliability, leading transformational engineering initiatives, developing exceptional technical teams, and delivering measurable business results. If you're looking for an opportunity to influence the future of a growing manufacturing organization while leading large scale engineering and maintenance operations, we'd welcome a confidential conversation.

Sarah Rowland-Varner