Maintenance Lead

Maintenance Lead

Nashville, TN

Nom Nom delivers delight to your dog's day. We're driven by a deep love for dogs and a commitment to their well-being, and are guided by a simple yet powerful philosophy: to provide pups with meals that mirror the devotion, attention, and care that they give us.

Our variety of real good, feel good meals burst with vibrant ingredients and tasty textures. They're prepared, portioned, and packaged in our very own kitchens, and personalized all the way down to the calorie to meet the unique needs of every dog we serve. Board-certified veterinary nutritionists and world-class scientists have made sure of that, by ensuring maximum nutrition from all of our recipes while advancing dog health at large.

Join us on our journey to push boundaries and innovate relentlessly, in order to create the most exciting dog food ever. You'll be part of a world where passion meets nutrition, and every tail wag is a testament to our dedication to dogsand the people that love them.

Job Description

The Maintenance Lead is responsible for leading maintenance execution and equipment reliability within their assigned shift and production area. This role serves as the primary maintenance leader on shift, coordinating maintenance activities, prioritizing work, and providing advanced technical leadership to support safe, efficient, and reliable operations.

The Maintenance Lead partners closely with the Technical Manager to execute the site's maintenance strategy and reliability objectives. The role is accountable for driving preventive maintenance compliance, breakdown elimination, root cause problem solving, technician capability development, and continuous improvement initiatives that improve equipment performance and reduce operational losses.

The Maintenance Lead reports to the Technical Manager and serves as the primary maintenance leader for their assigned shift and production area. The role is responsible for coordinating maintenance resources, directing daily maintenance activities, and ensuring effective execution of maintenance programs that support site reliability goals. The role also serves as the owner of Planned Maintenance, Breakdown Elimination, and Anomaly Handling processes within assigned production areas.

This position acts as the connection between frontline maintenance execution and the site's broader maintenance and reliability strategy. The Maintenance Lead provides daily leadership, technical coaching, and work direction to maintenance technicians while partnering closely with Operations, Quality & Food Safety, Engineering, and Site Leadership to improve uptime, reduce losses, and drive continuous improvement across the facility.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate maintenance activities during the assigned shift to ensure safe, efficient, and effective execution of planned and unplanned work.
• Assign, prioritize, and adjust maintenance resources based on production priorities, equipment conditions, and business needs.
• Ensure accurate completion of work orders, maintenance documentation, and equipment history records.
• Analyze stop data, breakdown trends, and maintenance performance metrics to identify and prioritize equipment reliability and loss elimination opportunities.
• Provide day-to-day leadership, coaching, and technical guidance to maintenance technicians while supporting development of operator equipment ownership and autonomous maintenance capability.
• Serve as the technical expert on shift, providing advanced troubleshooting support across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and controls systems.
• Drive preventive maintenance execution, PM compliance, maintenance planning, and equipment reliability initiatives.
• Drive results in planned and unplanned downtime reduction through effective maintenance planning, PM execution, breakdown elimination, and equipment reliability improvements.
• Lead breakdown elimination activities, root cause investigations (RCCA), and implementation of corrective and preventive actions.
• Support execution of preventive and corrective maintenance activities to maintain equipment reliability and operating condition.
• Own TPM Planned Maintenance activities, Maintenance Planning & Scheduling, Breakdown Elimination DMS, and Anomaly Handling DMS processes for assigned production areas while driving continuous improvement initiatives focused on loss elimination, equipment reliability, and maintenance capability development.
• Monitor and support management of maintenance and repair costs within assigned production areas through effective planning, resource utilization, and loss elimination activities.
• Coach operators and maintenance technicians on equipment ownership, anomaly identification, abnormality elimination, and basic equipment care principles to support Autonomous Maintenance and Planned Maintenance systems.
• Support onboarding and continued development of technicians.
• Partner with Operations, Quality & Food Safety, Sanitation, and Engineering teams to improve equipment reliability and operational performance.
• Recommend and implement equipment, system, and process improvements that improve reliability, reduce downtime, and increase operational efficiency.
• Act as the primary communication link between maintenance, operations, and leadership.
• Communicate equipment status, risks, and priorities in real time and escalate issues as needed.
• Ensure maintenance activities are executed in compliance with all safety, GMP, food safety, regulatory, and company requirements.

What Are We Looking For?

Minimum Qualifications:

• High School Diploma, GED, or equivalent.
• Technical certification, apprenticeship, military technical training, or equivalent maintenance experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Associate Degree in Industrial Maintenance, Mechatronics, Electrical Technology, Engineering Technology, or related technical discipline.
• Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field.

Knowledge / Experience:

• Minimum 5 years of maintenance experience in a manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated troubleshooting capability across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and controls systems.
• Experience analyzing downtime, reliability, and maintenance performance data to drive loss elimination and equipment improvement initiatives.
• Experience leading maintenance activities, projects, technicians, or cross-functional initiatives.
• Experience with preventive maintenance systems, maintenance planning, and work execution processes.
• Experience utilizing CMMS systems, maintenance planning tools, and work order management processes.
• Experience in TPM, Lean Manufacturing, Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM), or Continuous Improvement environments preferred.
• Experience in food manufacturing, pet food manufacturing, or high-speed automated manufacturing environments preferred

Key Functional Competencies & Technical Skills:

• Maintenance Planning, Scheduling & Work Execution
• Equipment Reliability & Continuous Improvement
• Preventive & Predictive Maintenance Systems
• Root Cause Analysis, Breakdown Elimination & Anomaly Management
• Advanced Troubleshooting & Technical Problem Solving

Preferred:

• TPM, Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), or Lean Manufacturing experience
• CMMS and NetSuite proficiency
• Food Manufacturing or Pet Food Manufacturing experience

Nom Nom embraces inclusion, diversity, and equal opportunity. We're committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. Nom Nom is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, or other legally protected status.