Director of Maintenance Reliability

About the Role

Waupaca Foundry, Inc. is North America’s leading supplier of iron castings, employing approximately 4,400 people company-wide. This role is based in Waupaca, WI, and provides enterprise-wide support across all Waupaca Foundry plant locations, including Waupaca, WI, Marinette, WI, and Tell City, IN. The Director of Maintenance Reliability leads efforts to advance a world-class reliability culture across one of the largest maintenance operations in the foundry industry, with over 500 maintenance employees. The position drives a strategic shift from reactive to reliability-centered maintenance, leveraging improved management tools, data visibility, and tracking systems.

Responsibilities

• Monitor and support safety policy and procedures to facilitate a world-class safety management culture, employee welfare, and plant and company goals.
• Lead reliability-focused initiatives to maximize asset availability and total utilization.
• Develop, optimize, and improve preventive and predictive maintenance (PM) schedules to reduce unplanned equipment downtime.
• Lead and support investigations into critical equipment failures to identify root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Mentor and develop maintenance staff to strengthen technical skills, problem-solving, and promote a safety culture while ensuring effective daily work execution.
• Coordinate preventive maintenance programs and engineering projects to support continuous improvement, plant growth, and modernization.
• Track KPIs (e.g., TRIR, MTBF, MTTR, Total Utilization, maintenance material and labor costs) to identify areas for improvement and implement necessary changes.
• Collaborate with the Supply Chain Team and Maintenance Teams to oversee critical spare parts inventory (MRO) to ensure parts availability while optimizing costs and inventory levels.
• Serve as a technical resource and project leader for high-impact maintenance/engineering projects.
• Provide regular updates on maintenance projects and developments to leadership, including Maintenance Task Force, Operations meetings, and Plant Manager reports.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial) or equivalent work experience.
• 5+ years of management experience at the Maintenance Manager level or equivalent.
• Up to 25% travel to suppliers, contractors, and other plants to support maintenance project activities.
• Strong analytical skills to review performance and process data for continuous improvement opportunities.
• Critical thinking and problem-solving abilities to challenge processes and drive solutions.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills for interaction across all organizational levels.
• Ability to set priorities for self and plant teams, and effectively lead communication and continuous improvement actions.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Short- and long-term disability
• Life insurance
• 401(k) with employer match
• Employer-funded retirement plan
• Paid vacations and holidays
• Wellness program
• Fitness membership
• Employee assistance program (EAP)
• Employer-supported career development, including tuition reimbursement