Maintenance Manager-Food and Beverage

About the role

Sunny Sky Products is seeking a Maintenance Manager to oversee all maintenance and reliability functions at our Fullerton, CA production facility. The role focuses on mechanical, electrical, and utility infrastructure supporting an aseptic/dairy/juice processing operation, including the HTST pasteurization system and hot fill packaging technology.

Responsibilities

• Primary technical owner for the plant's HTST system, ensuring compliance with pasteurization standards, regulatory requirements, and uptime targets.
• Oversee maintenance, troubleshooting, and continuous improvement of hot fill filling and packaging lines, including fill/seal equipment, cooling tunnels, and associated conveyance.
• Provide technical leadership across aseptic and/or dairy/juice processing systems, including CIP/SIP, homogenizers, separators, and thermal processing equipment.
• Own the full lifecycle of CapEx projects: scoping, budgeting, ROI justification, vendor/contractor selection, project execution, commissioning, and closeout.
• Partner with finance and operations leadership to prioritize capital spend and ensure projects are delivered on time and on budget.
• Manage contractors, equipment vendors, and internal cross-functional teams throughout project execution.
• Direct the maintenance and reliability of standard industrial utilities, including boilers, air compressors, ammonia/industrial refrigeration, wastewater/pretreatment systems, water treatment, and electrical distribution.
• Ensure utility systems meet capacity, efficiency, and regulatory compliance requirements to support uninterrupted production.
• Lead, coach, and develop the maintenance team, including technicians, planners, and shift leads.
• Build and manage a preventive/predictive maintenance (PM/PdM) program to reduce unplanned downtime and extend asset life.
• Manage maintenance budgets, spare parts inventory, and MRO vendor relationships.
• Champion safety, GMP, and food safety compliance across all maintenance activities.
• Participate in root cause analysis and drive corrective/preventive actions for equipment failures and quality deviations.

Requirements

• 5+ years of maintenance management or technical maintenance leadership experience in a food or beverage manufacturing environment.
• Direct experience working in aseptic and/or dairy/juice processing operations.
• Hands-on experience owning or supporting an HTST pasteurization system.
• Proven experience with hot fill technology and associated filling/packaging equipment.
• Demonstrated success running and managing CapEx projects from scoping through commissioning.
• Significant experience managing standard industrial utilities (boilers, compressed air, refrigeration, wastewater, electrical distribution).
• Strong working knowledge of GMP, food safety systems (HACCP/SQF/FSMA), and OSHA regulations.
• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Technology, or a related field, or equivalent work experience, required.
• Experience with CMMS platforms for PM scheduling and asset management.
• Familiarity with automation/controls (PLC) troubleshooting in a processing environment.
• Six Sigma, Lean Manufacturing, or Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM) training preferred.

Qualifications

• Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration skills.

Physical Requirements

Based on-site at the Fullerton, CA manufacturing facility. Ability to work in a plant environment involving exposure to varying temperatures, noise, and wet/processing conditions. Ability to walk, stand, climb, and occasionally lift up to 50 lbs. Availability to respond to off-hours maintenance emergencies as needed.