Reliability Engineer

Location: Hartford City, IN

Travel: Approximately 15% throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico

About the Role

The Reliability Engineer is responsible for improving the reliability, availability, and performance of mill assets through the application of reliability engineering principles, predictive maintenance technologies, and data-driven improvement initiatives. This role partners with Operations, Maintenance, Procurement, and Engineering teams to identify equipment performance issues, eliminate chronic failures, optimize maintenance strategies, and reduce overall lifecycle costs. The Reliability Engineer serves as the technical lead for reliability programs and utilizes IBM Maximo to analyze equipment history, maintenance effectiveness, asset health, and failure trends.

Responsibilities

• Lead reliability improvement initiatives across the paper mill.
• Identify and eliminate chronic equipment failures through data analysis and root cause investigations.
• Develop and implement reliability strategies that improve asset availability and performance.
• Establish and maintain reliability standards for critical rotating and stationary equipment.
• Support mill-wide asset management and lifecycle planning efforts.
• Review preventive maintenance (PM) programs and optimize maintenance intervals based on asset performance.
• Develop predictive and condition-based maintenance strategies for critical assets.
• Conduct Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) and Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) studies.
• Identify opportunities to reduce reactive maintenance and emergency work.
• Partner with maintenance planners to improve job plans and maintenance execution effectiveness.
• Oversee predictive maintenance programs including:
  • Vibration analysis
  • Infrared thermography
  • Ultrasound inspections
  • Motor current analysis
  • Oil and lubrication analysis
  • Motion amplification technologies
• Evaluate inspection findings and develop corrective action plans.
• Prioritize equipment issues based on risk, reliability impact, and production criticality.
• Utilize IBM Maximo to analyze:
  • Equipment history
  • Failure codes
  • Work order trends
  • Maintenance costs
  • Asset performance metrics
• Ensure equipment master data, failure reporting, and asset records are accurate and properly maintained.
• Develop dashboards and reports to track reliability performance and maintenance effectiveness.
• Support data-driven decision-making through KPI analysis and reliability reporting.
• Facilitate Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) investigations for significant equipment failures.
• Develop corrective and preventive actions to prevent recurrence.
• Lead continuous improvement projects focused on reliability, uptime, safety, and maintenance productivity.
• Apply Lean Manufacturing and continuous improvement methodologies where appropriate.
• Provide reliability input on equipment upgrades, replacements, and capital projects.
• Participate in equipment acceptance testing and commissioning activities.
• Review equipment designs and specifications to improve maintainability and reliability.
• Support spare parts optimization and criticality assessments.
• Promote and support a strong safety culture.
• Ensure reliability activities comply with all safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
• Participate in safety audits, incident investigations, and risk assessments.
• Support safe work practices and maintenance standards throughout the mill.

Requirements

• Minimum 1-5 years of reliability engineering, maintenance engineering, or industrial maintenance experience.
• Experience working in a manufacturing environment utilizing a CMMS, preferably IBM Maximo.
• Strong understanding of reliability principles and asset management best practices.
• Demonstrated experience with root cause analysis and equipment failure investigations.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications and data analysis tools.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in pulp and paper, tissue, packaging, chemical processing, or other heavy industrial manufacturing environments.
• Vibration Analysis Certification (ISO Category I-IV).
• Experience with Power BI or other business intelligence tools.
• Knowledge of predictive maintenance technologies and reliability software.
• Experience with rotating equipment including pumps, motors, gearboxes, fans, refiners, vacuum systems, and paper machine assets.

*Please note, previous DUI convictions can result in being inadmissible to Canada.