Root Cause Failure Analysis Specialist

Job Responsibilities

Lead and facilitate structured Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) investigations for significant, chronic, and high-risk failures, applying formal methodologies (e.g., 5-Why, Cause Mapping, Fault Tree, Apollo, TapRoot) to ensure clear identification of true root causes across equipment, process, and human systems.

Drive asset health and failure elimination across systems, identifying systemic issues impacting reliability performance, partnering with reliability engineers to link failure modes to mechanical condition, control performance, electrical systems, and process variability, and leading the implementation of sustainable solutions to eliminate recurring failures.

Lead corrective action management to ensure sustainable reliability improvements, defining, prioritizing, and driving the implementation of corrective and preventive actions, while tracking effectiveness through measurable outcomes, verifying closure, and identifying execution gaps that impact long-term asset performance.

Analyze failure data to generate actionable reliability insights, leveraging work order history, failure trends, and equipment performance data to identify patterns, prioritize areas for deeper investigation, and support the development and refinement of key reliability KPIs (e.g., MTBF, downtime, cost of failure).

Education And Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial) or related engineering degree required
• 7+ yrs of experience in maintenance, reliability, or engineering in heavy industry
• Reliability principles (RCM, defect elimination, asset health concepts)
• Interaction between process conditions and equipment performance
• Formal RCFA training (Apollo, TapRoot, Kepner-Trego, etc.)
• CMRP or related reliability certification
• Led Green Belt in Lean / Six Sigma

Required or obtained within the first year of employment

• Experience building or managing RCFA programs
• Experience with CMMS/EAM systems (work order history, failure coding , analysis), Data analysis tools (Excel, basic statistical methods), Reliability and problem-solving framework

Knowledge, Skills And Competencies

• Strong understanding of Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) methodologies , Equipment failure modes across mechanical, electrical, and process systems
• Reliability principles (RCM, defect elimination, asset health concepts), Interactions between process conditions and equipment performance
• Ability to analyze and Break down complex problems into structured analysis, Identify systemic and latent causes (not just symptoms), Use data to support conclusion and recommendations
• Experience with CMMS/EAM systems (work order history, failure coding , analysis), Data analysis tools (Excel, basic statistical methods), Reliability and problem-solving framework
• Strong facilitation and questioning skills (5 - Whys)
• Ability to challenge assumptions and drive accountability
• Effective communicator across all levels of the organization
• High level of objectivity and attention to detail
• Ability to influence without authority and build cross-functional alignment