Reliability Engineer

Job Description

The Reliability Engineer is responsible for improving equipment reliability, reducing unplanned downtime, and optimizing maintenance strategies across the plant. This role focuses on identifying chronic equipment issues, implementing sustainable corrective actions, enhancing preventive and predictive maintenance programs, and partnering closely with Maintenance, Engineering, Production, and Quality to ensure the plant operates safely, efficiently, and at the lowest total cost of ownership.

• Analyze equipment failures, chronic breakdowns, and recurring defects to determine root causes and implement corrective actions.
• Conduct detailed root cause analysis (RCA) using tools such as 5 Why, Fishbone, FMEA, and Pareto analysis.
• Develop and maintain equipment life-cycle plans to maximize uptime and reduce maintenance costs.
• Identify improvement opportunities that increase MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and reduce MTTR (Mean Time To Repair).

• Build and optimize preventive and predictive maintenance (PM/PdM) programs for all critical assets.
• Partner with maintenance planners to define job plans, frequencies, and spare parts requirements.
• Implement condition-based monitoring (CBM) tools such as vibration analysis, thermal imaging, ultrasonic detection, and oil analysis.
• Monitor and refine maintenance KPIs to drive continuous improvement in reliability and cost control.

• Lead and support continuous improvement (CI) projects aligned to plant performance goals, such as OEE, scrap reduction, uptime, and throughput.
• Develop and execute equipment reliability improvement projects across production lines (extrusion presses, IG lines, tempering ovens, CNCs, material handling, etc.).
• Participate in engineering design reviews to ensure new equipment meets reliability, maintainability, and safety standards.

• Use CMMS (e.g., Dayforce/Fiix/Maximo/SAP) to analyze maintenance history and identify trends.
• Track asset health, downtime reasons, and effectiveness of corrective actions.
• Build reliability dashboards and reports to present insights to leadership and cross-functional teams.
• Monitor energy usage, equipment life cycles, and total cost of ownership metrics.

• Ensure compliance with OSHA, NFPA, and other applicable safety and electrical standards.
• Promote and reinforce safe work practices during maintenance and troubleshooting activities.
• Conduct risk assessments (PHA, JHA, FMEA) and recommend controls to mitigate equipment-related risks.
• Partner with EHS to implement engineering controls that improve safety and reduce hazards.

• Partner with Production Supervisors, Maintenance Technicians, Quality Engineers, and Engineering to resolve equipment issues.
• Train operators and maintenance personnel on equipment care, early detection of failures, and proper troubleshooting methods.
• Support plant leadership in strategic decision-making around capital projects, equipment upgrades, and maintenance investments.

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial Engineering, or related field required.
• Reliability or Maintenance certification (CMRP, CRE, CRL) preferred.

• 3-7 years of engineering, maintenance, or reliability experience in a manufacturing environment; windows, glass, automotive, plastics, or extrusion preferred.
• Proven experience leading RCAs and reliability improvement initiatives.
• Familiarity with CMMS systems and maintenance planning processes.

• Strong knowledge of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic systems.
• Experience with predictive maintenance tools (vibration, thermal, ultrasonic, oil analysis).
• Proficient in data analysis, Excel, and reliability software.
• Understanding of OEE, TPM, Six Sigma, and Lean principles.

• Strong problem-solving mindset with focus on root cause over quick fixes.
• High attention to detail and data-driven decision making.
• Ability to influence without authority and collaborate across…