Lead Reliability Engineer

Manufacturing Reliability Engineer

The Manufacturing Reliability Engineer is responsible for enhancing equipment reliability and driving a unified, plant-wide continuous improvement strategy across Maintenance, Operations, Safety, Quality, and Training. This role ensures that reliability‑centered maintenance practices are implemented and sustained, while fostering collaboration across departments to reduce downtime, improve asset performance, and support a culture of operational excellence.

• Conduct root cause analysis on high‑cost failures, high‑downtime situations, and selected minor repetitive downtime situations that are initiated by defined triggers to identify options for engineering solutions.
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) to eliminate chronic equipment issues.
• Develop and optimize preventive and predictive maintenance programs using CMMS data and condition monitoring tools.
• Analyze equipment performance trends and downtime data to identify reliability improvement opportunities.
• Support planning and scheduling teams to ensure maintenance activities are prioritized and executed efficiently.
• Collaborate with OEMs and vendors to improve equipment design, maintainability, and spare parts strategies.

• Facilitate cross‑departmental initiatives that align maintenance, operations, safety, quality, and training around shared performance goals.
• Champion lean manufacturing and Six Sigma methodologies to reduce waste, improve process stability, and enhance equipment uptime.
• Partner with safety and quality teams to ensure reliability improvements also support compliance and risk reduction.
• Integrate operator care and autonomous maintenance practices into frontline training and daily routines.

• Review computerized maintenance equipment history data and production downtime system data to accumulate, trend, and analyze performance data. Modify collection procedures and codes to ensure capture is complete, coordinating with maintenance supervision and production management on any system changes.
• Develop KPIs and dashboards to monitor progress on reliability and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Conduct life‑cycle cost analysis and asset criticality assessments to guide capital investment and maintenance strategies.

• Support the development of technical training programs for maintenance and operations personnel.
• Promote a culture of ownership, accountability, and proactive problem‑solving across all levels of the organization.
• Mentor maintenance and operations teams on reliability best practices and continuous improvement tools.
• Review PPM data versus equipment histories to identify tasks that need adjustment to frequencies or task details and verify completion quality standards are met.
• Participate in integrated maintenance processes to facilitate action plans that improve operating costs and reliability.
• Utilize computerized techniques including Pareto analyses and spreadsheet and graphic analysis to identify opportunities for reducing plant productivity losses.
• Determine/review equipment lubrication requirements, methods, and frequencies to optimize equipment operating life.
• Provide leadership in the development and implementation of predictive maintenance analysis techniques including vibration analysis, thermography scans, ultrasound techniques, corrosion analysis, and fatigue rate analysis.
• Participate in the review/approval process of all new capital equipment and major modifications to ensure maintainability aspects are considered.
• Conduct analysis of spare parts program to increase standardization and interchangeability.
• Support the establishment of a skills evaluation and training strategy for plant personnel to enhance performance capabilities.
• Assist in improving readiness of drawing files for maintenance use.
• Analyze work productivity of maintenance personnel to ensure proper focus on continuous improvement, including work sampling.
• Conduct life‑cycle cost analysis on high‑cost components and spare parts.
• Actively partner with the plant production team to…