Maintenance and Reliability Operations Lead

Company – General Description

A well-established organization committed to safety, operational excellence, and continuous improvement within the manufacturing and chemical industries. They value technical expertise, leadership, and a proactive approach to plant maintenance and reliability.

We are seeking a dedicated Maintenance and Reliability Operations Lead to oversee plant maintenance, drive continuous improvement initiatives, and lead a team of technical specialists. The ideal candidate will ensure safe and efficient operations while fostering a culture of operational discipline and excellence.

• Ensure a safe work environment and compliance with all safety policies.
• Manage the plant’s mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation maintenance functions, reporting directly to the Plant Manager.
• Lead and develop front-line supervisors within the Maintenance & Reliability teams.
• Organize, plan, and control maintenance activities and oversee long-term maintenance strategies through business planning.
• Specify maintenance tasks by deploying Bill of Materials and proactively analyze data for predictive and preventive maintenance.
• Meet operational, budgetary, and timeline expectations.
• Classify maintenance levels and track expenditure in relation to the business plan, making adjustments as needed.
• Develop and manage the maintenance budget and lead TAR (Technical Assistance Repair) projects.
• Oversee plant CMMS (SAP PM, MM) systems, ensuring proper KPI tracking, scheduling, and staff performance management.
• Conduct root cause failure analyses and support process hazard analyses (PHA).
• Ensure maintenance teams are trained and compliant with PSM standards.
• Drive optimization of work preparation processes for better resource utilization.
• Implement tools for root cause analysis of asset failures and ensure corrective actions are executed.
• Promote continuous improvement initiatives by identifying gaps and following through on improvement actions.
• Foster an innovative environment by collecting and promoting departmental improvement ideas.
• Lead efforts to develop and sustain a culture of operational discipline across the team.
• Engage and mentor maintenance and reliability staff, supporting their development and retention.
• Facilitate workshops and promote a culture of continuous improvement within the team.

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering or business with proven engineering knowledge.
• Extensive experience (10+ years) in maintenance or operations, with leadership experience.
• Strong expertise in reliability engineering and project management.
• Certification in Six Sigma / Lean, with advanced knowledge of manufacturing and business systems methodologies.
• Experience leading TAR projects and deploying continuous improvement tools.
• Proficiency in problem-solving using A3 thinking.
• Preferably experience in the chemical industry.
• Proven ability to coach, develop, and lead teams.
• Result-oriented with excellent communication skills in Dutch and English.
• Additional certifications (e.g., Pressure API standards, Certified Reliability or Maintenance Professional) are beneficial.