Distribution Center Maintenance Manager

Distribution Center Maintenance Manager

The Distribution Center Maintenance Manager provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for all automated material handling equipment, facility assets, and maintenance personnel within a high-volume, refrigerated beef processing distribution center. This role is responsible for driving equipment reliability, maximizing uptime, and leading a multi-shift maintenance department comprising 3–4 Supervisors and 25–30 Technicians. The ideal candidate possesses deep technical expertise in automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), high-speed sortation, PLCs, and heavy automated conveying equipment operating in a cold-storage production environment.

Departmental Leadership & People Management

• Lead, mentor, and develop a multi-shift maintenance team consisting of 3–4 Maintenance Supervisors and 25–30 DC Maintenance Technicians.
• Set performance goals, conduct evaluations, oversee technical training, and foster a proactive continuous-improvement workplace culture.
• Manage shift coverage, emergency escalation protocols, and labor scheduling to maintain 24/7 reliability in line with plant production schedules.

Equipment & Technical Operations

• Direct the maintenance, troubleshooting, and repair of all distribution center equipment, including:
• Automated cranes / AS/RS (Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems)
• Automated carousels and high-density storage hardware
• High-speed automated and robotic palletizers
• High-speed sortation lanes, diverts, and complex conveyor networks
• Industrial PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), VFDs, sensors, and automated control networks
• Maintain plant utility systems serving the DC, including refrigerated/cold storage infrastructure, pneumatics, hydraulics, and electrical systems.

Preventive Maintenance & Asset Reliability

• Oversee and optimize the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) for work orders, preventative maintenance (PM) schedules, and spare parts inventory tracking.
• Utilize Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), and predictive technologies (thermal imaging, vibration analysis) to eliminate repeat failures and reduce unscheduled downtime.
• Establish critical spare parts strategies for key DC equipment to minimize operational risk and equipment lead-time delays.

Safety, Compliance & Budget Management

• Ensure 100% compliance with OSHA, USDA, HACCP, Lockout/Tagout (LOTO), and internal food safety and worker safety regulations tailored to refrigerated meat processing operations.
• Manage the DC maintenance operating budget, controlling spend across parts, labor, third-party contractors, and vendor service agreements.
• Plan and execute capital expenditure (Cap Ex) projects, equipment overhauls, and system upgrades in collaboration with engineering and plant leadership.

Qualifications & Skill Requirements

Required Experience & Education

• Experience:
  
  8+ years of maintenance experience in an automated distribution center, high-volume logistics facility, or automated food processing environment.
• Leadership: 3+ years in a senior management role overseeing multi-shift operations and leading frontline supervisors (managing teams of 20+ technical personnel).
• Technical Mastery:
  Demonstrated proficiency with PLCs (troubleshooting logic/hardware), automated cranes, carousels, robotic/automated palletizers, and high-speed sortation systems.
• Education:
  
  Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Technology, or equivalent combination of technical certifications and leadership experience.

Technical & Environmental Competencies

• Proven experience managing maintenance operations within cold storage, refrigerated warehousing, or protein/beef processing environments.
• Strong diagnostic capabilities in 480V 3-phase electrical power, motor controls, industrial robotics, mechanical power transmission, and automated systems controls.
• Proficiency in CMMS platforms (e.g., SAP, Maximo, Infor EAM) for asset management and maintenance KPIs (MTBF, MTTR, PM Compliance).