Director of Maintenance

We are hiring for a Director of Maintenance in Sioux City, Iowa. This is a full-time, exempt leadership opportunity offering competitive base salary, plus a 20% annual bonus. Relocation assistance is available for qualified candidates. The position follows a day shift (Monday–Friday) schedule, with weekend availability required based on business needs. We are seeking candidates with prior maintenance leadership experience in pork processing plants.

Position Summary:

We are seeking an experienced Director of Maintenance to lead maintenance operations at its large-scale pork processing facility in Sioux City, Iowa. This leadership role is responsible for overseeing plant maintenance, equipment reliability, utilities, capital projects, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement while leading a team of 200+ maintenance professionals. The ideal candidate will drive operational excellence, improve production efficiency, and support long-term business objectives.

• Lead all maintenance operations across the production facility.
• Manage a team of 8 direct reports and 200+ maintenance technicians and specialists.
• Develop and execute preventive, predictive, and condition-based maintenance programs.
• Drive equipment reliability through Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) and corrective actions.
• Support capital projects, equipment upgrades, automation, and process improvements.
• Monitor maintenance KPIs, downtime trends, and asset lifecycle data.
• Oversee maintenance of ammonia refrigeration, utilities, wastewater treatment, steam, HVAC, electrical, compressed air, and other plant systems.
• Ensure compliance with OSHA, FSIS (USDA), EPA, and other regulatory requirements.
• Manage maintenance budgets, appropriation requests, and contractor activities.
• Lead employee onboarding, technical training, and workforce development.
• Collaborate with Engineering, Production, Quality, vendors, and contractors to improve plant performance.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering preferred, or equivalent experience.
• 8+ years of maintenance leadership experience with demonstrated people management skills.
• 5–8 years of experience with industrial ammonia refrigeration and freezer systems.
• Experience developing maintenance strategies and long-term operational plans.
• Strong knowledge of preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered maintenance.
• Preferred experience with PLCs, industrial electrical systems, instrumentation, and wastewater operations.
• Knowledge of OSHA, USDA/FSIS, EPA, and food manufacturing regulations.
• Experience with CMMS systems (MP2 preferred); CAD, HACCP, and SQF knowledge is a plus.