Manager of Manufacturing Engineering, Reliability & Maintenance

Role Summary

The Manager of Manufacturing Engineering, Reliability & Maintenance is the steward of the physical production system at the 3PH Dyersburg facility. This role is responsible for designing, sustaining, and improving equipment reliability, asset performance, and engineering rigor to enable calm, predictable flow in a systems‑based manufacturing environment.

Manufacturing performance is viewed as a system property—not an individual one. This leader engineers reliability into assets, reduces variability at the source, and ensures maintenance and engineering systems enable stability, learning, and throughput. The role balances strong traditional engineering and maintenance accountability with modern operations science, continuous improvement, and disciplined learning behaviors.

Success in this role means equipment that enables operations, not constrains them; engineering decisions grounded in data and systems thinking; and leadership that protects people, flow, and long‑term capability.

Key Responsibilities

System Reliability & Asset Performance

• Own overall equipment reliability, asset health, and physical system integrity—not just response activity.
• Design and sustain maintenance and reliability systems where uptime and stability are the default.
• Reduce equipment‑driven variability and chronic downtime through root cause elimination and engineered solutions.
• Establish reliability standards, lifecycle strategies, and engineering discipline across production assets.

Manufacturing Engineering & Flow Enablement

• Ensure manufacturing engineering and maintenance exist to enable flow, throughput, quality, and safety.
• Apply Operations Science principles (Factory Physics, Theory of Constraints), lean system design, reliability engineering, and statistical thinking to improve system performance.
• Engineer solutions that reduce complexity, eliminate waste, and prevent downstream disruption.
• Partner with Operations, Quality, and Technical Project Management to align current‑state stability with future‑state capability.

Maintenance Strategy & Execution

• Lead preventive, predictive, and planned maintenance strategies that prioritize system stability over reactive firefighting.
• Establish clear standards, workflows, and accountability for maintenance execution.
• Use data and KPIs to guide decisions related to downtime, asset utilization, and maintenance effectiveness.

Leadership, Values & Culture

• Model ERMCO’s POWER Values: People, Ownership, Winning, Excellence, and Relentless Determination.
• Operate with Compassionate Accountability—setting clear expectations while supporting people through disciplined systems.
• Demonstrate conscious leadership during instability by remaining calm, avoiding reactivity, and asking system‑level questions before adding labor, parts, or complexity.
• Ensure safety, dignity, and psychological safety are non‑negotiable operating conditions.

Structured Learning & Continuous Improvement

• Lead improvement through Toyota Kata and PDCA experimentation: understand direction, grasp current condition, define target conditions, identify obstacles, and run disciplined experiments.
• Embed learning routines that build problem‑solving capability within engineering and maintenance teams.
• Partner cross‑functionally to institutionalize improvements and prevent regression.

Education & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical field required.
• Progressive leadership experience in manufacturing engineering, reliability engineering, and/or maintenance leadership within a manufacturing environment.
• Proven experience designing and sustaining reliable production systems—not just responding to failures.

Technical & Systems Expertise

• Strong working knowledge of:
  • Reliability engineering and asset lifecycle management
  • Preventive and predictive maintenance systems
  • Lean manufacturing and flow‑based system design
  • Statistical thinking, root cause analysis, and data‑driven decision making
• Familiarity with Factory Physics, Theory of Constraints, Six Sigma concepts, and structured problem‑solving methodologies.

Leadership Capabilities

• Demonstrated ability to lead through complexity and instability with clarity, composure, and systems thinking.
• Comfortable holding high standards while supporting people through disciplined, well‑designed processes.
• Strong collaboration skills across Engineering, Operations, Quality, and Project Management functions.

This position is located onsite in Dyersburg, TN. Relocation assistance is available. 

Join ERMCO and transform your career!