JOB TITLE: Reliability Engineer

DEPARTMENT: Maintenance & Reliability Engineering

REPORTS TO: Director of Maintenance and Reliability

SUPERVISORY ROLE (Y/N): N

Type: Full Time

Job Summary:

​​We are seeking a proactive and detail-oriented Plant Reliability Engineer to join our team at [Basic American Foods. This role is critical in ensuring that all production equipment and systems operate at optimal reliability and performance. The Reliability Engineer will focus on identifying and mitigating risks that could adversely affect plant operations, product quality, and safety. This position works closely with maintenance, operations, engineering, and quality assurance teams to improve equipment reliability, optimize maintenance strategies, and drive continuous improvement in a fast-paced food manufacturing environment.

Essential Job Duties/Key Accountabilities

• Demonstrate leadership in driving a Zero-incident safety culture.
• Lead reliability-focused projects to improve uptime, reduce downtime, and optimize maintenance costs.
• Collaborate with production, QA, and Engineering to ensure equipment designs and modifications meet food safety and regulatory standards (e.g., FDA, USDA, HACCP).
• Conduct RCFAs (Root Cause Failure Analysis) and FMEAs (Failure Modes and Effects Analysis) to develop action plans to mitigate critical failure risks.
• Monitor and report key performance indicators (KPIs) related to equipment reliability and maintenance effectiveness (e.g., MTBF, MTTR, OEE).
• Ensure compliance with safety, environmental, and food safety standards and policies.
• Implement established maintenance and reliability strategies.
• Identify needed maintenance technician training and procedure development.
• Identify and implement Cost Improvement and Cost Avoidance opportunities.

Required Tasks

• Analyze equipment failures and root causes; develop and implement corrective and preventive measures.
• Develop and maintain reliability strategies, including preventive and predictive maintenance programs (e.g., vibration analysis, thermal imaging, oil analysis).
• Respond to equipment failures and ensure that the daily production goals are achieved.
• Support the implementation and use of CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management Systems) to track maintenance activities and equipment performance.
• Support maintenance and capital replacements, repairs, and overhauls to mechanical equipment assets, including rotating & stationary equipment.
• Write maintenance procedures, job plans and repair plans.
• Document equipment failure history and costs using CMMS and OEE data.
• Perform routine mechanical equipment troubleshooting.
• Perform repair vs. replacement analysis on equipment.
• Perform equipment root cause failure analysis.
• Scope out and implement equipment replacement and upgrade projects.
• Perform Asset Management duties for equipment including maintaining files and database for equipment data, ensure standardization of equipment and standards for equipment, and organize and manage spare inventories as part of the overall asset care strategy for the assets
• Coordinate proactive fixes from Condition Monitoring findings with operations and maintenance personnel.
• Support capital project planning by providing input on equipment selection and design for maintainability and reliability.

Qualifications

• Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering.
• 3+ years of experience in a reliability or maintenance engineering role, preferably in the food, beverage, or CPG industry.
• Familiarity with food safety requirements and standards (e.g., GMPs, HACCP, SQF).
• Knowledge of rotating and fixed equipment trouble shooting and specification.
• Experience with CMMS platforms (e.g., SAP, Maximo, Infor EAM).
• Strong knowledge of maintenance reliability principles (RCM, TPM, CBM, etc.).
• Certification in reliability (e.g., CMRP, CRE) preferred.
• Excellent problem-solving, analytical, and project management skills.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills; ability to work cross-functionally, self-motivated, and well organized.
• Willingness to perform "hands on" field work, including testing and troubleshooting.
• Knowledgeable of Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, and PowerPoint software programs.
• Must have excellent time management skills and be able to multi-task effectively.
• Ability to travel (typically <5%).

Targeted Outcomes

• Conduct RCFAs and FMEAs to propose equipment design and maintenance strategy changes.
• Routinely assess the mechanical integrity of the fixed assets.
• Routinely assess the condition of the company assets.
• Develop and continuously improve the preventive maintenance program.
• Develop and continuously improve the standard work procedures for preventive and reactive maintenance.
• Support both capital and expense projects to ensure design is both reliable and maintainable.

Food and Workplace Safety Requirements

• All employees are responsible for upholding the principles of SQF Food Safety Code.
• All employees are responsible for immediately reporting any food safety, food quality, safety issues, or plant security issues to management for appropriate action.

DISCLAIMER: Incumbent may be asked to perform other duties as required.

At BAF, we are an equal-opportunity employer. We value diversity and strive to create a supportive and inclusive community of individuals committed to helping each other and our company thrive. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, disability, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, gender expression, marital status, sexual orientation, age, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.