Maintenance Manager

The posting, as Vulcan Elements wrote it

Vulcan Elements is manufacturing American rare-earth permanent magnets for a secure, resilient future. With a focus on national security and economic resiliency, we serve critical industries such as defense, aerospace, and automotive powering a high-technology future. Vulcan Elements is building a team of ambitious professionals committed to Mission Focus, Technical Excellence and Integrity.

As a Maintenance Manager, you will build and develop the area maintenance organization, establish trade coverage and work practices, coordinate planned and unplanned maintenance, and ensure technicians are prepared to safely troubleshoot, repair, inspect, and maintain equipment from commissioning through steady-state production. The role is centered on practical maintenance leadership, workforce capability, work execution, and equipment ownership rather than an engineering background.

The ideal candidate has progressed through a skilled industrial trade and into maintenance supervision or management within a complex manufacturing environment. They will bring strong field leadership, sound troubleshooting judgment, disciplined work-management practices, and the ability to develop multi-craft teams that consistently execute safe, high-quality maintenance while supporting production, reliability, and cost objectives.

Responsibilities

Maintenance Organization and Skilled Trades Leadership

• Build and lead the maintenance craft and trades team for assigned manufacturing areas, including staffing, shift and on-call coverage, span of control, technician assignments, and day-to-day floor leadership.
• Recruit, onboard, qualify, and develop skilled trades personnel, including industrial maintenance technicians, electricians, mechanics, millwrights, and other crafts required by the equipment base.
• Establish trade qualification matrices, cross-training plans, progression expectations, and practical competency standards so technicians can safely and independently support assigned equipment.
• Coach frontline supervisors, leads, and technicians on work quality, troubleshooting discipline, ownership, communication, and effective coordination with Operations and Engineering.

Maintenance Execution and Area Ownership

• Own maintenance execution for assigned production areas, ensuring planned, corrective, and emergent work is prioritized and completed safely, efficiently, and to an appropriate technical standard.
• Coordinate daily maintenance priorities with Operations, Planning & Scheduling, Reliability, Engineering, and Production leadership, balancing production needs with preventive maintenance and equipment health.
• Ensure equipment breakdowns are rapidly assessed, the appropriate trades and resources are deployed, repairs are technically sound, and equipment is verified before return to service.
• Manage the balance of preventive, predictive, corrective, and improvement work to control backlog, reduce repeat failures, and protect equipment availabil

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xperience; demonstrated trade and maintenance leadership capability is more important than an engineering degree for this role.

• Strong practical knowledge of maintaining complex manufacturing equipment, including mechanical systems and industrial electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, material-handling, automated, or other production equipment relevant to the assigned area.
• Demonstrated ability to organize and deploy multi-craft maintenance resources across planned work, equipment breakdowns, shutdowns, and competing production priorities.
• Strong command of industrial maintenance safety and work-control practices, including LOTO and safe execution of higher-risk maintenance activities.
• Experience using a CMMS and applying preventive maintenance, work planning, backlog management, troubleshooting, root-cause problem solving, and maintenance performance metrics in a production environment.

Preferred

• Experience supporting startup, commissioning, major equipment installation, or expansion of a new manufacturing operation, including direct engagement with equipment OEMs and contractors.
• Experience in advanced materials, automotive, machining, metals, battery, semiconductor, aerospace, or other manufacturing environments with complex automated equipment and strong uptime, quality, and safety requirements.

Physical and Environmental Requirements

The position requires regular presence on the production floor and the ability to navigate all areas of the facility. Candidates must be able to climb stairs, stand and walk for extended periods, and work in environments that may be hot, humid, or noisy. The role also requires the use of personal protective equipment, including respirators, and adherence to all applicable safety policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements. Employees must be able to complete required fit testing, wear appropriate PPE for the duration of assigned tasks, and respond safely to changing conditions within the production environment.