Sr. Manager, Maintenance & Reliability

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.  

This role establishes the maintenance program, work management system, CMMS and ERP platforms, spare parts strategy and reliability practices do not yet exist. The Senior Manager designs and deploys them ahead of startup, then leads the organization that runs them. 

The primary deliverables of the roles are a configured CMMS and ERP maintenance environment built on validated asset and materials master data; a documented work management process operating to measurable standards; a criticality-based preventive and predictive maintenance program; a stocked and governed central storeroom; an audit-ready Mechanical Integrity program; and a qualified maintenance organization built on schedule against line startup. 

Responsibilities 

Maintenance Program and Management System 

• Design and document the maintenance management system: work management process, roles and decision rights, performance standards and governance. 
• Establish the work identification-through-closeout workflow — notification, prioritization, planning, kitting, scheduling, execution and closeout — and the discipline behind each step. 
• Define maintenance strategy by asset class, grounded in criticality rather than habit. 
• Build the performance framework: PM and schedule compliance, wrench time, backlog health, emergency work ratio, MTBF/MTTR and maintenance cost per unit produced. 
• Own Mechanical Integrity for PSM-covered equipment with EHS and the PSM Manager — inspection and test plans, deficiency management and audit-ready evidence. 

CMMS and ERP Configuration and Deployment 

• CMMS configuration: Lead platform selection and functional configuration — work order types and priorities, approval workflow, planning and scheduling, permit linkage and mobile execution. 
• Asset hierarchy and master data: Design the asset register, functional location hierarchy, equipment numbering and tagging convention, and the governance model that keeps the data clean at scale. 
• PM library and failure taxonomy: Build job plans and task lists from OEM data and criticality analysis, with runtime- and condition-based triggers; establish failure and cause codes that make the data usable for reliability analysis. 
• ERP and MRO workflows: Configure stock item masters, storeroom locations, min/max levels, requisition-to-receipt flow, issue and return transactions, and work order cost capture with correct capital-versus-expense treatment. 
• Equipment BOMs and integration: Link equipment bills of material to stock items so planners can kit jobs; integrate CMMS with historian, SCADA and MES for runtime and condition data. 
• Deployment and adoption: Own testing, training, go-live and stabilization. Configuration without adoption delivers nothing; this role is accountable for both. 

Reliability Engineering and Asset Strategy 

• Establish criticality ranking across the asset base as the foundation for PM strategy, spares stocking and capital prioritization. 
• Build the reliability program: FMEA and asset strategy reviews, root cause analysis with defect elimination, and bad-actor management. 
• Stand up predictive maintenance — vibration, thermography, oil analysis, ultrasound and motor testing — including routes, thresholds, analyst qualification and escalation to work order. 
• Set precision maintenance standards for alignment, balancing, fastening, lubrication and cleanliness, and partner with Manufacturing Engineering on design for reliability and maintainability. 

MRO, Stores and Spare Parts 

• Stand up the central storeroom serving all three process areas — layout, bin scheme, receiving and issue process, security and cycle counting. 
• Build the spare parts strategy: criticality-based stocking, insurance spares for long-lead and single-point-of-failure equipment, min/max levels and vendor-managed inventory. 
• Capture commissioning spares — parts data, OEM recommendations and BOMs — during installation, while vendors are still on site. This window does not reopen. 
• Manage MRO inventory value, turns and stockout performance as a deliberate balance. 

Organization Design, Build and Development 

• Establish the central specialty trades pool — welding and fabrication, rigging and precision alignment, lubrication and condition monitoring — sized to absorb outage peaks the area teams cannot staff for individually. 
• Build the craft training and certification program: skills matrix by craft and level, qualification standards, requalification intervals, OJT modules and regional technical program partnerships. 

Safety, Budget and Performance 

• Own safety performance for the maintenance workforce, including LOTO, confined space, line breaking, hot work, energized electrical work, elevated work and rigging. 
• Own the maintenance operating budget — labor, overtime, contract services, MRO consumption and repairables — and the cost model through the ramp. 
• Own equipment availability and maintenance contribution to OEE with the three Operations areas; lead outage and turnaround planning and execution. 
• Manage contract maintenance and specialty service providers, including scope, qualification, safety oversight and performance. 

Responsibilities and tasks outlined are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of the business 

Qualifications 

Required 

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering (mechanical, electrical, industrial or related), or an equivalent combination of technical education and maintenance leadership experience. 
• Ten or more years in industrial maintenance and reliability, including five or more leading maintenance organizations in a 24/7 process or heavy manufacturing environment. 
• Hands-on configuration or deployment of ERP maintenance and MRO modules (SAP PM/MM, Oracle EAM, Maximo, Infor EAM or comparable), including inventory, purchasing and cost capture. 
• Proven record building a maintenance and reliability program from a greenfield or low-maturity starting point, with measurable movement in PM compliance, emergency work ratio and maintenance cost. 
• Experience building spare parts and storeroom programs, including criticality-based stocking. 
• Direct accountability for maintenance safety programs and for an operating budget. 

Must be a U.S. Person due to required access to U.S. export-controlled information or facilities. 

Preferred 

• Demonstrated ownership of a CMMS implementation. You have designed an asset hierarchy, built a PM library, configured work management workflow and driven adoption through go-live. 
• Greenfield or major expansion experience — standing up maintenance in an empty building rather than improving a running operation. 
• PSM-regulated site experience with direct Mechanical Integrity program ownership. 
• CMRP, CRL or equivalent professional certification. 
• Background across relevant asset classes: vacuum furnaces and thermal systems, hydraulic presses, powder and material handling, CNC machine tools, plating and wastewater, and utility plant equipment. 
• Lean, TPM or Six Sigma certification with applied maintenance projects. 
• Master’s degree or MBA. 

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.