Director of Manufacturing Engineering & Reliability

Position Summary

This position provides senior leadership for manufacturing engineering, facilities, and maintenance functions, ensuring safe, compliant, and highly reliable operations. This role defines and executes enterprise OEE, reliability, and automation strategies aligned with Steffes’ corporate growth objectives, while driving Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and technology advancement. The Director partners cross-functionally to enable scalable production, optimize asset performance, manage capital investments, and develop high-performing teams that support long-term operational excellence and business continuity.

Steffes Core Values

• Trust: We promote growth and long-term success by making wise decisions with trust as an essential component.
• Respect: We unleash creative talents of our diverse workforce by treating each other the way we would like to be treated.
• Teamwork: We believe people achieve much more by working together.
• Integrity: We follow through and keep our word while being open, honest, ethical, and fair.
• Safety: We view our co-workers as family members of our business and strive to ensure safety for all.
• Humility: We recognize and appreciate strengths and contributions beyond oneself. We are modest, genuine, and authentic.

Key Responsibilities 

1. Define and execute enterprise OEE, reliability, and manufacturing automation strategies aligned with Steffes’ corporate growth objectives.
2. Provide senior leadership for manufacturing engineering, facilities, and maintenance functions to ensure operational excellence and scalability.
3. Lead reliability-centered, preventative, and predictive maintenance programs to maximize asset performance and uptime.
4. Oversee equipment selection, lifecycle planning and capital investments, ensuring budget discipline and targeted ROI>
5. Drive Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, capacity expansion, and successful new product introduction.
6. Establish and monitor departmental performance through KPIs, dashboards, and data-driven decision making.
7. Ensure compliance with all applicable regulatory, safety, and industry standards (API, ISO, ASME, OSHA, UL, DOT, SHARP).
8. Lead technology advancement through automation, AI, data systems, and ERP-enabled manufacturing solutions.
9. Build, develop, and retain high-performing teams while leading succession planning and modeling senior leadership behaviors.
10. Serve as a senior cross-functional partner to operations, quality, supply chain, customers, and suppliers.
11. Perform other duties as assigned.

Decision-Making Authority

The Director of Manufacturing Engineering & Reliability has authority to set and execute manufacturing engineering, reliability, and maintenance strategies. The role independently approves engineering standards, maintenance methodologies, process improvements, and performance targets. The Director has authority to make spending and talent decisions within the scope of approved operating and capital budgets, including staffing, development, and resource allocation. Capital investments within delegated authority may be approved independently, with larger investments recommended for executive approval, while ensuring regulatory compliance, risk mitigation, and operational readiness.

Measures of Success

Success in this role is defined by delivering reliable, efficient, and scalable manufacturing operations through improved OEE, asset reliability, and Lean-driven process excellence, while ensuring compliance, on-budget capital execution, and effective deployment of automation and technology. Success also includes building high-performing teams, enabling new product introduction and capacity expansion, and driving strong cross-functional collaboration to achieve business objectives.

Core Expectations

• Customer Service - Demonstrate excellent customer service and display a positive attitude and behavior consistent with the Steffes Code of Conduct and Core Values.
• Environmental, Health, Safety (EHS) – Perform work in compliance with EHS training and identified procedures/standard work. Report any EHS incident or concern to your supervisor immediately. Cooperate and contribute to the overall success of the EHS program.
• Quality – Participate in job-specific training. Complete work as indicated by standard work, processes, and/or procedures. If your work can’t be completed as required, notify your supervisor immediately for guidance.
• Conduct - Demonstrate and support the Steffes Code of Conduct.
• Policies and Procedures - Demonstrate and support Steffes Policies and Procedures by:
  • Using tact, sound judgement, and maintaining a professional attitude in communication and relationships with others.
  • Striving to deliver the best quality in daily work.
  • Promoting a positive image of Steffes and its products.
  • Being timely and punctual in attendance and following all policies and procedures.

Job Requirements/Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related technical discipline; advanced degree preferred.
• 10+ years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing engineering, reliability, or maintenance within an industrial manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated expertise in OEE improvement, reliability-centered maintenance, and asset lifecycle management.
• Proven experience leading automation, advanced manufacturing technologies, and data-driven operational improvements.
• Strong knowledge of Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and change leadership.
• Experience managing capital investments, departmental budgets, and delivering ROI-driven projects.
• Working knowledge of applicable regulatory and industry standards (e.g., ISO, API, ASME, OSHA).
• Proven ability to build, develop, and lead high-performing technical teams in a complex, cross-functional organization.
• Represents Steffes in the community or through relevant professional networks to promotes the company's goodwill and interest, as applicable.
• Ability to travel up to 15%, or as required.

Functional & Cognitive Requirements of Position

• This position requires walking, sitting, or standing to a significant degree
• Must have the ability to lift 50 pounds from floor to waist, carry 50 pounds, and push and/or pull up to 20 pounds
• Must have the ability to climb ladders and/or stairs.
• Stooping, crouching, kneeling, and bending
• Handling, feeling, and gripping would be required for some activities
• This role may be subject to internal and external environmental conditions
• Learn new tasks, remember processes, maintain focus, complete tasks independently, make timely decisions in the context of a workflow, ability to communicate with visitors, ability to complete tasks in situations that have a speed or productivity quota.