Summary: Palmer Foundry is seeking a hands-on Maintenance Engineer to support the reliability, availability, and continuous improvement of our foundry equipment and facility systems. This position is responsible for developing and improving preventive maintenance programs, troubleshooting equipment failures, leading root-cause analysis, coordinating major maintenance activities, and driving improvements in equipment reliability and uptime.
The Maintenance Engineer will work closely with Production, Quality, Engineering, and Environmental, Health & Safety (EHS) to ensure equipment and facility systems operate safely, reliably, and efficiently. The ideal candidate combines strong mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills with a practical, data-driven approach to equipment reliability and continuous improvement.
This position may require access to export-controlled technology or software source code that is subject to export controls restrictions under the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (“ITAR”) and the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) and will therefore be required to meet eligibility criteria under ITAR and EAR regulations.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Develop, implement, maintain, and continuously improve preventive and predictive maintenance programs for production equipment and facility systems. Scheduled PMs for our in-house maintenance personnel in addition to sourcing and contracting outside service technicians.
- Maintain, troubleshoot, and diagnose foundry equipment, including melting and holding furnaces, molding machines, sand systems, cut-off equipment, shot-blasting equipment, air compressors, pumps, motors, cooling systems, cranes, and related production equipment.
- Provide technical support for mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, combustion, and controls-related equipment issues.
- Lead Root-Cause Analysis (RCA) of recurring or significant equipment failures and implement permanent corrective actions to prevent recurrence.
- Monitor and analyze equipment reliability, downtime, preventive maintenance compliance, Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), and other maintenance KPIs to identify opportunities for improvement.
- Work closely with Palmer Foundry Industrial Engineering and OEMs regarding onboarding of new equipment, ensuring all critical and non-critical spares, and preventative maintenance schedules are understood.
- Coordinate and support planned shutdowns, major repairs, equipment rebuilds, installations, upgrades, and other maintenance and capital improvement projects.
- Develop maintenance scopes of work, project schedules, cost estimates, and implementation plans as required.
- Manage spare-parts requirements, critical spare inventory, vendors, suppliers, and outside contractors through the company's Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
- Identify critical equipment and components and establish appropriate spare-parts and preventive maintenance strategies to minimize production risk.
- Maintain accurate equipment records, maintenance histories, work orders, preventive maintenance procedures, spare-parts information, and supporting documentation through the CMMS.
- Ensure maintenance work orders are properly documented, prioritized, completed, and closed in a timely manner.
- Work closely with Production, Quality, Engineering, and EHS to maintain safe, reliable, and efficient manufacturing operations.
- Support equipment modifications and process improvements while ensuring appropriate consideration of safety, quality, maintainability, and production requirements.
- Assist in developing equipment specifications and evaluating new or replacement manufacturing equipment.
- Coordinate outside contractors and service providers, ensuring work is performed safely and in accordance with Palmer Foundry requirements.
- Support compliance with applicable OSHA, environmental, electrical, machine guarding, Lockout/Tagout (LOTO), and other safety requirements.
- Promote and participate in Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, 5S, and continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing downtime, improving reliability, increasing productivity, and lowering maintenance costs.
- Provide technical guidance and troubleshooting support to maintenance personnel and production employees as needed.
- Perform other duties and maintenance-related projects as assigned.
Qualifications
Education and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Electromechanical Engineering, or a related technical field preferred.
- Equivalent combination of technical education and significant industrial maintenance experience may be considered.
- 3 -7 years of maintenance, reliability, manufacturing, or equipment engineering experience in an industrial manufacturing environment preferred.
- Experience in a foundry, metalworking, aerospace, automotive, heavy manufacturing, or similar industrial environment strongly preferred.
Technical Skills
- Strong mechanical and electrical troubleshooting capabilities.
- Working knowledge of industrial motors, pumps, bearings, gearboxes, hydraulics, pneumatics, compressed-air systems, cooling systems, and material-handling equipment.
- Familiarity with industrial electrical systems, sensors, motor controls, VFDs, PLC-controlled equipment, and automated manufacturing systems.
- Experience developing and managing preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
- Experience using a CMMS to manage equipment, preventive maintenance, work orders, spare parts, and maintenance history.
- Understanding of equipment reliability concepts, including MTBF, MTTR, downtime analysis, failure modes, and criticality assessment.
- Experience conducting structured Root-Cause Analysis (RCA) using methods such as 5-Why, Fishbone/Ishikawa, or similar problem-solving techniques.
- Ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, equipment manuals, P&IDs, and technical documentation.
- Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Excel and other Microsoft Office applications.
- Knowledge of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, TPM, 5S, and continuous improvement methodologies preferred.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
- Strong hands-on troubleshooting and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to systematically diagnose complex equipment problems and develop practical, permanent solutions.
- Strong organizational and project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities.
- Ability to effectively coordinate production requirements, planned maintenance, contractors, and equipment availability.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work effectively with production employees, maintenance technicians, engineers, supervisors, vendors, and management.
- Demonstrated commitment to workplace safety, equipment reliability, product quality, and continuous improvement.
- Ability to balance immediate production needs with long-term equipment reliability objectives.
Physical and Work Environment Requirements
- Ability to work in an industrial foundry environment involving heat, noise, dust, moving equipment, and varying temperatures.
- Ability to walk and stand for extended periods and access production and equipment areas throughout the facility.
- Ability to climb stairs and ladders and work around industrial machinery as required.
- Ability to lift and/or move equipment, tools, and components consistent with established company safety practices.
- Must be willing to respond to urgent equipment and production issues when necessary.
Key Performance Indicators
Performance in this position may be measured using metrics including:
- Equipment uptime and availability
- Unplanned equipment downtime
- Preventive maintenance completion and schedule compliance
- MTBF and MTTR
- Recurring equipment failures
- Maintenance work-order backlog and completion
- Critical spare-parts availability
- Maintenance project completion
- Maintenance cost and contractor performance
- Safety and regulatory compliance
- Continuous improvement results
Why Palmer Foundry
The Maintenance Engineer will have the opportunity to make a direct impact on equipment reliability, manufacturing capacity, safety, and operational performance. This is a hands-on engineering role with significant interaction across Production, Quality, Engineering, Maintenance, and EHS and the opportunity to lead meaningful equipment and process improvements.
The statements contained in this job description are intended to describe the general content and requirements for performance of this job. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all job duties, responsibilities, and requirements. This job description is not an employment agreement or contract. Management has the exclusive right to alter the scope of work within the framework of this job description at any time without prior notice.
Palmer Foundry also complies with federal employment eligibility verification laws through the E-Verify process. To verify identity and legal authority to work in the U.S., on their first day of employment, employees must present either a document which establishes both identity and work authorization (e.g., a U.S. Passport or Permanent Resident Card), or provide one document for identity (e.g., a state-issued driver's license) and one for work authorization (e.g., a U.S. Social Security Card). All documents must be unexpired and presented in original form to Palmer Foundry for the completion of Form I-9 and the E-Verify process.
