Maintenance Superintendent - Paper Mill & Converting Operations

Position Summary

The Maintenance Superintendent provides leadership and oversight for all maintenance and boiler plant activities at the mill. This role ensures high equipment reliability, minimal unplanned downtime, safe operations, and efficient maintenance execution. The superintendent is responsible for managing a skilled trades workforce, implementing preventive and predictive maintenance programs, leading reliability initiatives, supporting capital projects, and driving continuous improvement in maintenance processes.

This position is hands-on in leadership while maintaining a strategic focus on long-term reliability and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

Maintenance Leadership & Workforce Management

• Lead the maintenance department, including mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, and boiler personnel.
• Communicate with operating and engineering teams in prioritizing work.
• Plan workforce deployment, manage performance, and promote technical development.
• Supervise hiring, training, and development of maintenance and boiler plant personnel.
• Foster a strong safety culture and ensure compliance with OSHA and company safety standards.

Maintenance Planning & Execution

• Direct day-to-day maintenance activities across paper, converting, and boiler operations.
• Assign qualified personnel to jobs, ensure parts/materials availability, and monitor work quality.
• Implement and oversee formal planning and scheduling processes to maximize labor efficiency and minimize production disruption.
• Plan and coordinate major maintenance outages and equipment shutdowns, including scope development, contractor coordination, and schedule adherence.
• Ensure safe execution and minimal disruption to production.

Reliability & Asset Management

• Lead reliability programs including preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM).
• Implement root cause failure analysis (RCFA) to prevent recurring equipment issues.
• Identify chronic equipment challenges and drive long-term solutions to improve uptime and asset life.
• Lead maintenance-related continuous improvement initiatives to enhance reliability, efficiency, and safety.
• Participate in cross-functional improvement teams and apply structured problem-solving methods.
• Standardize maintenance procedures and promote lean practices.

Budgeting & Cost Control

• Monitor and manage maintenance budgets including labor, materials, contractors, and services.
• Provide input to capital planning and ensure cost-effective equipment maintenance and upgrades.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electro-Mechanical, Instrumentation & Controls, or related field preferred; equivalent experience considered.
• Demonstrate a strong commitment to safety leadership, ensuring OSHA, other agencies and company’s policies and standards.
• Minimum 8 years of industrial maintenance experience, with at least 3 years in a supervisory or leadership role in a heavy manufacturing environment (paper/converting preferred).
• Experience managing a 15–25 person maintenance department is highly preferred.

Technical Skills

• Strong knowledge of mechanical systems: pumps, compressors, gearboxes, bearings, hydraulics, pneumatics, steam systems, boiler auxiliaries.
• Electrical experience: 480V & 600V 3-phase distribution, MCCs, VFDs, and soft starters.
• Familiarity with PLC-based control systems, instrumentation, sensors, and process automation.
• Proficiency with CMMS/EAM software and maintenance planning tools.
• Understanding of boiler plant operations and associated safety and regulatory compliance.
• Experience with preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered maintenance programs, including vibration analysis, thermography, and oil analysis.

Leadership & Management

• Strong supervisory and leadership abilities with skilled trades personnel.
• Ability to drive reliability, safety, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills across operations, engineering, and management teams.
• Budget management and cost control experience.

Physical Requirements & Work Environment

• Exposure to industrial noise, heat, humidity, steam, moving equipment, and confined spaces typical of a paper mill.
• Walking throughout the mill to supervise projects; stooping, kneeling, crouching, and reaching as required.
• Ascending/descending stairs and ladders; limited headroom in certain basement areas.
• Average of 2–4 hours/day sitting for meetings and computer work.
• Required personal protective equipment: steel-toed footwear, hearing protection, safety glasses, and other PPE as applicable.