SW
JOB SUMMARY
The Maintenance Superintendent is responsible for leading the safe, reliable, and cost-effective execution of all maintenance activities within the assigned operating areas. This role drives operational excellence through disciplined execution of the maintenance work process, reliability-centered practices, workforce development, and strong cross-functional alignment with Operations, Engineering, and Reliability teams.
The Maintenance Superintendent establishes clear expectations for safety, reliability, planning, scheduling, precision maintenance, and craftsmanship while fostering a culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement. The position ensures maintenance resources are effectively deployed to improve asset availability, reduce unplanned downtime, optimize maintenance costs, and support production objectives.
This role serves as a key leader in building a proactive maintenance culture focused on reliability, precision execution, operational discipline, and employee engagement.
MAJOR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES
Safety, Environmental & Compliance Excellence
Lead all maintenance activities with a safety-first mindset and reinforce compliance with all company safety policies, procedures, permits, and regulatory requirements.
Ensure maintenance execution aligns with environmental, process safety, and operational risk management expectations.
Drive hazard identification, Job Safety Analysis (JSA), Human and Organizational Performance (HOP) principles, and risk mitigation during maintenance execution.
Ensure all fire protection, life safety, and critical protection systems are maintained, tested, and compliant with applicable regulations and site standards.
Promote safe work execution through field presence, coaching, audits, and visible leadership engagement.
Ensure contractor and internal maintenance activities comply with site safety, reliability, and quality expectations.
Reliability & Maintenance Excellence
Lead the execution of preventive, predictive, corrective, and outage maintenance activities to improve equipment reliability and asset performance.
Drive disciplined adherence to the site maintenance work process, including planning, scheduling, execution, and post-job feedback.
Ensure precision maintenance practices are utilized, including alignment, balancing, torque management, lubrication excellence, inspection quality, and proper installation standards.
Reduce unplanned downtime and maintenance-related production losses through proactive maintenance strategies and defect elimination.
Support Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) activities and ensure corrective actions are implemented effectively and sustained.
Monitor equipment performance, bad actors, maintenance KPIs, and reliability trends to prioritize resources and drive continuous improvement.
Collaborate with Engineering and Reliability teams to improve asset strategies, PM optimization, and equipment lifecycle management.
Ensure maintenance quality standards and craftsmanship expectations are consistently reinforced across all maintenance activities.
Work Management & Execution
Lead daily maintenance execution activities to ensure safe, efficient, and effective completion of planned work.
Coordinate with Operations, Planning, Reliability, and Engineering to establish work priorities aligned with business objectives.
Drive schedule compliance, schedule adherence, and schedule protection to maximize workforce productivity and minimize reactive work.
Ensure maintenance backlog health is actively managed and prioritized appropriately based on business risk and equipment criticality.
Optimize labor, contractor, and material resources to maximize wrench time and execution efficiency.
Review work execution performance and identify opportunities to improve planning accuracy, job readiness, and execution effectiveness.
Support outage and shutdown planning efforts to ensure safe and successful execution of critical work scopes.
Financial & Business Performance
Manage maintenance spending within approved budgets while maintaining reliability and operational performance expectations.
Monitor maintenance costs, overtime, contractor utilization, and material consumption to improve cost effectiveness.
Support annual budget planning, capital forecasting, and maintenance resource planning activities.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives focused on reducing maintenance costs, improving uptime, and increasing operational efficiency.
Utilize KPIs and operational data to identify trends, measure performance, and support business decision-making.
Leadership, People & Culture
Build and sustain a culture of accountability, teamwork, craftsmanship, and continuous improvement.
Coach, mentor, and develop maintenance supervisors, planners, and craftsmen to improve technical capability and leadership effectiveness.
Establish clear performance expectations and provide routine feedback aligned with departmental and organizational objectives.
Promote employee engagement through communication, recognition, involvement, and development opportunities.
Foster strong partnerships with Operations, Engineering, Reliability, Procurement, and other support teams.
Lead by example through visible field engagement and proactive leadership behaviors.
Support succession planning and workforce development initiatives to strengthen organizational capability.
CRITICAL SKILLS / CAPABILITIES
Leadership & Accountability
Demonstrates strong leadership presence and the ability to influence teams toward safe and reliable operational performance.
Holds self and others accountable for meeting commitments, performance expectations, and business objectives.
Builds trust-based relationships through consistency, communication, and integrity.
Communication
Effectively communicates expectations, priorities, and business objectives across all organizational levels.
Facilitates productive meetings, discussions, and problem-solving sessions.
Clearly communicates technical and operational information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
Problem Solving & Decision-Making
Utilizes data, operational knowledge, and structured problem-solving techniques to resolve issues effectively.
Identifies root causes and implements sustainable corrective actions.
Makes timely and informed decisions while balancing operational, financial, and safety considerations.
Planning & Organizational Effectiveness
Prioritizes work effectively in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Coordinates resources efficiently to maximize productivity and execution effectiveness.
Demonstrates strong organizational and time management skills.
Coaching & Development
Develops employees through coaching, mentoring, and constructive feedback.
Encourages knowledge sharing, skill development, and continuous learning.
Promotes a culture focused on craftsmanship, reliability, and operational discipline.
Continuous Improvement
Identifies opportunities to improve maintenance processes, reliability, and operational efficiency.
Supports innovation and implementation of best practices in maintenance and reliability.
Technical Skills & Qualifications
Experience with CMMS systems such as JDE, SAP, Maximo, or similar maintenance management platforms.
Strong understanding of preventive maintenance, predictive maintenance, precision maintenance, and reliability principles.
Working knowledge of industrial maintenance systems, rotating equipment, fixed equipment, utilities, and process systems.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications including Excel, Outlook, Word, and PowerPoint.
Experience interpreting maintenance KPIs, reliability metrics, and operational performance data.
Understanding planning and scheduling best practices within a manufacturing environment.
Experience:
Required: 8 to 10 years of Paper Mill Maintenance experience or related
Preferred: Precision Maintenance experience
Required: 6 to 8 years of Maintenance or Engineering experience in Manufacturing
Preferred: Bachelor\u2019s degree in mechanical engineering or related field
Education:
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Smurfit Westrock (NYSE:SW) is the go-to leader and partner of choice in sustainable packaging. We are dedicated to creating efficient and scalable paper and packaging solutions to help solve complex packaging challenges. Guided by our values of safety, loyalty, integrity and respect, we are committed to delivering meaningful value for shareholders, customers, employees and the communities where we operate.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law.