Corporate Maintenance & Continuous Improvement Director

Piston Automotive•Southfield, MI

12d

About The Position

The Director of Maintenance & Continuous Improvement establishes and executes Piston Automotive’s strategy for maintenance reliability, asset management, equipment uptime, and operational excellence across its manufacturing locations. The role develops standardized maintenance systems, advances continuous improvement capability, and partners with Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Finance, Human Resources, and plant leadership to improve safety, quality, delivery, productivity, equipment reliability, and cost performance. The director also partners with the Piston Group Director of Lean/SCI to align Lean principles, continuous improvement roadmaps, governance routines, and capability-building methods while retaining accountability for Piston Automotive maintenance excellence, reliability systems, and execution results. The role leads enterprise alignment, governance, maintenance excellence, asset reliability, Lean and SCI deployment, cost-savings initiatives, and performance reporting. It develops PA maintenance, engineering, and continuous improvement leaders; builds internal capability through training, coaching, mentoring, knowledge sharing, and succession planning; and promotes cross-plant collaboration and adoption of successful practices. The director works with executive and plant leaders and cross-functional teams to support operational priorities, profitability, growth, launches, and customer performance. The position also ensures compliance with applicable policies, regulations, safety expectations, and industry standards, and champions proactive safety and measurable accountability across facilities. The position directly and/or functionally leads assigned Piston Automotive Maintenance Excellence and Continuous Improvement resources, providing coaching, direction, priorities, and performance expectations. Regular travel to Piston Automotive facilities, up to approximately 50% based on business needs, is required.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Business, or a related technical discipline.
At least 10 years of progressive leadership experience in manufacturing, maintenance, engineering, operations, or continuous improvement, including multi-site responsibility.
Demonstrated success leading maintenance reliability, asset management, operational excellence, Lean transformation, or SCI execution in a manufacturing environment.
Deep working knowledge of Lean methodologies, including Kaizen, value stream mapping, 5S, standardized work, root cause analysis, and structured problem solving.
Ability to translate enterprise strategy into plant-level execution plans, governance routines, metrics, and measurable financial or operational outcomes.
Strong facilitation, coaching, communication, change-management, and cross-functional influence skills.
Business acumen and experience using operational metrics, financial data, and project tracking to support decision-making and performance improvement.
Experience applying maintenance excellence, equipment reliability, preventive/predictive maintenance, and asset-performance practices.
Experience with Microsoft Office products and data-driven performance management tools.
Ability to travel regularly to Piston Automotive facilities, up to approximately 50% based on business needs.

Nice To Haves

MBA or advanced degree.
Lean certification, Lean Sensei certification, Six Sigma Black Belt, CMQ/OE, CQE, or equivalent certification.
Background in Operations, Engineering, Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, or Program Launch.
Experience developing Lean/SCI roadmaps, maturity assessments, CI training systems, and cross-site best-practice deployment.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute Piston Automotive’s maintenance excellence and continuous improvement strategy in alignment with business objectives, operational priorities, and corporate expectations.
Translate Piston Group Lean/SCI strategy, PPS standards, priorities, and governance expectations into PA deployment plans, maturity roadmaps, and scorecards.
Partner with the Piston Group Director of Lean/SCI, PA Operations leadership, Engineering, Quality, and plant leadership to align strategy and tactics and avoid duplication of enterprise-level Lean ownership.
Establish governance routines for maintenance reliability, SCI execution, project prioritization, progress reviews, and results reporting across Piston Automotive facilities.
Promote accountability, collaboration, standardization, operational discipline, and a sustainable continuous improvement culture.
Establish standardized maintenance systems, reliability expectations, asset management practices, and performance measures across facilities.
Lead deployment and sustainment of preventive and predictive maintenance, equipment reliability initiatives, spare parts discipline, downtime reduction methods, and standardized maintenance work processes.
Partner with Manufacturing Engineering and plant maintenance teams to improve equipment uptime, launch readiness, process capability, maintainability, and lifecycle asset performance.
Support capital planning, maintenance budgeting, equipment readiness, and operational risk reduction using data-driven maintenance strategies and cross-functional leadership.
Lead deployment of Lean and SCI practices, including Kaizen events, value stream mapping, 5S, standardized work, problem-solving workshops, and waste elimination.
Own PA SCI cost-savings goal deployment, project identification and execution tracking, benefit validation, read-across, and results reporting in alignment with corporate and PA financial objectives.
Use operational metrics, customer scorecards, BOS/MBR inputs, and plant KPIs to identify trends, prioritize improvement opportunities, and drive sustainable results.
Ensure improvement initiatives enhance safety, quality, delivery, productivity, customer satisfaction, cost performance, and overall equipment effectiveness.
Develop and sustain practical standards, procedures, dashboards, and visual management routines that make performance gaps visible and support disciplined follow-up.
Lead, coach, and develop PA maintenance, engineering, and continuous improvement leaders.
Build internal capability through standardized training, mentoring, train-the-trainer approaches, knowledge sharing, and succession planning.
Coach leaders and teams in Lean thinking, maintenance best practices, root cause analysis, and structured problem solving in daily operations.
Promote cross-plant collaboration, benchmarking, best-practice sharing, and read-across of successful maintenance and SCI solutions.
Collaborate with Operations, Engineering, Supply Chain, IT, Finance, Human Resources, Program Management, and plant leadership to support strategic initiatives and operational objectives.
Partner with executive and plant leadership to establish long-term operational priorities, performance objectives, and improvement strategies supporting profitability, growth, launch execution, and customer performance.
Support launches of new equipment, technologies, and manufacturing processes by ensuring maintenance readiness, operational standards, training, and sustainment plans are in place.
Participate in management reviews related to operational performance, maintenance effectiveness, quality systems, and continuous improvement progress.
Ensure compliance with corporate policies, regulatory requirements, safety expectations, and applicable industry standards related to maintenance, equipment, and operational excellence.
Champion proactive workplace safety through risk identification, standardized work practices, layered accountability, and continuous improvement.
Establish governance processes for consistent execution, accountability, escalation, and measurable performance across facilities.
Periodically review the suitability and effectiveness of PA maintenance and continuous improvement systems with appropriate leaders and functional stakeholders.
Directly and/or functionally lead assigned Piston Automotive Maintenance Excellence and Continuous Improvement resources, setting direction, priorities, coaching, and performance expectations.