Machine Rebuild & Technical Capability Specialist

Caterpillar Inc.•East Peoria, IL

8d•$97,530 - $146,290•Onsite

About The Position

The Machine Rebuild & Technical Capability Specialist is a hands-on technical leadership role on the Facilities Team within Caterpillar’s Integrated Drivetrain Energy Solutions (IDES) division. The role leads complex machine rebuilds and field-based technical work, mentors technicians, coordinates vendors and suppliers, and improves the long-term reliability of critical manufacturing assets. The specialist supports equipment rebuilds from planning through startup and stabilization, working directly with production equipment, maintenance technicians, engineering resources, vendors, OEMs, suppliers, and internal customers. The position involves significant time on the shop floor and inside equipment, leading technical work, solving problems, supporting startup, and developing internal technical capability. The role provides technical direction for rebuilds and major repairs, contributes to asset lifecycle decisions, captures machine-specific knowledge in standards and training materials, supports reliability improvement, and communicates technical expectations and project status to internal and external stakeholders. The position is onsite five days a week in East Peoria, Illinois, and may require less than 10% travel. Relocation assistance and visa sponsorship are not available.

Requirements

Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering or a related field, or equivalent experience, is desired.
Accuracy and attention to detail.
Ability to collaborate constructively with a variety of individuals and groups.
Decision-making and critical-thinking skills, including analyzing situations and reaching informed decisions.
Effective communication skills.
Knowledge of plant facilities management and maintaining physical facilities and infrastructure.
Problem-solving skills applicable to diverse organizational, operational, or process issues.
Project management knowledge and ability to plan, organize, monitor, and control projects.
Technical troubleshooting knowledge and ability to anticipate, recognize, and resolve technical issues.

Nice To Haves

Experience with machine rebuilds, major equipment overhauls, or asset restoration projects.
Working knowledge of mechanical and electrical systems, controls, automation, hydraulics, pneumatics, lubrication, alignment, machine guarding, and machine safety.
Experience in heavy manufacturing, machining, heat treat, forging, fabrication, assembly, or other industrial production environments.
Root cause analysis, failure analysis, reliability improvement, or maintenance strategy experience.
Experience working directly with OEMs, suppliers, contractors, and maintenance service providers.
Experience mentoring technicians or leading technical teams.
Project leadership or project management experience.
Lean manufacturing or continuous improvement experience.

Responsibilities

Lead machine rebuild planning, scope development, execution, startup, and post-rebuild stabilization.
Perform hands-on work during teardown, inspection, repair, rebuild, installation, commissioning, and troubleshooting.
Coordinate rebuild work across mechanical, electrical, controls, hydraulic, pneumatic, automation, tooling, guarding, and safety systems.
Develop rebuild work plans, technical checklists, schedules, risk assessments, and execution strategies.
Support decisions about whether equipment should be repaired, rebuilt, replaced, or retired.
Ensure rebuild work aligns with safety, production, quality, reliability, and customer needs.
Serve as technical lead during complex rebuilds, major repairs, and critical troubleshooting events.
Lead technicians and technical resources through difficult machine problems and provide technical direction when conditions or scope change.
Work alongside maintenance teams, vendors, contractors, suppliers, and OEM support personnel.
Mentor technicians and maintenance resources through hands-on rebuild work.
Convert machine-specific knowledge into standards, procedures, training materials, and lessons learned.
Develop rebuild standards, technical documentation, inspection guidance, startup checklists, and best practices.
Build internal troubleshooting, commissioning, reliability, and machine-specific technical capability; support knowledge transfer.
Identify recurring failure modes, reliability risks, maintainability concerns, and improvement opportunities.
Lead or support root cause investigations related to equipment failures and rebuild findings.
Use rebuild activity to improve maintenance strategies, spare parts planning, reliability plans, and capital recommendations.
Partner with operations, maintenance, engineering, reliability, and leadership teams to improve equipment performance and supportability.
Represent the company technically when working with vendors, suppliers, OEMs, contractors, and service providers.
Communicate technical expectations, project status, risks, needs, and decisions to internal and external stakeholders.
Coordinate vendor and supplier support while maintaining internal ownership of technical direction, equipment knowledge, and rebuild standards.
Work with production customers to understand operational needs, timing constraints, restart expectations, and equipment performance requirements.