Maintenance and Reliability Manager

Aviagen•Watertown, NY

About The Position

The Maintenance and Reliability Manager leads maintenance and equipment reliability at the Watertown hatchery. The role manages the maintenance function to support safe working conditions, regulatory compliance, chick welfare, product quality, on-time deliveries, and employee safety. The manager develops the maintenance team and a planned maintenance program for incubation, hatching, chick processing, refrigeration, HVAC, utilities, and supporting systems. The manager works closely with Hatchery Operations, Quality, Engineering, vendors, and regional support teams to address recurring equipment failures, schedule work around hatch operations, and deliver equipment and facility improvements. The position combines day-to-day team leadership with longer-term efforts to improve asset condition and reduce unplanned downtime. Work takes place in an operating hatchery, including production-floor and mechanical-area work and coordination with outside contractors. The manager may need to respond to critical equipment issues outside normal business hours as needed.

Requirements

Experience leading maintenance work and people in a 24/7 production, agricultural, food manufacturing, or similarly equipment-intensive environment.
Working knowledge of mechanical, electrical, controls, HVAC, refrigeration, and utility systems, with the judgment to bring in specialized support when needed.
Experience planning preventive maintenance, troubleshooting recurring failures, managing contractors, and coordinating repairs around production needs.
Ability to use a computerized maintenance management system or comparable work-order and asset-tracking tools.
Strong communication, organization, and follow-through.
Commitment to employee safety.

Nice To Haves

Experience in a hatchery, poultry operation, food manufacturing facility, or other production environment.
Experience with environmental controls, building pressure and airflow, chillers, or industrial refrigeration.
Experience with capital projects, equipment commissioning, root cause analysis, and critical spare parts management.
Technical degree, trade certification, engineering degree, or equivalent hands-on experience.

Responsibilities

Lead preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance for hatchery equipment, building systems, and utilities.
Establish equipment priorities, maintenance schedules, inspection routines, and critical spare parts based on operational risk.
Review breakdowns and recurring issues, lead root cause analysis, and ensure corrective actions are completed and sustained.
Use maintenance records and performance measures to identify trends, plan work, reduce repeat failures, and reduce emergency repairs.
Coordinate maintenance around egg setting, transfer, hatch, chick processing, cleaning, and delivery requirements to minimize disruption.
Support long-term asset planning, equipment replacement decisions, and reliability improvements.
Lead, coach, schedule, and develop the maintenance team, setting expectations for safe troubleshooting, work quality, documentation, and follow-through.
Build technical capability in mechanical, electrical, controls, HVAC, refrigeration, and other hatchery-relevant systems.
Prioritize work orders and balance urgent production needs with planned maintenance.
Coordinate shift coverage, outside support, and responses to critical equipment issues.
Partner with operations leaders to communicate equipment status, repair plans, and risks in time to support production decisions.
Help scope, budget, and execute capital projects, equipment installations, facility upgrades, and major repairs from planning through startup and handover.
Manage contractors and equipment suppliers, including quotes, schedules, site access, safety expectations, work quality, and closeout documentation.
Maintain equipment records, manuals, service histories, parts information, and an accurate asset list in the maintenance system.
Identify critical spare parts and improve inventory controls to avoid preventable outages and unnecessary emergency purchases.
Support commissioning and training so employees can operate and maintain new equipment effectively.
Enforce safe work practices, including lockout/tagout, contractor safety, and applicable electrical and mechanical safety procedures.
Ensure maintenance activities support biosecurity, sanitation, chick welfare, quality standards, and applicable regulatory requirements.
Maintain organized, audit-ready records for inspections, preventive maintenance, repairs, contractors, and required compliance activities.
Develop and manage the maintenance budget, evaluate repair-versus-replacement decisions, and support capital requests with operational and financial justification.
Track equipment availability, repeat failures, preventive maintenance completion, emergency work, response time, and maintenance spending.