Maintenance Lead

Takeda•Round Lake, IL

9d•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Maintenance Technician provides hands-on technical leadership to support maintenance operations across filling and packaging manufacturing lines. This role is responsible for coordinating a team of technicians, ensuring timely and effective equipment repairs, and maintaining high equipment reliability in a 24/7 GMP environment. This position plays a critical role in minimizing downtime through proactive maintenance, advanced troubleshooting, and continuous monitoring of manufacturing operations. The Lead Maintenance Technician partners closely with Manufacturing, Engineering, and Quality teams to resolve issues, drive continuous improvement, and ensure equipment readiness to meet production commitments.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required; plus: 6+ years of relevant maintenance experience or Associate degree (or higher) with 2+ years of related experience.
Strong experience in manufacturing environments, ideally within FDA-regulated/GMP settings.
Advanced technical knowledge of electrical, mechanical, pneumatic, and hydraulic systems.
Experience troubleshooting and working with PLC-controlled equipment.
Ability to read and interpret electrical, mechanical, and pneumatic schematics/drawings.
Proven ability to work independently, make sound decisions, and lead teams effectively.
Strong communication, documentation, and collaboration skills.
Experience with CMMS systems (JDE preferred) and proficiency in MS Word and Excel.
Strong troubleshooting mindset with the ability to handle high-pressure production environments.
Willingness to support off-shift, weekend, on-call, and emergency maintenance activities as needed.

Responsibilities

Lead and coordinate a team of maintenance technicians, ensuring work is completed safely, efficiently, and to established standards.
Own maintenance support for assigned manufacturing lines, proactively identifying and addressing issues to reduce downtime.
Perform advanced troubleshooting across mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and hydraulic systems, including PLC-controlled equipment.
Support preventive maintenance (PM) execution, ensuring timely completion and effective planning through CMMS systems.
Diagnose equipment issues using data analysis and implement sustainable solutions to improve reliability and performance.
Oversee the rebuild and assembly of machine components and support major maintenance activities.
Initiate and manage work orders within CMMS (e.g., JDE or equivalent).
Partner with cross-functional teams to resolve equipment and process-related challenges.
Provide technical guidance, training, and mentorship to junior technicians, both on the floor and in structured learning environments.
Support robotics and automation systems, including troubleshooting of robotic operations and addressing quality or output issues.
Communicate equipment status, risks, and priorities clearly to leadership and operations teams.
Ensure all work is performed in accordance with cGMP standards, SOPs, and safety requirements.
Support continuous improvement initiatives and drive adoption of best practices across maintenance operations.
Maintain 100% completion of required training and certifications.