Maintenance Technician - 12 Hr Day Shift

Kerry•Rochester, MN

5d•$33 - $39

About The Position

The Maintenance Technician troubleshoots, repairs, rebuilds, maintains, and improves food processing, fermentation, drying, liquid handling, material handling, and packaging equipment to maximize uptime, production efficiency, equipment reliability, and food safety compliance. The position is based at Kerry’s Rochester, Minnesota site in the Applied Health and Nutrition Division, which specializes in fermented ingredients for the bioscience industry and emphasizes freshness, quality, food safety, and plant reliability. The assigned schedule is a 12-hour rotating shift, with Red Days and Blue Days. The role supports hygienic and aseptic processing systems, pumps, production and packaging machinery, and automated manufacturing equipment. It also performs preventive and predictive maintenance, records work in the CMMS, supports root cause analysis, and recommends improvements. The technician must follow applicable food safety, sanitation, regulatory, and company safety requirements, and be able to respond to breakdowns and support production startups and changeovers. The position requires at least three years of industrial maintenance experience in a relevant manufacturing environment and a high school diploma or GED. The role involves physical work throughout production areas, including exposure to heat, steam, chemicals, noise, and moving machinery, and may require working at heights and wearing PPE, including a respirator when required. Pay is $33.00–$39.00 per hour. Kerry lists medical, dental, and vision coverage; paid time off; a 401(k) plan with employee and company contribution opportunities; an Employee Share Plan; and life, disability, and accident insurance.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED required.
At least 3 years of industrial maintenance experience in food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, ingredient manufacturing, CPG, or a similar manufacturing environment.
Hands-on experience with hygienic, sanitary, or aseptic process equipment, including exposure to valves, pumps, fermentation/drying equipment, packaging machinery, or related process systems.
Strong troubleshooting ability across mechanical, pneumatic, hydraulic, electrical, automated, and production equipment systems.
Ability to safely troubleshoot equipment under production conditions, work independently on assigned shifts, and prioritize multiple maintenance needs in a fast-paced environment.
Strong organizational, communication, problem-solving, prioritization, and root cause analysis skills.
Ability to work assigned shifts, overtime, weekends, and holidays as business needs require.
Ability to lift up to 50 pounds and to stand, walk, bend, stoop, twist, turn, kneel, climb ladders, and work throughout the shift.
Ability to work around heat, steam, chemicals, noise, moving machinery, and production equipment; work at heights using ladders, silos, harnesses, and scissor lifts as needed; and wear required PPE, including a respirator when required.

Nice To Haves

Technical degree, maintenance apprenticeship, or equivalent industrial maintenance experience.
Experience in dairy, fermentation, ingredient manufacturing, food processing, aseptic processing, or spray drying operations.
PLC troubleshooting experience, preferably Allen-Bradley.
VFD installation and troubleshooting experience.
Class B boiler license.
Stainless steel TIG welding and fabrication experience.
Knowledge of food safety, sanitary design, GMP, HACCP, SQF, OSHA, and LOTO requirements.

Responsibilities

Maintain and troubleshoot hygienic and aseptic processing systems, including SPX Flow/APV, GEA, Sharpe, and Südmo valves.
Repair and rebuild sanitary valves, actuators, seats, seals, diaphragms, aseptic valve manifolds, and related wear components.
Support CIP and SIP operations to maintain product quality, sanitation, and process reliability.
Troubleshoot, repair, and maintain vacuum, centrifugal, positive displacement, rotary lobe, and process transfer pumps, including their seals, bearings, shafts, impellers, alignment, vibration, and performance.
Maintain rotary valves, rotary feeders, airlocks, drive systems, gearboxes, conveying equipment, and material handling systems.
Perform maintenance on fermenters, evaporators, spray dryers, liquefiers, mixers, blending systems, liquid storage silos, heat exchangers, ingredient handling systems, and thermal/process systems.
Troubleshoot and repair liquid and dry product packaging systems, filling and bagging equipment, conveyors, labeling equipment, case packers, and palletizers.
Respond to equipment breakdowns, support production line startups and changeovers, and diagnose process interruptions while minimizing downtime.
Troubleshoot motors, motor controls, VFDs, sensors, instrumentation, PLC-controlled equipment, and automated manufacturing systems.
Read and interpret mechanical drawings, P&IDs, electrical schematics, equipment manuals, and technical drawings.
Complete preventive and predictive maintenance, document work in the CMMS, participate in root cause analysis, and recommend safety, reliability, and efficiency improvements.
Follow GMP, HACCP, SQF, OSHA, LOTO, food safety, sanitary design, and company safety requirements.