Sr. Maintenance Manager 1st shift

Vans•Ontario, CA

About The Position

Senior Manager, Automation & Maintenance The Senior Automation Maintenance Manager is accountable for equipment availability, automation reliability, and long-term asset health in a highly automated distribution center. In an environment where equipment availability equals throughput, this role protects service, labor productivity, and revenue by owning the maintenance strategy—not just maintenance execution. This role leads the transition from reactive maintenance to data-driven reliability, ensuring automation investments deliver sustained ROI while reducing downtime, vendor dependency, and recovery time risk. KEY ACCOUNTABILITIES Technical Leadership & Org Development · Lead a multi-layer maintenance organization including Maintenance Manager, Area Managers, Automation Shift Leads, Controls/PLC Engineers, Reliability/Asset Engineers, SCADA operators, and technicians. · Build a multi-skilled technical workforce capable of responding quickly across mechanical, electrical, and controls disciplines · Establish clear accountability between maintenance, operations, and engineering to eliminate gray ownership and recovery delays Asset Reliability & Automation Availability · Own end-to-end asset health strategy for all automated systems (conveyance, sortation, controls, robotics, print & apply, etc.), ensuring uptime supports volume, service, and labor plans. · Translate automation performance data into engineering fixes and preventive actions, not just maintenance activity. · Reduce mean time to repair (MTTR) and improve mean time between failures (MTBF) through structured root cause analysis and permanent countermeasures Maintenance Strategy & Preventive Maintenance · Design and execute a preventive and predictive maintenance strategy aligned to automation criticality, failure modes, and production risk. · Ensure PM ownership remains internal, protecting reliability coverage and minimizing vendor-driven downtime risk. [ · Leverage CMMS data to prioritize work, forecast risk, and guide investment decisions · Owns facilities and grounds keeping. Data -Driven Decision Making · Own maintenance KPIs tied to business outcomes, not activity (uptime, throughput impact, recovery time, labor cost avoidance). · Use automation and equipment data to identify systemic risks before service is impacted. · Eliminate “false confidence” by pairing data with analysis and action. Cross-Functional Partnership · Partner closely with Operations, Process Engineering, IT/OT, Procurement, and Automation vendors to align reliability with throughput and service commitments. · Act as the primary bridge between the DC and system integrators, ensuring VF retains core system and automation ownership. · Support capital planning by informing where investments will reduce downtime and long-term cost. LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS · Lead with a long-term reliability mindset, not short-term fixes. · Establish disciplined execution while enabling innovation in how maintenance supports automation-driven operations. · Build trust across functions by clearly connecting maintenance decisions to service, cost, and risk outcomes. QUALIFICATIONS · Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Technical, or related field preferred; equivalent experience in highly automated environments considered. · 10+ years of progressive maintenance or technical leadership experience, including automation-heavy DC or manufacturing environments. · Strong background in automation systems, controls, PLCs, CMMS, and reliability engineering concepts · Proven ability to lead large technical teams through transformation and change

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Technical, or related field preferred; equivalent experience in highly automated environments considered.
10+ years of progressive maintenance or technical leadership experience, including automation-heavy DC or manufacturing environments.
Strong background in automation systems, controls, PLCs, CMMS, and reliability engineering concepts
Proven ability to lead large technical teams through transformation and change

Responsibilities

Lead a multi-layer maintenance organization including Maintenance Manager, Area Managers, Automation Shift Leads, Controls/PLC Engineers, Reliability/Asset Engineers, SCADA operators, and technicians.
Build a multi-skilled technical workforce capable of responding quickly across mechanical, electrical, and controls disciplines
Establish clear accountability between maintenance, operations, and engineering to eliminate gray ownership and recovery delays
Own end-to-end asset health strategy for all automated systems (conveyance, sortation, controls, robotics, print & apply, etc.), ensuring uptime supports volume, service, and labor plans.
Translate automation performance data into engineering fixes and preventive actions, not just maintenance activity.
Reduce mean time to repair (MTTR) and improve mean time between failures (MTBF) through structured root cause analysis and permanent countermeasures
Design and execute a preventive and predictive maintenance strategy aligned to automation criticality, failure modes, and production risk.
Ensure PM ownership remains internal, protecting reliability coverage and minimizing vendor-driven downtime risk.
Leverage CMMS data to prioritize work, forecast risk, and guide investment decisions
Owns facilities and grounds keeping.
Own maintenance KPIs tied to business outcomes, not activity (uptime, throughput impact, recovery time, labor cost avoidance).
Use automation and equipment data to identify systemic risks before service is impacted.
Eliminate “false confidence” by pairing data with analysis and action.
Partner closely with Operations, Process Engineering, IT/OT, Procurement, and Automation vendors to align reliability with throughput and service commitments.
Act as the primary bridge between the DC and system integrators, ensuring VF retains core system and automation ownership.
Support capital planning by informing where investments will reduce downtime and long-term cost.
Lead with a long-term reliability mindset, not short-term fixes.
Establish disciplined execution while enabling innovation in how maintenance supports automation-driven operations.
Build trust across functions by clearly connecting maintenance decisions to service, cost, and risk outcomes.