Vice President of Reliability and Optimization

Bakery Feeds, by Darling Ingredients•Cold Spring, KY

6h•Onsite

About The Position

The Vice President of Reliability and Optimization is an executive leadership role responsible for directing enterprise-wide strategies to maximize asset uptime, operational efficiency, and overall equipment effectiveness (OEE). The role bridges executive strategy and site-level execution, fostering engineering reliability, continuous process optimization, and total asset lifecycle management across multi-site industrial and manufacturing operations. The VP works closely with senior operations leaders and integrates digital technologies to develop modern, data-driven, and resilient operations. The position leads a centralized team of Reliability Engineers, Operational Excellence specialists, and Asset Managers; partners with Engineering, Operations Management, Finance, and IT/OT leadership; and oversees reliability and operational transformation programs, budgets, and enterprise analytics. Programs must comply with environmental, health, and safety requirements and applicable regulatory standards. The position is based in an office environment and requires occasional travel to off-site locations. Occasional exposure to high noise levels, strong odors, varying temperatures, and biohazardous conditions is possible. The role involves prolonged sitting and movement throughout office and work locations, occasional computer and equipment use, occasional stooping, kneeling, crouching, crawling, climbing or balancing, and occasionally lifting or moving up to 25 pounds. Effective communication and the ability to identify potential workplace hazards are required.

Requirements

Bachelor of Science in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, Industrial, or related field) or in Business Administration or Operations Management.
15+ years of progressive operational leadership, with a proven track record in asset-intensive industries such as manufacturing, heavy industry, energy, chemical processing, pharmaceuticals, or logistics.
7+ years in executive or senior leadership, leading multi-site or global reliability, asset management, and continuous process improvement organizations.
Expert knowledge of Reliability-Centered Maintenance (RCM), FMEA, RCFA, vibration analysis, thermography, and lubrication management.
Outstanding communication skills and demonstrated ability to influence shop-floor operators, executive leadership, and board members.
Ability to communicate effectively and identify potential workplace hazards.
Ability to occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.

Nice To Haves

Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Master of Science in Engineering Management.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a multi-year enterprise reliability operating model to minimize unplanned downtime, optimize maintenance spending, and extend asset useful life.
Transition multi-site operations from reactive or breakdown maintenance to proactive, predictive, and condition-based monitoring strategies.
Establish standardized Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA), Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and Bad Actor elimination programs across facilities.
Standardize work planning, scheduling, spare parts inventory control (MRO management), and contractor execution frameworks.
Identify operational bottlenecks, process inefficiencies, and yield losses to optimize throughput and reduce unit manufacturing costs.
Establish and mandate enterprise-wide standard operating procedures (SOPs) and operational governance frameworks while preserving necessary regional adaptability.
Drive organizational change initiatives that foster operator ownership through Autonomous Maintenance and cross-level operational discipline.
Partner with Engineering, Operations Management, and Finance to guide capital expenditure planning.
Build enterprise dashboards and real-time analytics to track asset performance, failure rates, cost variance, and operational efficiency metrics.
Collaborate with IT/OT leadership to ensure integration across ERP, CMMS, SCADA, and MES platforms.
Build, mentor, and direct a high-performing centralized team of Reliability Engineers, Operational Excellence specialists, and Asset Managers.
Help establish and manage annual OpEx and CapEx budgets for reliability and operational transformation programs, delivering measurable ROI through cost reduction and capacity release.
Ensure reliability, maintenance, and asset management programs adhere to EHS requirements and regulatory standards.
Perform other duties as assigned.