Maintenance & Asset Manager

Maintenance & Asset Manager

West Red Lake Gold Mines Ltd. is a Canadian gold exploration and development company focused on restarting and expanding the historic Madsen Gold Mine in the Red Lake District of Northwestern Ontario. In addition to advancing the Madsen Mine toward sustainable production, the company is developing nearby high-grade gold deposits to support future growth. Backed by modern infrastructure, a skilled workforce, and a strong technical team, West Red Lake Gold is committed to operational excellence, responsible mining practices, and creating long-term value as it progresses toward steady commercial production.
Maintenance & Asset Manager is a senior site leadership role responsible for the reliability, integrity, and lifecycle management of all operational assets, including mobile mining equipment, fixed plant, mechanical and electrical systems, instrumentation and controls, buildings, facilities, and site infrastructure. The position leads the maintenance and asset management function, ensuring safe, reliable, and cost-effective equipment performance that supports mining and processing objectives. A key aspect of the role is developing maintenance operating and capital budgets from first principles through a detailed understanding of equipment and components, rather than relying solely on historical spending. The ideal candidate brings strong mechanical engineering expertise, multidisciplinary maintenance leadership experience, commercial and financial acumen, exceptional communication skills, personal integrity, and extensive mining industry experience.

The Benefits:
Build your future with us. We support, develop, and reward our people every step of the way.
•    Competitive base salary
•    Operation Bonus Program
•    Position qualifies for the Long-Term Incentive Program
•    160 hours of paid vacation annually
•    Work schedule: 5 days on / 2 days off, followed by 4 days on / 3 days off
•    Relocation assistance for candidates moving to Thunder Bay, Winnipeg or Red Lake
•    100% employer-paid extended health and dental program
•    Health Care Spending Account
•    Short-Term & Long-Term Disability Coverage
•    Life Insurance and Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) coverage
•    RRSP matching program
•    Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
•    Professional development and training opportunities

About the Candidate:
Candidates must possess all of the following to be considered for the position:
•    Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from a recognized university.
•    Current Professional Engineer (P.Eng.) designation in Canada, or eligibility for registration in the applicable Canadian jurisdiction.
•    Master of Business Administration (MBA) from a recognized institution.
•    Minimum 15 years of progressive experience in the mining industry.
•    Demonstrated senior leadership experience within a mine maintenance and/or asset management function.
•    Demonstrated experience with mobile mining equipment, fixed plant, electrical and instrumentation maintenance.
•    Demonstrated ability to develop maintenance operating and capital budgets from first principles, including labour, parts, major components, rebuilds, contractors, consumables and planned maintenance requirements.
•    Demonstrated experience managing significant maintenance operating and capital budgets.
•    Strong understanding of the relationship between maintenance performance, equipment reliability, production, cost and mine economics.
•    Excellent verbal and written communication skills with demonstrated ability to communicate effectively with frontline employees, technical professionals and senior leadership.
•    Demonstrated record of integrity, accountability and reliability in leadership roles.
Preferred Qualifications & Experience
The following qualifications and experience are considered highly desirable:
•    Experience leading a large, multidisciplinary maintenance organization encompassing mobile maintenance, fixed plant, electrical, instrumentation, reliability and planning functions.
•    Experience developing and implementing asset management and reliability strategies.
•    Experience developing long-range equipment replacement, rebuild and lifecycle capital plans.
•    Strong knowledge of reliability engineering methodologies including Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), condition monitoring and defect elimination.
•    Experience implementing or optimizing CMMS/EAM systems and maintenance planning and scheduling processes.
•    Experience with major shutdown, overhaul and equipment rebuild programs.
•    Experience developing equipment criticality and critical-spares strategies.
•    Experience with equipment specification, procurement, commissioning and operational handover.
•    Experience working with OEMs, equipment vendors, contractors, engineering consultants and specialized technical service providers.
•    Strong financial and commercial capability, including lifecycle-cost analysis, repair-versus-replace evaluations and development of capital business cases.
•    Experience operating in an underground mining environment.
Technical & Business Competencies
•    Mining health and safety legislation.
•    Mobile mining equipment.
•    Fixed plant and mineral processing equipment.
•    Mechanical systems.
•    Electrical distribution and electrical maintenance.
•    Instrumentation and control systems.
•    Preventive and predictive maintenance.
•    Reliability-centered maintenance.
•    Asset lifecycle management.
•    Maintenance planning and scheduling.
•    CMMS/EAM systems.
•    Component rebuild and replacement strategies.
•    Critical-spares and inventory management.
•    First-principles maintenance budgeting and forecasting.
•    Capital planning and project evaluation.
•    Cost control and financial analysis.
•    Engineering standards and professional engineering obligations.
Leadership & Personal Attributes
The successful candidate must demonstrate a high level of honesty, integrity, reliability, accountability and professionalism and be recognized as a trusted and dependable leader.
Honesty & Integrity
•    Demonstrates consistently high ethical standards.
•    Communicates openly, honestly and factually.
•    Provides accurate information regarding equipment condition, maintenance performance, costs, risks and operational challenges.
•    Does not conceal or minimize equipment, safety, reliability, cost or performance issues.
•    Raises concerns early and ensures senior leadership has an accurate understanding of material risks.
Reliability & Accountability
•    Is dependable and follows through on commitments.
•    Takes ownership of results and accepts accountability for performance.
•    Delivers against agreed plans, budgets and operational priorities.
•    Addresses problems proactively rather than waiting for issues to escalate.
•    Creates a culture of accountability throughout the maintenance organization.
Communication Skills
•    Communicates clearly and effectively with trades, employees, supervisors, managers, contractors, vendors and senior leadership.
•    Can explain complex technical matters in clear operational and business terms.
•    Communicates emerging risks and issues promptly.
•    Provides clear, concise and fact-based reports on maintenance performance, costs and asset condition.
•    Is comfortable communicating difficult information when performance is below expectations.
Leadership & Collaboration
•    Build trust and credibility through technical competence, consistency and fair decision-making.
•    Works collaboratively across Maintenance, Mining, Processing, Technical Services, Supply Chain, Finance and Health & Safety.
•    Creates an environment in which people can raise concerns and challenge assumptions constructively.
•    Demonstrates sound judgement and makes balanced decisions considering safety, production, asset integrity, cost and long-term business impact.
•    Maintains composure and sound decision-making during equipment failures, operational disruptions and other high-pressure situations.
•    Focuses on execution and measurable improvement without compromising safety or long-term asset reliability.
Communication Expectations
Maintenance & Asset Manager must be capable of translating complex maintenance and engineering information into clear operational and business terms and communicating effectively at all levels of the organization.
The role requires the ability to clearly communicate:
•    Equipment condition and reliability risks.
•    Maintenance priorities and resource requirements.
•    Budget assumptions, forecasts and cost variances.
•    Major equipment failures and root causes.
•    Capital and asset replacement requirements.
•    Maintenance performance against established KPIs.
•    Emerging risks that could affect safety, production, cost or achievement of the mine plan.
Maintenance & Asset Manager is expected to communicate issues factually, promptly, honestly and transparently, including situations where performance is below plan or where difficult decisions are required.

About the Role:
Maintenance Leadership & Execution
•    Provide overall leadership and accountability for maintenance across mobile mining equipment and heavy equipment; fixed plant and processing equipment; mechanical systems; electrical systems and infrastructure; instrumentation and control systems; pumps, compressors, ventilation and dewatering systems; hoisting and material-handling systems, where applicable; surface and underground infrastructure; buildings and facilities, site utilities and other critical operational assets.
•    Establish maintenance strategies that support achievement of the mine and processing plans.
•    Ensure appropriate preventive, predictive, condition-based and corrective maintenance programs are established and executed.
•    Drive continuous improvement in equipment availability, reliability and utilization.
•    Reduce unplanned downtime, repeat failures and production losses attributable to equipment performance.
•    Establish clear accountability for maintenance planning, scheduling, execution and work quality.
•    Ensure appropriate coordination between Maintenance, Mining and Processing to optimize equipment availability around operational requirements.
•    Ensure maintenance activities are completed safely, efficiently and to appropriate engineering and workmanship standards.
Fixed Plant, Electrical & Instrumentation
•    Provide leadership and governance for the maintenance and reliability of fixed plant, electrical, instrumentation and control systems.
•    Ensure appropriate preventive and predictive maintenance programs are established for electrical distribution, motors, drives, MCCs, instrumentation, PLC/control systems and other critical electrical assets.
•    Ensure appropriate technical expertise and supervision are available for electrical and instrumentation activities.
•    Ensure electrical and instrumentation maintenance activities comply with applicable codes, standards, regulations and site requirements.
•    Maintain the integrity and reliability of fixed plant equipment including crushing, conveying, grinding, pumping, ventilation, dewatering, compressed air and other site-specific systems.
•    Ensure critical electrical and instrumentation assets are incorporated into the site’s asset criticality, reliability and spare-parts strategies.
Asset Management & Reliability
•    Develop and implement the site’s asset management and reliability strategy.
•    Establish asset criticality rankings and risk-based maintenance strategies.
•    Develop equipment strategies across the full asset lifecycle—from specification and procurement through operation, rebuild, replacement and retirement.
•    Implement reliability engineering practices including Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), condition monitoring and defect elimination.
•    Identify chronic equipment failures and ensure permanent corrective actions are implemented.
•    Establish and monitor equipment performance standards and reliability targets.
•    Develop component-life expectations and monitor actual performance against those expectations.
•    Establish equipment rebuild, overhaul and replacement strategies.
•    Maintain accurate asset registers, equipment histories, maintenance records and technical documentation.
•    Develop critical-spares strategies based on equipment criticality, failure consequences, lead times and operational risk.
•    Identify emerging asset integrity and reliability risks before they adversely affect safety or production.
Maintenance Planning & Scheduling
•    Establish disciplined maintenance planning and scheduling systems.
•    Ensure effective utilization of the site’s CMMS/EAM system.
•    Establish weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual maintenance plans aligned with mine and processing requirements.
•    Develop appropriate maintenance backlog targets and ensure backlog is actively managed.
•    Establish shutdown and major overhaul planning processes.
•    Monitor planned versus unplanned work and progressively increase the proportion of planned maintenance.
•    Ensure maintenance work orders contain appropriate labour, materials, tools, equipment, procedures and safety requirements before execution.
•    Establish appropriate maintenance planning horizons to ensure labour, parts and contractor resources are available when required.
First-Principles Maintenance Budgeting
 Maintenance & Asset Manager is accountable for developing the site’s maintenance budget from first principles based on the physical requirements of the operation and the mine plan.
•    Develop detailed annual and long-range maintenance operating budgets based on the mine plan, processing plan, equipment fleet and operating strategy.
•    Build labour requirements from planned maintenance activities, equipment operating hours, maintenance schedules, crew structures and expected workload.
•    Develop parts and materials budgets based on preventive maintenance requirements, component lives, rebuild schedules, equipment hours and expected consumption.
•    Forecast major component replacements and rebuilds using expected component life and planned equipment utilization.
•    Develop contractor and specialist-service requirements based on identified maintenance activities.
•    Develop electrical, instrumentation and fixed-plant maintenance budgets using equipment-specific maintenance requirements.
•    Forecast tires, ground-engaging tools, lubricants, filters and other major maintenance consumables where applicable.
•    Develop major shutdown and overhaul budgets from clearly defined scopes of work.
•    Establish appropriate contingency based on asset condition, reliability risk and equipment age.
•    Reconcile first-principles budgets against historical actual expenditures and explain significant differences.
•    Translate the mine and processing plans into maintenance resource and expenditure requirements.
•    Develop monthly cash-flow and expenditure forecasts for maintenance.
•    Monitor actual expenditure against budget and forecast and provide clear variance analysis.
•    Update forecasts as operating conditions, equipment performance and the mine plan change.
The successful candidate must be able to clearly explain what the operation should cost to maintain, what is driving those costs and why, rather than simply extrapolating previous-year spending.
Capital & Lifecycle Planning
•    Develop short-, medium- and long-term asset replacement and capital plans.
•    Develop equipment rebuild and replacement schedules based on condition, utilization, reliability, lifecycle cost and operational requirements.
•    Lead repair-versus-replace evaluations.
•    Develop technically and financially sound business cases for equipment purchases, rebuilds and reliability improvements.
•    Work with Operations, Engineering, Finance and Supply Chain to establish capital priorities.
•    Participate in equipment specification, procurement, vendor evaluation, commissioning and operational handover.
•    Ensure maintainability, reliability, standardization and lifecycle cost are considered when selecting new equipment.
•    Maintain multi-year capital forecasts for major mobile, fixed, electrical and infrastructure assets.
Engineering & Technical Governance
•    Provide senior mechanical engineering leadership for the operation.
•    Establish appropriate engineering and maintenance standards.
•    Ensure modifications to equipment and mechanical systems are appropriately engineered, reviewed, documented and approved.
•    Ensure Management of Change requirements are followed for modifications affecting asset integrity or operational risk.
•    Participate in design reviews, risk assessments, equipment selection and project reviews.
•    Ensure appropriate professional engineering oversight is maintained where required.
•    Ensure electrical and instrumentation work is appropriately reviewed and governed by qualified personnel.
•    Ensure OEM recommendations, applicable engineering standards and regulatory requirements are appropriately incorporated into maintenance strategies.
Financial & Commercial Management
•    Own maintenance operating and capital budgets.
•    Develop monthly forecasts and provide accurate expenditure projections.
•    Understand and actively manage primary drivers of maintenance cost.
•    Establish appropriate cost-per-hour, cost-per-tonne, component-life and lifecycle-cost metrics.
•    Analyze equipment performance from both technical and financial perspectives.
•    Develop financial justification and return-on-investment analysis for reliability and capital initiatives.
•    Work closely with Finance and Supply Chain to improve cost visibility, procurement strategy and inventory management.
•    Evaluate OEM, contractor and supplier performance from technical, operational and commercial perspectives.
•    Identify cost-saving opportunities without compromising safety, equipment integrity or long-term reliability.
People Leadership
•    Lead and develop a multidisciplinary maintenance organization including mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, fixed plant, mobile maintenance, reliability and planning personnel.
•    Lead Maintenance Superintendents, Supervisors, Engineers, Planners, Reliability personnel and trades.
•    Establish clear roles, responsibilities, performance expectations and accountabilities.
•    Develop succession plans & technical capability within the maintenance department.
•    Ensure appropriate competency and certification requirements are maintained for specialized trades and technical personnel.
•    Foster strong collaboration between Maintenance, Mining, Processing, Technical Services, Supply Chain, Finance and Health & Safety.
•    Establish a culture of proactive maintenance, equipment ownership, accountability and continuous improvement.
•    Coach and develop employees while maintaining clear performance standards.
•    Build a maintenance organization in which employees are comfortable raising concerns, identifying risks and challenging assumptions constructively.
Health, Safety & Regulatory Compliance
•    Demonstrate visible and consistent leadership in health and safety.
•    Ensure maintenance activities comply with applicable mining legislation, electrical codes, engineering standards and company procedures.
•    Ensure appropriate standards are maintained for isolation and lockout, stored energy, lifting, guarding, electrical safety and mechanical integrity.
•    Participate in incident investigations involving equipment, maintenance or asset integrity.
•    Ensure corrective actions are effectively implemented.
•    Identify and manage risks associated with aging infrastructure, deteriorating asset conditions & critical equipment.
•    Ensure safety and asset integrity are not compromised to achieve short-term production objectives.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to an inclusive, diverse workforce and responsible mining practices that create lasting value for our people, communities, and stakeholders.

*Must be willing to complete a criminal background check, pre-employment physical, and drug and alcohol test*