Maintenance & Reliability Manager

Maintenance & Reliability Manager – University Park, IL

Know how to turn recurring equipment problems into lasting improvements?

We should talk.

Verdant Specialty Solutions is looking for an experienced Maintenance & Reliability Manager to lead maintenance and reliability at our University Park, Illinois manufacturing facility.

Reporting to the Maintenance Excellence Leader, you’ll develop the team, strengthen maintenance programs, and improve equipment performance. You’ll work closely with Operations, Engineering, HSE, and plant leadership to keep the site operating safely, reliably, and efficiently.

What You’ll Own

• Maintenance leadership: Lead and develop the maintenance team, including the Supervisor/Planner, Maintenance Technicians, and Storeroom Coordinator.
• Equipment reliability: Strengthen preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance programs to reduce downtime and extend equipment life.
• Planning and execution: Manage work priorities, weekly schedules, shutdowns, turnarounds, major repairs, and emergency maintenance.
• Lasting improvements: Lead root cause failure analyses and corrective actions that address recurring equipment problems.
• Maintenance performance: Manage budgets and track downtime, schedule compliance, backlog, maintenance costs, and other key measures.
• Spare parts and contractors: Oversee MRO inventory, critical spares, and contractor safety, quality, cost, and performance.
• Systems and asset information: Maintain accurate equipment records, work orders, maintenance plans, and equipment history in the ERP/CMMS.
• Safe operations and capital projects: Support mechanical integrity, regulatory compliance, equipment replacement planning, and reliable startup of new equipment.

What We’re Looking For

• At least 10 years of progressive maintenance, reliability, engineering, or manufacturing experience in a process manufacturing environment, including leadership of maintenance personnel or contractors.
• Experience in specialty chemicals, chemical manufacturing, batch manufacturing, or other industrial or continuous process operations preferred.
• Demonstrated success managing preventive and predictive maintenance, planning and scheduling, shutdowns and turnarounds, and root cause failure analysis.
• Proven experience with outage execution, maintenance budgets, and cost control.
• Strong knowledge of equipment reliability, mechanical integrity, and asset management.
• Experience using ERP/CMMS systems to manage maintenance activities, equipment information, and spare parts; SAP Plant Maintenance experience preferred.
• A leadership approach that builds technical capability, sets clear expectations, and holds teams accountable for safe, effective execution.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or a related technical discipline preferred; an equivalent combination of education and relevant maintenance leadership experience may be considered.

Why Verdant?

You’ll join a global specialty chemicals business where safety, reliability, and operational excellence are central to how we operate. This role offers a direct opportunity to shape maintenance performance at University Park, develop your team, and see the results of your work in stronger equipment reliability and smoother plant operations.

Ready to help drive the next level of maintenance and reliability at Verdant? We’d love to hear from you.