Lead - Plant Maintenance

Preferred candidate profile

• 10+ years of experience in maintenance, engineering, or plant operations, preferably in a highly automated manufacturing environment.
• Experience of handling a large team including Maintenance Managers, Engineers and Technicians
• Strong exposure to automation, Industry 4.0, condition monitoring, IoT and data-driven maintenance practices
• Strong experience in CAPEX planning, installation, commissioning and ramp-up of new machines/production lines
• Should be hands-on, agile and comfortable working in a fast-paced manufacturing environment with high ownership and accountability

Role & responsibilities

1. Maintenance Strategy & Asset Reliability

• Develop and execute the plant maintenance strategy to maximize equipment availability, reliability, and operational efficiency.
• Drive preventive, predictive, and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) programs to minimize breakdowns.
• Establish maintenance KPIs and continuously improve equipment performance and asset life.

2. Equipment & Facility Maintenance

• Lead maintenance activities for production machinery, automation systems, utilities, and facility infrastructure.
• Ensure timely maintenance of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, PLC, robotics, HVAC, compressors, DG sets, and other critical plant equipment.
• Ensure rapid response to equipment failures to minimize production downtime.
• Lead Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and implement permanent corrective and preventive actions (CAPA).
• Monitor Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) and Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) to improve equipment reliability.

3. Planning & Continuous Improvement

• Develop annual maintenance plans, shutdown schedules, and preventive maintenance calendars.
• Drive Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Lean Manufacturing, and Six Sigma initiatives to enhance operational excellence.
• Identify and implement automation, digitalization, and energy-saving opportunities.

4. Budget & Cost Management

• Prepare and manage the maintenance budget while ensuring cost-effective operations.
• Optimize maintenance costs through effective planning, inventory control, and vendor management.
• Improve spare parts availability while minimizing inventory carrying costs.

5. Vendor & Contractor Management

• Manage relationships with OEMs, contractors, and service providers.
• Evaluate vendor performance and ensure timely execution of Annual Maintenance Contracts (AMCs).
• Ensure contractors comply with plant safety and quality standards.

6. Safety, Compliance & Risk Management

• Ensure all maintenance activities comply with statutory regulations, environmental norms, and company safety standards.
• Drive safe maintenance practices through Permit-to-Work (PTW), risk assessments, and hazard identification.
• Lead maintenance audits and ensure compliance with ISO, EHS, and regulatory requirements.

7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner with Production, Quality, Engineering, Supply Chain, and EHS teams to achieve plant performance objectives.
• Support new equipment installation, commissioning, validation, and process improvement projects.
• Participate in capacity expansion and new technology implementation initiatives.

8. Performance Management

• Monitor and improve key maintenance metrics including:
• Equipment Uptime
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
• MTBF & MTTR
• Preventive Maintenance Compliance
• Maintenance Cost per Unit
• Spare Parts Inventory Accuracy
• Energy Consumption
• Safety Performance