Technical Manager
Location: North Vernon, IN
Compensation: $120,000-$150,000 base + 20% annual bonus
Relocation Assistance: Available
Position Overview
We are seeking a hands-on Technical Manager to lead the maintenance and engineering functions within a large, 24/7/365 manufacturing facility. This is a highly visible leadership position overseeing approximately 30 technical employees across maintenance and engineering while partnering closely with plant leadership and operations.
This is not an office-only management role . We are looking for a true hands-on technical leader, or “wrench turner,” who is comfortable getting onto the plant floor, working alongside maintenance technicians and engineers, troubleshooting equipment, and helping solve problems firsthand. The ideal candidate can lead strategically while also having enough mechanical and electrical knowledge to understand what is happening on the floor and earn credibility with an experienced technical team.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and develop a team of approximately 30 maintenance and engineering employees
- Provide hands-on technical leadership across a high-volume manufacturing operation
- Oversee maintenance, reliability, engineering, and equipment improvement initiatives
- Drive preventive and predictive maintenance programs to improve equipment reliability
- Identify chronic equipment issues and lead root cause analysis and corrective actions
- Monitor equipment downtime, reliability, and maintenance performance
- Work directly with technicians and engineers to troubleshoot mechanical and electrical issues
- Develop and execute continuous improvement initiatives
- Manage maintenance and repair budgets
- Oversee vendors, contractors, equipment upgrades, and capital projects
- Lead significant CAPEX projects from planning through installation and implementation
- Partner with plant leadership and operations to improve productivity, reliability, and overall plant performance
- Spend significant time on the plant floor understanding equipment, processes, and team capabilities
- Build a long-term technical strategy after gaining a strong understanding of the plant during the first 3-6 months
- Provide technical leadership and support in a 24/7/365 manufacturing environment
Technical Qualifications
- 5+ years of maintenance, engineering, or technical leadership experience preferred
- Strong hands-on mechanical and electrical troubleshooting experience
- Experience leading maintenance and/or engineering teams
- Experience with preventive and predictive maintenance programs
- Experience with reliability, downtime reduction, and root cause analysis
- Experience in high-volume, complex manufacturing
- Background in plastics, extrusion, blown film, converting, packaging, automotive, food manufacturing, injection molding, or similar environments preferred
- Experience managing CAPEX projects and maintenance budgets
- Experience working with CMMS systems; SAP and Maintenance Connection are preferred
- Strong understanding of industrial equipment and manufacturing processes
- Ability to work effectively with experienced maintenance technicians, engineers, and operations personnel
- Bachelor's degree in Engineering preferred, but equivalent hands-on experience will be considered
- Must be willing to be hands-on and work directly with the maintenance team when needed
Leadership Expectations
The ideal candidate will be a working technical leader , not someone who wants to manage strictly from behind a desk. You should be comfortable getting your hands dirty, walking the floor, troubleshooting alongside your team, asking the right technical questions, and learning the equipment firsthand.
You will be expected to establish credibility with an experienced maintenance organization while also developing people, improving processes, and creating a long-term reliability strategy.
Schedule & Work Environment
- 24/7/365 manufacturing operation
- Approximately 60% plant floor / 40% desk and administrative responsibilities
- Maintenance teams operate across day and night shifts
- Some employees work 12-hour shifts
- PM team generally works Monday-Friday, approximately 6:30 AM-4:00 PM
- Technical Manager must be available by phone and occasionally respond onsite outside normal working hours
- Strong presence on the plant floor is expected, particularly during the first 3-6 months
Why Consider This Opportunity?
- Lead a large maintenance and engineering organization
- Significant multi-million-dollar CAPEX responsibility
- Opportunity to make a measurable impact on plant reliability and performance
- Highly visible role working directly with plant leadership
- Hands-on technical leadership within a complex manufacturing environment
- Potential long-term growth into broader plant leadership