Maintenance Foreman

Position: Maintenance Foreman

Job Code: MOMNM2 + Supv, Maintenance

Location: Demopolis, AL

The Opportunity

When you join Smurfit Westrock, you will be joining a team that creates sustainable paper and packaging solutions that help move the world forward. In this role, you will lead and drive maintenance objectives for the entirety of the mill for your assigned shift by applying precision maintenance, preventive maintenance practices, along with abiding by Smurfit Westrock standards and policies. By doing so, you will be responsible for leading and upholding efforts to maximize and improve mill safety practices, equipment reliability, mill production, and operational uptime. You will work directly with Maintenance Leadership, Electricians, Mill Wrights, Pipe Fitters / Welders, Maintenance Trainees, and work closely with operational teams, engineers, and other maintenance professionals to ensure safe, efficient, and effective execution of maintenance activities. You will play an important role in developing skilled maintenance employees, promoting a strong safety culture, and driving continuous improvement across mill operations. This is for a 12-hour rotating shift schedule.

How you will impact Smurfit Westrock:

• Lead a strong safety culture by upholding Smurfit Westrock safety policies, reviewing operational lockout tag out procedures and confirming zero energy prior to commencing work, identifying and developing plans to address high-risk situations, conducting and documenting safety meetings, ensure direct reports are performing safety engagements, and coordinating maintenance-related safety initiatives across the department.
• Lead and support mill housekeeping efforts by ensuring all assigned areas are up to mill standards along with serving as an auditor to uphold accountability within the department.
• Supervise and direct hourly mechanical and electrical maintenance employees to ensure work is completed safely, efficiently, and in a timely manner that meet precision / preventive maintenance standards and best practices.
• Provide exceptional communication skills between operational departments and maintenance crews to ensure alignment between all parties on lockout coordination, work priorities, timelines, and notification of work completion to support production efforts.
• Serve in emergency response leadership roles, including Incident Commander and Fire Marshal support, to promote site preparedness and effective incident management.
• Coordinate and execute maintenance activities by partnering with Operations and Maintenance teams to plan, schedule, and complete preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance work.
• Support equipment reliability through troubleshooting efforts and participation in reliability improvement programs, including root cause failure analyses (RCFAs), laser alignment, balancing, lubrication, and other precision maintenance practices.
• Prioritize and manage maintenance resources during planned and unplanned downtime events, including break-ins, system outages, and major shutdowns, to minimize operational disruption.
• Providing excellent communication to Maintenance Leadership when upset conditions arise, break-ins are performed, and maintenance priorities shift as a result of operational department needs.
• Monitor and communicate crew performance, manpower utilization, reliability concerns, and maintenance findings through timely and accurate reporting.
• Participate in daily and shift turnover meetings with operations and maintenance crews to ensure effective communication, operational awareness, and alignment between maintenance and production teams.
• Manage workforce administration through crew staffing, scheduling, performance oversight, and supervisory reporting to support department objectives and employee development.

What You Need to Succeed

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 5 years of maintenance experience in an industrial or manufacturing environment.
• Demonstrated leadership experience with the ability to supervise, coach, and develop employees.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify, evaluate, and implement effective solutions.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to effectively communicate in both group and one-on-one settings.
• Fundamental understanding of maintenance and operational processes in a paper mill or similar manufacturing facility.
• Working knowledge of a Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), including work order management, maintenance planning, and cost tracking.
  • (Experience with JD Edwards preferred)
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks and competing responsibilities.
• Demonstrated ability to manage time effectively and drive work to completion.
• Self-motivated and proactive approach to identifying and resolving issues.
• Demonstrated ability to utilize and understand manuals, drawings, and resources to properly address equipment needs to remain within proper tolerances and specifications.

Preferred Qualifications

• Technical degree, associate degree, or bachelor's degree in maintenance, engineering, or related technical discipline.
• Experience leading or supervising maintenance employees in a unionized manufacturing environment.
• Experience with reliability-centered maintenance practices, including root cause failure analysis (RCFA), precision maintenance, preventive maintenance, and predictive maintenance programs.
• Experience with XFRACUS
• Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation systems commonly found in paper mill operations.
• Experience coordinating maintenance activities with operations, engineering, and reliability teams.
• Knowledge and experience with Microsoft Suite products which include (Outlook / CoPilot / Word / Excel / Power Point / Project)
• Knowledge and familiarity with Autodesk AutoCAD.
• Knowledge of mechanical, electrical, and instrumentation systems commonly found in paper mill operations.
• Experience coordinating maintenance activities with operations, engineering, and reliability teams.
• Technical degree, associate degree, or bachelor's degree in maintenance, engineering, or related technical discipline.

What we offer:

• Corporate culture based on integrity, respect, accountability, and excellence.
• Comprehensive training with numerous learning and development opportunities.
• An attractive salary reflecting skills, competencies, and potential.
• Benefits package to include medical, dental, vision, life insurance, 401k with match, tuition reimbursement, employee discounts, employee referral bonus, and much more!
• A career with a global packaging company where Sustainability, Safety and Inclusion are business drivers and foundational elements of the daily work.