Reliability and Projects Engineer

We are seeking a skilled and experienced Reliability & Projects Engineer to join our operations team. This is a hybrid technical role – equal parts reliability engineering and capital project management – created to systematically improve equipment uptime, reduce unplanned maintenance costs, and drive project execution at a large scale industrial minerals facility. The position is not a frontline supervisory role. The successful candidate will work alongside our Maintenance Planner and Maintenance Foreman as the technical expert behind our reliability program: building out the CMMS, developing KPI frameworks, leading root cause analyses, producing engineering drawings and 3D models, and managing or co-managing capital projects across mechanical, electrical, structural, and civil scopes.

Key Responsibilities (Reliability Engineering):

• Lead and continuously improve the facility’s reliability-centered maintenance program, shifting the maintenance culture from reactive repair to planned, condition-based strategies.
• Build out and maintain the CMMS (currently MP2), including equipment hierarchies, PM task libraries, maintenance and production modules, and reporting dashboards.
• Develop, track, and report reliability and maintenance KPIs – MTBF, MTTR, planned vs. unplanned maintenance ratios, and maintenance cost per ton – with regular reporting toplant leadership.
• Conduct and facilitate root cause analysis (RCA) on significant equipment failures; translate findings into corrective actions and CMMS updates.
• Identify critical equipment using failure mode analysis; prioritize maintenance resources accordingly.
• Design, implement, and audit preventive maintenance schemes; track PM compliance and demonstrate measurable improvement over time.
• Evaluate and recommend condition monitoring technologies appropriate for facility scale and equipment criticality.

Key Responsibilities (Capital Projects):

• Manage or co-manage capital reliability projects from scoping through commissioning –mechanical, structural, electrical, and civil scopes.
• Develop capital project justifications with supporting reliability data, cost-benefit analysis, and ROI frameworks.
• Produce 3D BIM models and construction-quality 2D engineering drawings for new capital projects, supporting design review, contractor coordination, clash detection, and permitting.
• Build and maintain an as-built documentation library for existing plant equipment and infrastructure using Revit, AutoCAD, or equivalent tools.
• Lead or support planning and execution of major outages and equipment overhauls, coordinating with the Maintenance Planner, Maintenance Foreman, and departmental supervisors.
• Track capital project schedules, budgets, and milestones; elevate risks proactively to the Plant Manager.

Key Responsibilities (Financial & Administrative):

• Assist in annual maintenance budget development, capital planning, and cost forecasting.
• Provide data-drive analysis to support maintenance spending decisions; help identify cost drivers and control expenditures.
• Maintain accurate equipment records and project documentation in the CMMS and project tracking systems.

Key Responsibilities (Safety & Compliance):

• Conduct all work in compliance with MSHA regulations and company safety policies.
• Integrate safety improvements into reliability and capital project scopes – designing out hazards where possible.
• Participate in facility safety programs, audits, and incident investigations as required.

Key Responsibilities (Cross-Functional Collaboration):

• Partner daily with the Maintenance Planner and Maintenance Foreman; serve as the technical resource for complex maintenance decisions.
• Collaborate with Mining, Production, and Process supervisors on equipment performance, project planning, and outage coordination.
• Participate in on-call rotation to share after-hours response load with the maintenance team during critical equipment failures.

Required Qualifications:

• 5-10 years of progressive experience in maintenance engineering, reliability engineering, or a related discipline in a heavy industrial environment.
• Hands-on experience with rotary kiln operations and/or pyroprocessing; lime, cement, or comparable mineral processing strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with bulk material handling equipment; jaw and cone crushers, conveyor belts, screw conveyors, bucket elevators, and dust collectors.
• Working knowledge of roller millers – Raymond roller mills and/or ball mills – for solid fuel and/or ground material applications.
• Experience building or substantially improving a CMMS, not simply using one.
• Proven ability to perform and facilitate root cause analysis and translate findings into corrective action.
• Strong data analysis skills; proficiency with Microsoft Excel; ability to build and interpret maintenance metrics.
• Demonstrated experience managing or supporting capital projects, including scope development, budgeting, and contractor management.
• MSHA mining safety training or equivalent heavy industrial safety qualification.
• Willing to live and work in a rural, small-town environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Mining Engineering, or a closely related discipline. Equivalent combinations of education and experience will be considered.
• Mechanical and electrical cross-training; candidates with both disciplines are particularly competitive.
• Proficiency in BIM and CAD tools – Autodesk Revit, AutoCAD, Navisworks, or equivalent – including 3D modeling of industrial equipment and structures and production of construction-quality 2D drawings. Experience with as-built documentation of existing facilities is a strong plus.
• Experience with condition monitoring programs; vibration analysis, thermographic inspection, oil analysis, or ultrasound testing.
• Prior experience with SEMA primary crushers or similar bult material handling systems.
• Familiarity with reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), or similar reliability frameworks.
• Exposure to process