Maintenance Engineer Leader

About the Role

Join Essity's Kawerau team as the Maintenance Leader responsible for guiding the Converting maintenance group to ensure equipment reliability, continuous performance improvements, and a positive team environment. This leadership role emphasizes managing and developing your team rather than hands-on mechanical tasks. You'll implement long-term maintenance strategies, introduce best engineering practices, and foster a high-performance culture to consistently meet production and improvement goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead a multi-disciplinary maintenance team, nurturing a culture focused on safety, reliability, and ongoing improvement.
• Set clear expectations, manage performance, and build team capability via coaching, feedback, and development plans.
• Develop proactive maintenance approaches that enhance equipment uptime and reliability through effective execution.
• Implement TPM Zero to 100 and Asset Maintenance Management to minimize repeat failures and improve asset care.
• Promote a zero-harm safety culture with diligent risk assessments, permits, and lockout/tagout procedures.
• Apply established engineering standards, perform root-cause analysis, and ensure documentation aligns with OEM and site guidelines.
• Optimize maintenance costs by efficient scheduling, resource allocation, and spare parts management.
• Leverage CMMS tools and data analytics to prioritize workloads, improve MTBF, decrease MTTR, and prevent issue recurrence.
• Collaborate with Production, Engineering, RST, and external vendors to synchronize priorities and boost asset reliability.
• Support annual production plan delivery and OEE targets through focused leadership and continuous improvement efforts.

Candidate Profile

• Demonstrated success leading and developing teams within 24/7 manufacturing settings, enhancing engagement, performance, and skills.
• Strong leadership expertise in managing people, including performance oversight, coaching, and cultivating inclusive, high-performing groups.
• Mechanical or Electrical Engineering qualifications or equivalent practical experience in high-volume production environments (FMCG or continuous operations preferred).
• Experienced in both planned and reactive maintenance, adept with CMMS software such as SAP, IFS, Maximo, or Infor.
• Proficient with root cause analysis tools (5-Why, Fishbone) and confident using data-driven decision-making.
• Effective and respectful communicator capable of productive collaboration across teams and external partners.

Preferred: Knowledge of SAP enterprise systems, HSE&R ISO standards, paper manufacturing processes, condition monitoring, CMRP certification, or Continuous Improvement/Lean techniques.

What Essity Offers

Essity is focused on enhancing well-being for people and society, providing a respectful and empowering workplace culture. Benefits include:

• A collaborative and authentic team environment driven by respect and passion.
• Competitive salary ranging from NZD 100,000 to 130,000 annually, based on experience.
• Comprehensive Wellbeing One Southern Cross medical insurance fully funded by the company, including free health checks and doctor visits.
• Income protection, permanent disability, and life insurance coverage at no cost.
• Free access to annual flu vaccinations, wellness days, and onsite parking.

Additional Information

This is a full-time onsite role located in Kawerau, Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. Applications are encouraged early.