Reliability Engineer

Urick Ductile Solutions manufactures ductile iron castings for a variety of industrial markets. We are seeking a hands-on Reliability Engineer to improve equipment availability, reduce unplanned downtime, and strengthen maintenance systems across our foundry operations. The Reliability Engineer develops and sustains the processes, tools, and technical strategies required to maximize equipment reliability and support safe, stable, and efficient production. This position serves as the technical leader for asset reliability, preventive and predictive maintenance, CMMS administration, root cause failure analysis, and maintenance-related capital projects. The successful candidate will work closely with Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, MRO, EHS, Quality, suppliers, and plant leadership to eliminate recurring equipment failures and help transition the organization from reactive maintenance to a planned, disciplined, and reliability-focused culture.

Reliability and Asset Management

• Improve equipment reliability, availability, and maintainability across all foundry processes including melt, mold, core, finish, material-handling, utility, and facility systems.
• Establish and maintain asset criticality rankings to prioritize reliability resources and improvement activity.
• Identify chronic and high-impact equipment issues and develop plans to eliminate recurring failures.
• Develop reliability strategies for critical and constraint equipment.
• Support equipment lifecycle planning, modernization, and obsolescence-risk mitigation.
• CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) Ownership and 

Maintenance Systems

• Own and administer the plant CMMS, including asset hierarchy, equipment records, preventive maintenance programs, job plans, failure codes, equipment history, parts relationships, and reporting.
• Establish data standards and audit CMMS accuracy and consistent use across Maintenance and Operations.
• Train employees on work-request, work-order, failure-coding, and maintenance-history requirements.
• Use CMMS data to identify failure trends, maintenance demand, backlog risk, and improvement priorities.
• Improve maintenance planning, prioritization, scheduling, execution, and closeout processes.

Preventive, Predictive, and Operator Maintenance

• Develop and optimize preventive maintenance based on asset criticality, failure history, OEM guidance, and operating experience.
• Evaluate and implement condition-based and predictive maintenance practices where economically justified, including vibration, thermography, ultrasound, oil analysis, and electrical testing.
• Improve maintenance job plans to include labor, parts, tools, safety requirements, acceptance criteria, and estimated duration.
• Track PM and scheduled-work compliance and lead corrective actions when performance is below expectation.
• Partner with Operations and Maintenance to develop operator care, inspection, cleaning, lubrication, and basic-condition standards.

Root Cause Analysis and Reliability Improvement

• Lead or facilitate structured root cause failure analysis for significant, repeat, and high-cost equipment failures.
• Apply methods such as 5 Why, cause-and-effect analysis, and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).
• Develop corrective actions with clear owners and completion dates, and verify that completed actions prevent recurrence.
• Update PMs, operating standards, training, spare-parts strategy, or equipment design based on lessons learned.
• Support continuous improvement efforts focused on safety, uptime, throughput, quality, and cost.

Spare Parts and MRO Support

• Define critical-spare requirements based on asset criticality, failure risk, lead time, consequence, and usage history.
• Work with MRO and Purchasing to establish appropriate inventory levels, reorder points, equipment bills of material, and obsolescence plans.
• Provide technical specifications and sourcing support for repair components and replacement equipment.
• Identify opportunities to reduce repair lead times and improve critical-part availability.

Maintenance Projects, Shutdowns, and Capital Improvements

• Provide engineering support for maintenance, equipment, utility, and facility improvement projects.
• Develop scopes, technical specifications, cost estimates, risk assessments, and appropriation requests.
• Provide reliability and maintainability input during equipment selection, design, installation, commissioning, and startup.
• Support planned outages and shutdowns through scope development, job planning, readiness reviews, execution support, and follow-up.
• Ensure that new and modified equipment has appropriate PMs, spares, drawings, manuals, training, and CMMS records before handoff.
• Coordinate with equipment manufacturers, contractors, and suppliers to resolve technical issues.

Reliability Performance Management

• Develop and report actionable maintenance and reliability measures, including unplanned downtime, Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), PM and scheduled-work compliance, planned versus emergency work, backlog risk, repeat failures, and critical-asset availability.
• Prioritize analysis and improvement activity on constraint and high-criticality equipment where lost availability has the greatest operating impact.
• Participate in daily, weekly, and monthly operating reviews to communicate equipment performance, risks, action status, and resource requirements.
• Provide technical and leadership support during major equipment failures, shutdowns, and temporary coverage situations. 
• This role is not intended to replace routine maintenance supervision.

Who You Are:

• You enjoy the opportunity to make an impact and be challenged in your work. Working with people and helping drive process improvements and solve problems are things that keep you motivated and engaged.

For This Role, You Will Need:

• Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Manufacturing, or a related engineering discipline; or an associate or technical degree combined with substantial relevant industrial maintenance and reliability experience.
• Three or more years of engineering, maintenance, or reliability experience in manufacturing or industrial operations.
• Demonstrated experience troubleshooting mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, controls, and utility equipment.
• Experience using a CMMS to manage asset records, PMs, job plans, failure history, backlog, and maintenance performance.
• Demonstrated use of structured problem-solving or root-cause methods.
• Ability to lead cross-functional improvement projects and communicate effectively with skilled trades, operators, supervisors, engineers, suppliers, and plant leadership.
• Strong organization, project management, and data-analysis skills, including proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word and CAD

• Legal authorization to work in the United States – sponsorship will not be provided.

Preferred Qualifications That Set You Apart:

• Foundry, metals, machining, heavy-industrial, or process-manufacturing experience.
• Experience with DISA molding, sand systems, furnaces, dust collection, cranes, conveyors, core-making, machining, compressed air, cooling-water, or comparable industrial systems.
• Experience with Maintenance Connection or a comparable CMMS or EAM platform.
• Predictive-maintenance experience in vibration, thermography, ultrasound, oil analysis, or motor and electrical testing.
• Knowledge of FMEA, Reliability Centered Maintenance, TPM, autonomous maintenance, and equipment failure analysis.
• PLC and industrial controls troubleshooting experience.
• Experience with capital projects, shutdowns, equipment installation, and commissioning.
• CMRP, CRL, vibration-analysis, thermography, or other relevant reliability certification.
• AutoCAD, Inventor, or other CAD software experience.

Our Culture & Commitment to You:

At Emerson, we prioritize a workplace where every employee is valued, respected, and empowered to grow. We foster an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and diverse perspectives—because we know that great ideas come from great teams. Our commitment to ongoing career development and growing an inclusive culture ensures you have the support to thrive. Whether through mentorship, training, or leadership opportunities, we invest in your success so you can make a lasting impact. We believe diverse teams, working together are key to driving growth and delivering business results.

We recognize the importance of employee wellbeing. We prioritize providing flexible, competitive benefits plans to meet you and your family’s physical, mental, financial, and social needs. We provide a variety of medical insurance plans, with dental and vision coverage, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k), tuition reimbursement, employee resource groups, recognition, and much more. Our culture offers flexible time off plans, including paid parental leave (maternal and paternal), vacation and holiday leave.

 Learn more about our Culture & Values.