Director Mechanical North - Locomotive & Car

SUMMARY:

The Director of Mechanical is responsible for the safe, reliable, efficient, and compliant operation and maintenance of locomotive and railcar fleet. This position provides leadership and oversight of mechanical maintenance operations, equipment reliability, inspections, repairs, preventive maintenance, regulatory compliance, mechanical personnel, facilities, and related programs.

The Director ensures that locomotives, freight cars, maintenance equipment, and associated mechanical assets are maintained in accordance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations, Association of American Railroads (AAR) standards, manufacturer requirements, and company policies.

The successful candidate will be an experienced railroad mechanical leader with a strong understanding of locomotive and car maintenance, mechanical inspections, regulatory requirements, reliability programs, workforce management, and railroad operations.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Mechanical Operations & Fleet Management

• Direct all mechanical department operations supporting locomotive and railcar availability and reliability.
• Oversee inspection, maintenance, repair, servicing, and overhaul of locomotives, railcars, and other railroad equipment.
• Develop and implement preventive and predictive maintenance programs.
• Establish fleet reliability and availability objectives and monitor performance against established goals.
• Ensure equipment is properly maintained, inspected, documented, and released for service.
• Coordinate mechanical activities with Transportation, Engineering, Safety, and other operating departments.
• Develop strategies to improve equipment utilization, reliability, and lifecycle performance.
• Oversee mechanical facilities, tools, equipment, and infrastructure.

Regulatory Compliance

• Ensure compliance with applicable regulations governing railroad mechanical operations and equipment.
• Maintain compliance with applicable AAR standards, interchange requirements, and company mechanical rules.
• Ensure required inspections, tests, repairs, and records are completed accurately and on schedule.
• Prepare the department for regulatory inspections and audits.
• Develop and implement corrective actions for regulatory findings and mechanical deficiencies.
• Monitor regulatory changes and communicate applicable requirements to G&W Mechanical and training department to update accordingly.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and records related to inspections, repairs, testing, and equipment qualification.

Locomotive Management

• Oversee locomotive maintenance programs, including scheduled inspections, preventive maintenance, repairs, troubleshooting, and major component replacement while being accountable to have all information updated in the company's locomotive records database.
• Monitor locomotive availability, failures, out-of-service time, and repeat defects in the appropriate company database.
• Establish programs to improve locomotive reliability and fuel efficiency.
• Coordinate locomotive maintenance requirements with vendors, manufacturers, leasing companies, and outside repair facilities.
• Monitor major locomotive components, including prime movers, traction motors, electrical systems, air systems, cooling systems, and braking equipment.
• Support locomotive acquisition, disposition, rebuild, modification, and capital planning decisions.

Freight Car Maintenance

• Oversee inspection and maintenance programs for railcars and other rolling stock.
• Ensure compliance with applicable railcar inspection, brake, safety appliance, and mechanical requirements.
• Monitor bad-order equipment, repair cycles, car availability, and repeat defects.
• Establish processes for defect identification, repair prioritization, quality control, and return-to-service authorization.
• Coordinate repair programs with AAR-certified repair facilities and outside vendors when appropriate.

Safety & Risk Management

• Make mechanical safety a fundamental priority throughout department operations.
• Identify mechanical hazards and implement effective risk controls.
• Investigate significant mechanical failures, equipment incidents, and recurring defects.
• Conduct root-cause analysis and implement corrective and preventive actions.
• Partner with the safety & compliance department to address mechanical related safety risks.
• Ensure employees follow company safety procedures, rules, PPE requirements, lockout/tagout procedures, and applicable regulatory requirements.
• Promote a strong safety culture and employee involvement in hazard identification and prevention.

Maintenance Planning & Reliability

• Develop annual and long-term mechanical maintenance plans.
• Establish maintenance schedules based on regulatory requirements, manufacturer recommendations, operating conditions, and reliability data.
• Implement reliability-centered maintenance and condition-monitoring practices where appropriate.
• Analyze equipment failure trends and identify opportunities for preventive intervention.
• Develop standardized maintenance procedures and quality-control processes.
• Establish key performance indicators for fleet reliability, availability, maintenance cost, and equipment defects.

Budget & Capital Planning

• Provide insight and manage the mechanical department operating budget.
• Forecast labor, materials, parts, outside services, fuel-related requirements, and other operating expenses.
• Develop capital plans for locomotives, railcars, facilities, tools, technology, and major equipment.
• Monitor spending and identify opportunities for cost reduction without compromising safety, reliability, or regulatory compliance.
• Evaluate repair-versus-replace decisions and long-term fleet lifecycle costs.

Workforce Leadership

• Lead, develop, and manage mechanical supervisors, managers, inspectors, technicians, and support personnel.
• Establish staffing requirements based on operating schedules, fleet size, workload, and maintenance demands.
• Coordinate assistance in developing training and qualification programs for mechanical employees.
• Ensure employees maintain required certifications, qualifications, and regulatory knowledge.
• Establish clear performance expectations and accountability.
• Support succession planning and development of future mechanical leaders.
• Promote effective communication between management, mechanical employees, labor representatives, and other operating departments.
• Work effectively within a unionized environment where applicable.

Vendor & Contractor Management

• Manage relationships with locomotive manufacturers, parts suppliers, repair facilities, contractors, and other mechanical vendors.
• Establish appropriate service levels, quality standards, and performance expectations.
• Evaluate vendor performance, cost, quality, turnaround time, and reliability.
• Assist Purchasing with contracts for major mechanical services and equipment.
• Ensure outside contractors comply with applicable railroad safety and mechanical requirements.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering or a related field preferred or relevant railroad experience.
• 8+ years of progressive railroad mechanical experience preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing locomotive and railcar maintenance operations.
• Strong knowledge of regulations and railroad equipment requirements.
• Knowledge of AAR standards and interchange requirements.
• Experience managing mechanical personnel in a railroad operating environment.
• Demonstrated understanding of locomotive systems, railcar systems, air brakes, inspections, preventive maintenance, and mechanical troubleshooting.
• Experience developing and managing maintenance budgets.
• Strong analytical, organizational, communication, and leadership skills.
• Ability to work effectively across Operations, Transportation, Engineering, Safety, Finance, Human Resources, and other departments.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Management experience in railroad mechanical roles.
• Experience with both locomotive and railcar maintenance.
• Experience working in a Class I, regional or short-line environment.
• Experience with applicable regulatory inspections and mechanical compliance programs.
• Experience implementing predictive maintenance, condition monitoring, or reliability-centered maintenance programs.
• Experience working with labor organizations and collective bargaining agreements.

REQUIRED EDUCATION AND/OR CREDENTIALS:

Key Performance Indicators

The Director of Mechanical will be accountable for measurable performance in areas including:

• Locomotive availability and reliability
• Freight-car availability and reliability
• Mechanical-caused delays and failures
• Equipment defect and bad-order rates
• Preventive-maintenance compliance
• Regulatory compliance
• Maintenance cost per locomotive/car or operating unit
• Maintenance labor productivity
• Parts and inventory management
• Equipment turnaround time
• Repeat mechanical failures
• Safety performance
• Employee training and qualification compliance
• Capital-project execution

Leadership Expectations

The Director of Mechanical is expected to serve as a visible leader throughout the railroad, maintaining a strong presence in mechanical facilities and operating locations. The position requires a balance of safety, regulatory compliance, equipment reliability, cost discipline, and operational performance.

The Director must be comfortable making time-sensitive decisions, responding to equipment failures and operational disruptions, and communicating effectively with senior leadership, regulators, railroad operating personnel, mechanical employees, labor representatives, and external vendors.

Working Conditions

This position requires regular travel between railroad mechanical facilities, yards, terminals, maintenance shops, and other operating locations. Work may involve exposure to locomotives, railcars, machinery, noise, outdoor weather conditions, and industrial environments.

This position is employed by the specific entity set forth in the job posting.