About the OpportunityAt Ahlstrom's Thilmany Mill, our teams work together to safely manufacture essential fiber-based materials while strengthening the reliability and long-term performance of our operations. We value practical leadership, technical excellence, accountability, and continuous improvement.
We are seeking an experienced
Maintenance Manager to lead maintenance strategy and execution for the Pulp and Utilities areas at our Thilmany Mill in Kaukauna, Wisconsin. This role provides onsite leadership to the maintenance organization supporting these critical operating areas and works closely with Operations, Engineering, Reliability, and other mill leaders. The Maintenance Manager will build and lead a high-performing team, champion culture change, reinforce consistent adherence to company policies and work practices, and establish clear expectations and accountability. This leader will also improve equipment reliability, strengthen planning and execution, develop team capabilities, manage outages and planned work, and deliver sustainable improvements in asset performance.
Key Responsibilities- Lead all maintenance activities for the Pulp and Utilities areas with an uncompromising focus on employee safety, environmental compliance, quality, and operational reliability.
- Develop and execute preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance strategies that improve equipment availability and reduce unplanned downtime.
- Build, lead, and develop a high-performing maintenance organization by setting clear priorities, defining roles and expectations, coaching leaders and employees, and ensuring timely follow-through on commitments.
- Lead culture change by modeling company values, engaging employees in improvement efforts, addressing resistance constructively, and reinforcing behaviors that support safety, reliability, collaboration, and operational discipline.
- Drive accountability through measurable goals, routine performance reviews, visible follow-up, recognition of strong performance, and prompt, consistent action when expectations are not met.
- Ensure consistent adherence to company policies, maintenance standards, safe-work procedures, environmental requirements, and applicable collective bargaining agreement provisions.
- Partner with Operations to establish equipment priorities, coordinate maintenance windows, and strengthen communication between operating and maintenance teams.
- Improve planning and scheduling discipline, work-order quality, backlog management, job readiness, and schedule compliance.
- Lead shutdowns, outages, major repairs, and contractor activities from scope development through safe execution and post-work review.
- Use reliability data, equipment history, root-cause analysis, and performance measures to identify recurring failures and implement lasting corrective actions.
- Develop and manage the maintenance budget, including annual planning, forecasting, contractor spending, materials, labor and resource allocation, cost control, and timely management of budget variances to achieve business objectives.
- Support capital planning and project execution by providing maintenance expertise, ensuring maintainability, and preparing teams for equipment startup and ongoing care.
- Maintain constructive labor relations through fair, consistent leadership and proactive partnership with employees, union representatives, and Human Resources.
- Serve as a visible and accessible leader who develops talent, reinforces standards, promotes continuous improvement, and creates shared ownership for department and mill results.
Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, industrial engineering, engineering technology, or a related field; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.
- Progressive maintenance leadership experience in pulp and paper, power generation, chemical processing, heavy manufacturing, or a similarly complex industrial environment.
- Demonstrated success leading teams through organizational or culture change, building employee engagement, establishing clear performance expectations, and holding leaders and employees accountable for results and behaviors.
- Industrial mechanical and electrical systems knowledge, including rotating equipment, pumps, piping, steam systems, boilers, water systems, and related utility infrastructure.
- Strong understanding of maintenance planning and scheduling, preventive and predictive maintenance, reliability principles, root-cause analysis, and computerized maintenance management systems.
- Proven ability to lead outage execution, manage contractors, control costs, and deliver results across competing operational priorities.
- Working knowledge of applicable safety and environmental requirements, including lockout/tagout and safe-work permitting, with a record of consistently reinforcing policies, procedures, and standards.
- Strong communication, decision-making, coaching, conflict-resolution, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Preferred Qualifications- Maintenance leadership experience in a pulp and paper manufacturing environment.
- Experience leading salaried and hourly maintenance employees in a unionized workplace.
- Experience with mill utilities, including steam generation, boilers, water systems, compressed air, and related infrastructure.
- Demonstrated success improving preventive maintenance effectiveness, schedule compliance, equipment reliability, and outage performance.
Work Schedule & AvailabilityThis position primarily works a regular full-time schedule and requires flexibility to support planned outages, equipment emergencies, and other operational needs outside normal business hours, including occasional evenings or weekends.
What Success Looks Like- Visible, credible leadership with a consistent commitment to safe work, environmental compliance, company policies, and established work practices.
- Improved equipment reliability, work readiness, schedule compliance, and execution of planned maintenance.
- Clear expectations, measurable goals, timely follow-through, and consistent accountability throughout the maintenance organization.
- Sustained culture change demonstrated through stronger ownership, improved communication, disciplined execution, and constructive problem-solving.
- Strong partnerships with Operations and other mill functions.
- An engaged, capable team with stronger leadership depth, technical skills, and shared ownership for department results.
Why Join Us?This is an opportunity to lead a critical maintenance organization within a complex manufacturing operation and directly influence the safety, reliability, and long-term performance of the mill. You will collaborate with experienced leaders and technical professionals, develop people and systems, and help shape the future of maintenance and reliability in our Pulp and Utilities operations. We offer a competitive total rewards package and opportunities for professional growth.
Ready to make an impact? Apply today to join the team at our Thilmany Mill.
Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship. 
