Position Overview:Healthcare Linen Services Group (HLSG) operates high-volume, utility-intensive healthcare linen processing plants where equipment availability is the direct constraint on throughput, service reliability, and margin. When a tunnel washer, dryer line, or boiler goes down, the cost is immediate and it is measured in customer service failures, not just repair dollars.
The Regional Chief Engineer provides engineering leadership, technical support, project oversight, and equipment reliability expertise across assigned facilities. Reporting to the Vice President of Engineering, this position works closely with Plant Chief Engineers, Operations Managers, and Regional Operations Managers to improve equipment reliability, reduce unplanned downtime, strengthen preventive and predictive maintenance programs, control utility cost per pound processed, execute capital projects, and develop the next generation of engineering leaders.
This is a hands-on position. The Regional Chief Engineer is expected to move between capital project execution, engineering planning, plant assessments, and complex equipment troubleshooting-often in the same week-and to be on the plant floor and inside the equipment rather than managing from a distance.
Primary Duties and Responsibilities:- Regional Engineering Support & Plant Assessment
- Provide engineering and technical support to all assigned HLSG facilities within region.
- Visit plants on a defined, recurring schedule to evaluate equipment condition, utilities, infrastructure, maintenance practices, staffing levels, and engineering performance-documented against a standard assessment format so results are comparable plant to plant and over time.
- Assist plants with difficult or recurring mechanical, electrical, controls, automation, hydraulic, pneumatic, and utility-system problems.
- Respond to significant equipment failures and production emergencies, including outside normal business hours when the situation warrants.
- Identify root causes of recurring failures and develop long-term corrective solutions rather than repeat repairs; close the loop by verifying the fix held.
- Equipment Reliability & Maintenance Systems
- Assist Plant Chief Engineers in developing and maintaining effective preventive and predictive maintenance programs, including vibration analysis, thermography, oil analysis, and condition monitoring where justified by asset criticality.
- Review downtime, equipment history, work order data, and recurring failures to identify improvement opportunities and quantify their cost.
- Maintain a criticality ranking of major assets by plant and align PM frequency, spares strategy, and redundancy to it.
- Determine when equipment should be repaired, rebuilt, upgraded, or replaced, supported by cost-of-ownership analysis rather than age alone.
- Drive consistent use of the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) across assigned plants-work order discipline, asset hierarchy, labor and parts capture, and complete equipment history.
- Assist plants with critical spare-parts planning, min/max levels, and equipment standardization to reduce both downtime and carrying cost.
- Transfer proven maintenance practices between facilities so that a solution developed at one plant becomes the regional standard.
- Capital Projects & Equipment Installation
- Provide engineering oversight for capital projects, equipment replacements, facility improvements, and major installations across assigned plants.
- Review proposed projects for technical feasibility, cost, utility load, production impact, safety, installation requirements, and long-term maintainability.
- Assist with project scope, equipment specifications, budgeting, scheduling, installation, commissioning, and startup-including acceptance testing against nameplate throughput before a project is closed.
- Coordinate equipment manufacturers, contractors, vendors, plant personnel, and company leadership through installation and startup, with particular attention to sequencing work around live production.
- Review equipment layouts, mechanical and electrical drawings, controls integration, utility requirements, and installation plans.
- Build and maintain a forward-looking capital plan for assigned plants covering aging equipment, reliability risk, capacity constraints, safety, utilities, and infrastructure, with recommended sequencing and justification.
- Utilities, Energy & Cost Performance
- Provide technical support and oversight for major plant systems: boilers and steam, electrical distribution, natural gas, water and wastewater, compressed air, HVAC, pumps and piping, fire protection, production equipment, material handling, and controls and automation.
- Own the regional utility performance agenda-natural gas, electricity, water, and sewer measured as cost and consumption per pound processed, not as absolute spend.
- Identify and execute energy and water recovery opportunities: heat reclaim, water reuse and reclaim loops, steam trap survey and repair programs, condensate return, dryer efficiency, variable frequency drives, and compressed air leak reduction.
- Benchmark utility performance across assigned plants, identify outliers, and drive them toward the regional best performer.
- Support wastewater pretreatment performance and discharge permit compliance in partnership with plant leadership.
- Safety, Compliance & Regulatory
- Promote safe engineering practices during equipment maintenance, modification, installation, and commissioning.
- Support plant compliance with OSHA requirements applicable to maintenance work, including lockout/tagout, machine guarding, confined space entry, fall protection, hot work, and arc flash and NFPA 70E electrical safety practices.
- Support plants in meeting boiler and pressure vessel licensing and inspection requirements, fire protection inspection and testing, and other applicable federal, state, and local regulatory obligations.
- Support HLAC accreditation and healthcare customer audits as they relate to equipment condition, hygienic separation of soiled and clean sides, air handling, and facility infrastructure.
- Ensure contractors are qualified, oriented, and held to HLSG safety and documentation expectations while on site.
- Engineering Leadership & Bench Development
- Serve as senior technical resource and mentor to Plant Chief Engineers.
- Assist with training and development of Chief Engineers, maintenance supervisors, mechanics, electricians, and other technical personnel.
- Evaluate plant engineering capability and identify training, staffing, licensure, or resource gaps-and put a plan against each one.
- Help establish consistent company engineering, maintenance, documentation, and equipment standards.
- Share lessons learned from equipment failures and capital projects across facilities so the region does not repeat the same failure twice.
- Build the bench: identify and develop successors for Chief Engineer roles at assigned plants before vacancies occur, partnering with Human Resources on hiring where internal candidates are not available.
- Operations Partnership
- Work collaboratively with Regional and Plant Operations Managers to support production requirements while protecting equipment reliability, safety, maintenance standards, and long-term capital investment.
- Provide Engineering's technical perspective when evaluating equipment modifications, production changes, capital projects, and major operational initiatives.
- Maintain clear communication between Corporate Engineering, Regional Operations, and plant leadership, escalating technical risk early rather than after it becomes a service failure.
- Vendors, Contractors & Warranty
- Maintain strong relationships with equipment manufacturers, service organizations, contractors, and technical vendors.
- Review vendor recommendations, equipment quotations, repair proposals, and scopes of work for technical adequacy and value.
- Hold contractors and manufacturers to company expectations for safety, quality, documentation, and project execution.
- Track equipment warranties and service agreements across assigned plants and ensure the Company recovers what it is entitled to.
Minimum Requirements:- 10+ years of progressive industrial, plant, or manufacturing engineering and maintenance experience, including 3+ years at the Chief Engineer, Plant Engineer, Engineering Manager, Maintenance Manager, or Regional Engineer level.
- Commercial or healthcare laundry experience strongly preferred. Comparable experience in a highly automated, utility-intensive processing environment-food and beverage, textiles, paper and packaging, or similar-will be considered.
- Bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, or Industrial Engineering, or an equivalent combination of technical training, licensure, and hands-on experience. Journeyman-level trade credentials with the requisite leadership experience will be considered in lieu of a degree.
- Strong hands-on mechanical, electrical, controls, and equipment troubleshooting capability-this role is expected to diagnose, not only to delegate.
- Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, P&IDs, PLC logic, equipment manuals, specifications, and technical documentation.
- Working knowledge of industrial utilities including boilers, steam distribution, electrical distribution, compressed air, water, wastewater, HVAC, and natural gas.
- Demonstrated experience with capital projects from specification through installation, commissioning, and startup, including projects executed in an operating facility.
- Strong understanding of preventive and predictive maintenance, equipment reliability, and structured root-cause analysis.
- Experience with computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS), including using the data rather than only entering it.
- Ability to communicate effectively with executives, Operations leadership, Plant Chief Engineers, maintenance personnel, contractors, and equipment manufacturers.
- Strong leadership, mentoring, organizational, and project-management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities across multiple plants.
- Willingness to travel regularly between assigned facilities and to respond to significant plant emergencies outside normal business hours.
- Valid driver's license and acceptable motor vehicle record.
Preferred Qualifications:- Direct experience with tunnel washers, presses, shuttles, dryers, ironers, folders, sorting systems, and rail or conveyor material handling.
- Boiler operator, stationary engineer, electrical, or other industrial licensure or certification.
- Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP), Six Sigma, or comparable reliability or continuous improvement credential.
- Experience integrating newly acquired plants onto common engineering, maintenance, and documentation standards.
- Experience with energy and water reduction projects and documented cost-per-pound improvement.
- Familiarity with HLAC accreditation standards or healthcare customer audit requirements.
- Bilingual capability in a plant environment.
Physical Requirements & Work Environment:- The Regional Chief Engineer works in operating industrial laundry facilities and is regularly exposed to heat, humidity, noise, dust, lint, moving mechanical parts, and cleaning and laundry chemicals. Appropriate personal protective equipment is required.
- Ability to walk and stand on plant floors for extended periods, and to work in elevated temperature and high-humidity areas.
- Ability to climb ladders and stairs, work at height, access equipment in tight or confined spaces, and kneel, bend, crouch, and reach to inspect and service equipment.
- Ability to lift and carry up to 50 pounds occasionally.
- Ability to work in soiled-side areas of the plant in accordance with established handling and personal protective equipment procedures.
- Frequent travel by vehicle or air between assigned facilities.
