Maintenance Engineer

About the Company

Walter Tools is seeking an experienced and hands-on Maintenance Engineer for our Greer, South Carolina production facility. This role is critical to maximizing the uptime and reliability of our CNC grinding machines and supporting equipment used in solid carbide drill manufacturing and reconditioning operations.

About the Role

The Maintenance Engineer develops and executes preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance strategies, supports continuous improvement of our maintenance systems, and works closely with production and engineering teams to eliminate downtime and ensure machines perform at their required level.

Responsibilities

• Preventive & Predictive Maintenance
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve preventive (PM), predictive (PdM), and reliability-centered maintenance programs for all CNC grinding machines (ANCA, Rollomatic, and Reinecker), facility equipment, and utility systems.
• Implement and manage condition-monitoring programs, including vibration analysis, thermography, oil analysis, and ultrasound, to detect early signs of equipment degradation and prevent unplanned failures.
• Establish and maintain asset criticality rankings to prioritize maintenance resources and reliability initiatives based on production impact.
• Develop and maintain spare-parts lists, reorder levels, and critical-spare inventory to minimize machine downtime during corrective maintenance events.
• Administer and continuously improve the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), including maintenance plans, SOPs, work orders, spare-parts records, and performance reports.

• Corrective Maintenance & Reliability
• Lead corrective maintenance activities on CNC grinding machines and supporting equipment, including mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and coolant systems.
• Analyze equipment failure data, machine work-order history, and condition-monitoring data using Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and FMEA tools to identify recurring failure patterns and eliminate equipment “bad actors.”
• Lead cross-functional teams to implement equipment improvements, optimize PM/PdM strategies, and enhance operator and maintenance technician training to improve overall equipment effectiveness (OEE).
• Provide technical support for the installation, modification, and relocation of equipment, ensuring optimal reliability, maintainability, and lifecycle performance, including the creation of supporting documentation.
• Collaborate with CNC operators and process engineers to identify machine-related quality or performance issues and implement mechanical or process-level solutions.

• Continuous Improvement & Reporting
• Monitor and report key maintenance KPIs, including OEE, Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF), Mean Time to Repair (MTTR), planned versus unplanned maintenance ratio, and maintenance cost per machine.
• Use data-analysis tools such as Power BI, Excel, or similar platforms to identify trends, present findings, and support data-driven maintenance decisions.
• Support local and global engineering projects and collaborate with other Walter and Sandvik plants to identify and share maintenance best practices.
• Lead projects end to end: define scope, create and maintain timelines, coordinate contractors, and follow up on progress and results with the Engineering Manager and site leadership.

• EHS & Compliance
• Ensure all maintenance activities comply with OSHA regulations, Walter and Sandvik internal safety standards, and ISO 9001, 14001, and 45001 requirements.
• Perform and document lockout/tagout (LOTO) procedures and ensure safe work practices are followed by all maintenance personnel during equipment servicing.
• Conduct risk assessments for maintenance activities and support EHS audits related to equipment safety and facility compliance.
• Ensure proper handling, storage, and disposal of maintenance-related hazardous materials, including coolants, grinding oils, lubricants, and carbide dust.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical or Electrical Engineering, or equivalent knowledge gained through 5+ years of hands-on maintenance engineering experience in a precision manufacturing environment.
• 3–5+ years of maintenance or reliability engineering experience in a CNC machining or precision manufacturing environment.

Required Skills

• Hands-on technical knowledge of CNC grinding machines; experience with ANCA, Rollomatic, or Reinecker platforms is a strong advantage.
• Strong working knowledge of mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and coolant systems in a manufacturing setting.
• Experience with CMMS platforms for maintenance planning, work-order management, and reporting.
• Familiarity with RCA tools, FMEA methodology, and reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) principles.
• Proficiency in data analysis and reporting tools such as Excel, Power BI, or similar platforms; SAP experience is a plus.
• Strong written and oral communication skills in English, with the ability to collaborate across production, engineering, and quality teams.
• Hands-on, self-driven approach with a strong presence on the production floor.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with the ability to manage multiple maintenance priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, and equipment manuals.
• Collaborative team player with strong interpersonal skills across operations, engineering, and quality functions.
• Continuous-improvement mindset with experience applying Lean or TPM principles in a maintenance context.
• Certified Maintenance and Reliability Professional (CMRP) credential is a plus.