Assistant Chief Engineer

Commercial and Industrial Laundry Facility

Department: Engineering and Maintenance

Reports To: Chief Engineer

Schedule: Primarily first shift with regular presence across second shift; on call rotation for nights, weekends, and holidays as required by plant operations

Position Summary

The Assistant Chief Engineer supports the Chief Engineer in the operation, maintenance, and continuous improvement of all plant equipment, building systems, and utilities in a high volume commercial laundry processing facility. This is a working leadership role. The Assistant Chief Engineer spends time on the floor diagnosing and repairing equipment, directs and develops the maintenance team, and owns the preventive maintenance program on a day to day basis. The position exists to protect production uptime, extend equipment life, control utility and repair costs, and ensure the plant operates safely and in full regulatory compliance.

The right candidate treats downtime as the enemy. In a plant that processes hundreds of thousands of pounds of linen per week across multiple shifts, every hour of unplanned equipment stoppage translates directly into missed deliveries, overtime, and rewash. This role requires someone who can both turn a wrench and run a program.

Essential Duties and ResponsibilitiesEquipment Operation and Maintenance

• Maintain, troubleshoot, and repair all production equipment, including tunnel washer systems, conventional open pocket washers and extractors, presses, shuttles, conveyors, gas fired dryers, flatwork ironers, feeders, folders, stackers, small piece folders, and soil sorting and rail systems
• Diagnose mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and controls related failures and restore equipment to service with minimal disruption to production
• Perform and supervise repairs on motors, drives, bearings, chains, belts, gearboxes, pumps, valves, seals, and burner systems
• Support commissioning, installation, and startup of new equipment, including rigging coordination, utility connections, and vendor oversight
• Maintain accurate parts inventory, establish minimum stock levels for critical spares, and manage relationships with equipment vendors and parts suppliers such as Braun, Milnor, Kannegiesser, Jensen, Chicago Dryer, and similar OEMs

Utilities and Building Systems

• Operate and maintain boilers, steam distribution systems, condensate return systems, and related water treatment programs
• Maintain air compressors, dryers, and compressed air distribution
• Oversee water systems including softeners, reuse and reclamation systems, heat exchangers, and wastewater pretreatment equipment, ensuring discharge stays within permit limits
• Maintain natural gas systems, electrical distribution, lighting, HVAC, dock equipment, and general building infrastructure
• Monitor utility consumption per pound processed and identify opportunities to reduce gas, water, and electric costs

Preventive Maintenance Program

• Execute and continuously improve the preventive maintenance schedule for all plant equipment
• Ensure PM completion rates meet target and that documentation is complete, accurate, and audit ready
• Analyze equipment failure history to shift the department from reactive repair toward planned and predictive maintenance
• Track and report key maintenance metrics including equipment downtime percentage, mean time between failures, PM compliance, and maintenance cost per pound processed

Leadership and Team Development

• Supervise, schedule, and develop maintenance technicians across shifts, ensuring coverage aligns with production demands
• Train technicians on equipment specific procedures, troubleshooting methods, and safe work practices
• Assign work orders, verify quality of completed work, and hold the team accountable to standards
• Step into the Chief Engineer's responsibilities during absences, including budget oversight, contractor management, and executive reporting
• Communicate clearly with production leadership on equipment status, repair timelines, and scheduling of planned downtime windows

Safety and Compliance

• Enforce lockout tagout procedures without exception and lead by example on all safety protocols
• Maintain compliance with OSHA regulations, local boiler codes and inspection requirements, fire suppression system testing, wastewater discharge permits, and air quality requirements
• Conduct or support safety training, incident investigations, and corrective actions
• Maintain confined space, hot work, and electrical safety programs
• Ensure chemical dosing systems and chemical storage areas meet safety and handling requirements, coordinating with the chemical supplier as needed

Continuous Improvement

• Partner with production and engineering leadership on projects that increase throughput, reduce rewash, cut downtime, and lower cost per pound
• Support capital planning by providing equipment condition assessments, replacement recommendations, and installation cost input
• Evaluate equipment performance data to identify bottlenecks, with particular attention to dryer capacity, ironer throughput, and tunnel cycle efficiency

QualificationsRequired

• Five or more years of industrial maintenance experience, with at least two years in a supervisory or lead capacity
• Direct experience maintaining commercial laundry equipment, or closely comparable heavy industrial processing equipment with continuous production demands
• Strong electrical troubleshooting skills including three phase power, motor controls, VFDs, and the ability to read electrical schematics
• Working knowledge of PLCs and machine controls, with the ability to diagnose faults using HMI screens and controller software
• Experience operating and maintaining high pressure steam boilers and associated systems
• Proficiency in mechanical repair including welding, fabrication, pipefitting, bearing and drive replacement, and pneumatics
• Experience running a preventive maintenance program and working within a CMMS
• Ability to read blueprints, equipment manuals, and P and ID drawings
• Strong communication skills in English; ability to write clear work orders, reports, and procedures
• Availability for on call response and flexibility to work across shifts, weekends, and holidays when plant conditions require

Preferred

• Boiler operator license or ability to obtain one per local jurisdiction requirements
• Experience with tunnel washer systems (Milnor, Kannegiesser, Jensen, or Braun)
• Experience with wastewater pretreatment and water reuse systems
• OSHA 30 certification
• Universal EPA refrigerant certification
• Bilingual English and Spanish
• Experience supporting plant expansions, equipment installations, or facility startups

Physical Requirements and Work Environment

This position works in an industrial laundry environment with exposure to heat, humidity, steam, noise, moving machinery, and cleaning chemicals. The role requires standing and walking for extended periods, climbing ladders and stairs, working from lifts and elevated platforms, entering confined spaces under permit, and lifting up to 50 pounds regularly and up to 75 pounds occasionally with assistance. Personal protective equipment is required and provided.

Success Measures

Within the first twelve months, the Assistant Chief Engineer will be measured on:

• Reduction in unplanned equipment downtime against baseline
• PM completion rate at or above 95 percent
• Maintenance contribution to rewash reduction through equipment reliability, particularly wash chemistry delivery systems, ironer condition, and dryer performance
• Critical spare parts availability with no repeat stockouts on production critical components
• Zero lost time safety incidents within the maintenance department
• Technician skill development, demonstrated through cross training coverage on all critical equipment

Compensation and Benefits

Competitive salary commensurate with experience, plus health coverage, paid time off, and advancement opportunity within a growing multi site operation. This role is a direct development path to Chief Engineer.

Pay: $70,000.00 - $150,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Health insurance
• Paid time off

Work Location: In person