Director, Maintenance Excellence
Milliken · Spartanburg, SC
- Level
- Director+
- Team
- Lean / CI
- Experience asked
- 10+ years
- Industry
- Industrial
- Posted
- 14 days ago
The role in 30 seconds
A director-level continuous improvement role at Milliken (industrial) in Spartanburg, SC. BS Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering.
- They ask for
- 10+ years
- Tools it names
- OEE, Root cause, FMEA, SAP
Read from the posting. The full description is below.
From the plant jobs report · week of November 2, 2026
Continuous Improvement roles in South Carolina: typical posted base $97k–$143k.
Median of the low and high ends of 8 live postings that list pay, out of 15 continuous improvement openings in South Carolina, read from manufacturers' own careers sites.
South Carolina plant jobs report →Pay by team and state →What moves pay →
How this role compares
Against 14 other live lean / ci postings in South Carolina.
- Base pay
- Not listed in this posting
- Experience asked
- More than usual (10+ vs 2+)
Typical $97k–$143k, from 8 postings that list pay.
Similar roles usually ask 2+ years.
Skills these teams ask for most
- Lean 67%
- Six Sigma 53%
- Value stream mapping 40%
- ✓ Root cause 33%
- ✓ SAP 33%
- Green Belt 27%
✓ = this posting asks for it too. % = share of similar postings that mention it.
At a glance
Pulled from the posting text. If it's not listed here, the posting didn't say.
How to get in at this plant
Five moves over a week or two. The first one takes ten minutes.
- 1
Pick 2–3 people on the Lean / CI team at Milliken
Engineers who joined in the last year or two reply the most. Use the team search on this page to find them.
- 2
Send a short, curious note
One real question about their work. No favors yet. Each person gets a different note, written for this role.
- 3
Turn a reply into a short call
Questions worth asking about this team:
- What does a normal week look like on your team?
- Is CI run from the plant floor or from a corporate OpEx group?
- Which metrics does leadership actually watch: OEE, scrap, cost per unit?
- How did you land the job? What stood out in your interviews?
- 4
Apply with someone vouching for you
If the call went well, ask whether they’d pass your résumé to the hiring manager. Send your résumé link, apply that day, and let them know.
- 5
Bring proof to the interview
One page of before-and-after numbers from projects you led: scrap, OEE, cycle time, cost. Plant managers hire on results.
Full description from MillikenAs posted on their careers site.ShowHide
Responsibilities
Develop and implement a company-wide maintenance excellence strategy, including preventive and predictive maintenance through a reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) framework.
Establish standardized and best-practice maintenance processes for Milliken facilities, ensuring alignment with Milliken Performance System Planned Maintenance methodology and with SMRP (Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals) best practices. Included are processes for CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) to include work order tracking, asset history, and KPI reporting.
Establish an appropriate organizational structure to drive a multi-year maturation of maintenance excellence performance across sites globally
Partner with plant managers and site maintenance teams to identify chronic equipment issues and implement effective use of standard and advanced root cause analysis (RCA) solutions.
Establish standards for key performance indicators such as MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures), MTTR (Mean Time to Repair), planned vs. unplanned work ratios and OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).
Qualifications
- ✓REQUIRED
Show full description ↓Show less ↑
Milliken & Company is a global manufacturing leader whose focus on materials science delivers tomorrow’s breakthroughs today. From industry-leading molecules to sustainable innovations, Milliken creates products that enhance people’s lives and deliver solutions for its customers and communities. Drawing on thousands of patents and a portfolio with applications across the textile, flooring, chemical and healthcare businesses, the company harnesses a shared sense of integrity and excellence to positively impact the world for generations. Discover more about Milliken’s curious minds and inspired solutions at Milliken.com and on Facebook , Instagram and LinkedIn .
Position overview
As our Director, Maintenance Excellence, you will be the driving force behind transforming our maintenance operations from reactive to preventive and predictive through a reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) framework. You’ll set the standard for best practices across multiple sites, ensuring our teams have the tools, training, and processes to achieve maximum equipment reliability and efficiency. Your work will directly impact production output, cost savings, and the safety of our people.
JOB
BS Mechanical, Electrical or Chemical Engineering
10+ years industrial maintenance leadership experience in chemicals, textile or related industry
Experience creating, implementing or directing a maintenance excellence framework and achieving measurable improvements in uptime and cost reduction.
Working knowledge of SMRP (Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals) Best Practices Framework
Strong knowledge of CMMS platforms (e.g., SAP PM, MaintainX, MAINTelligence, etc.)
Strong knowledge of maintenance cost models
Expertise in reliability engineering tools such as FMEA, RCA, and condition monitoring technologies.
Exceptional communication skills to influence and align cross-functional teams.
A passion for safety, sustainability, and operational excellence.
– preferred
15+ years combined maintenance and operations leadership experience in chemicals, textile or related industry
Prior experience being a plant manager or multi-site plant manager