At Link Snacks, we show up hungry, roll up our sleeves, plaid or otherwise, and dive straight into the hard work. We don’t hide from challenges; we hunt them down. We push harder, move faster, and take the kinds of big swings that built this business in the North Woods of Wisconsin four decades ago.

We’re everyday people who deliver extraordinary results. Innovation, creativity, and urgency aren’t buzzwords, they’re expectations. And just like the real protein snacks we make across our global house of brands—Jack Link’s®, Lorissa’s Kitchen®, Golden Island®, BiFi®, and Peperami® and KOOEE!® to name a few—there’s nothing artificial about us. What you see is exactly what you get: humble, gritty, passionate people who show up every day ready to not just be a participate in the meat snack industry that the Link Family created, but to move faster, innovate harder and keep raising the bar so high, the rest of the world needs a ladder just to see it.

Dominating this space across the world takes a team. A team that runs together, succeeds together, and celebrates together. A team that’s full of relentless energy and spirit that can only be fueled by one thing: a fist full of our delicious meat snacks.

Real Meat Protein. Real People. Real Results. THAT is Link Snacks.

Position Summary

The Maintenance Materials Manager is responsible for the strategy, control, and execution of all maintenance spare parts, MRO inventory, and materials management processes supporting a highly automated, 24/7 food manufacturing facility.

This role ensures maximum equipment uptime, optimal inventory levels, and cost control by delivering the right parts, at the right time, at the right cost—while supporting a multi-million-dollar repairs and maintenance (R&M) budget.

This position is a critical enabler of maintenance efficiency, reliability performance, and overall plant OEE.

Key Responsibilities

Inventory Strategy & Control

• Define and maintain optimal inventory levels for all MRO and critical spare parts
• Classify and manage critical spares to prevent production downtime
• Balance inventory investment against service level and uptime requirements
• Establish reorder points, safety stock, and stocking strategies

Material Availability & Uptime Support

• Ensure required parts are available to support planned and unplanned maintenance work
• Eliminate downtime caused by parts shortages or incorrect inventory
• Coordinate with Maintenance and Reliability on critical equipment needs
• Prioritize parts availability for high-impact production assets

Maintenance Planning Integration

• Partner with the Maintenance Planner to align inventory with scheduled work
• Ensure all parts are kitted and available prior to planned maintenance execution
• Support shutdown and outage planning with accurate materials readiness
• Eliminate delays in maintenance execution due to materials issues

Procurement & Supplier Management

• Source and procure maintenance parts, components, and services
• Manage vendor relationships for cost, quality, and lead time performance
• Negotiate pricing and contracts to control R&M spend
• Develop alternate sourcing strategies for critical components

Storeroom Operations & Accuracy

• Lead day-to-day storeroom operations, including receiving, issuing, and cycle counting
• Ensure high inventory accuracy and system integrity within CMMS/ERP
• Standardize storage, labeling, and organization of all materials
• Eliminate obsolete, excess, and duplicate inventory

Cost Management & Budget Control

• Manage and track maintenance materials spending against the R&M budget
• Identify and execute cost reduction opportunities without increasing risk
• Analyze usage trends, consumption, and inventory turns
• Reduce waste, emergency purchases, and expediting costs

CMMS & Data Integrity

• Ensure accurate setup and maintenance of parts data in CMMS
• Standardize naming conventions, descriptions, and BOM structures
• Maintain equipment bills of materials (BOMs) with Maintenance and Reliability
• Use data to forecast demand and improve inventory decisions

Reliability & Continuous Improvement

• Partner with Reliability Engineering to identify required critical spares
• Support failure analysis by ensuring correct parts and historical usage visibility
• Drive improvements in:
  • Inventory turns
  • Service levels
  • Inventory accuracy
• Eliminate recurring issues related to parts availability

Team Leadership

• Lead and develop:
  • Storeroom personnel
  • Inventory/MRO analysts
  • Maintenance buyer(s)
• Establish clear processes, expectations, and accountability
• Drive standard work and continuous improvement within materials management

Cross-Functional Alignment

• Align with:
  • Maintenance → execution readiness
  • Reliability → critical spares strategy
  • Procurement → sourcing strategy and contracts
  • Finance → budget and cost control
• Participate in planning and performance review processes

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• Inventory accuracy (%)
• Stockout frequency / downtime due to parts availability
• Inventory turns and total inventory value
• R&M materials cost vs budget
• Emergency purchase rate
• PM job readiness (parts availability at execution)
• Obsolete and excess inventory reduction

Experience

• 7–10+ years in maintenance materials, MRO, or supply chain roles
• Experience in high-volume, automated manufacturing environments
• Experience managing multi-million-dollar inventory and spend

Technical Competency

• Strong knowledge of:
  • MRO inventory management
  • CMMS/ERP systems (SAP, Maximo, etc.)
  • Maintenance planning processes
• Understanding of:
  • Industrial equipment and spare parts criticality
  • Reliability and TPM principles

Leadership Competencies

• Strong systems thinker (connects inventory to uptime and cost)
• High attention to detail and process discipline
• Ability to balance cost vs operational risk
• Strong cross-functional collaborator
• Data-driven decision maker

Success Profile (What Good Looks Like)

Within 12 months, this leader:

• Eliminates downtime caused by parts unavailability
• Establishes >95–98% inventory accuracy
• Reduces emergency purchases and expediting costs significantly
• Optimizes inventory investment while improving service levels
• Fully integrates materials management with maintenance planning and reliability

Why This Role

In a highly automated facility:

Poor materials management = hidden downtime, wasted labor, and uncontrolled cost.

This role directly determines:

• Whether maintenance can execute effectively
• Whether automation remains stable
• Whether the R&M budget is controlled or overwhelmed

The pay range for this role is $90k - $110k (Annual). Actual wage will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, and candidate skill set and experience. Base pay is just one component of Jack Link’s Total Rewards package for Team Members. Other rewards may include annual incentive and program-specific awards. Jack Link’s provides a variety of benefits to eligible Team Members, including medical, dental and vision benefits, life and disability insurance, 401k participation, paid holidays, and paid time off

PHYSICAL DEMANDS  

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a Team Member to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job the Team Member will be required to wear the appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (i.e. beard/hairnet, ear plugs, frock, boots, etc.), stand for extended periods of time, and use hands/arms to push, pull, reach and occasionally lift above head.  The Team Member must occasionally lift, push, pull up to 25 pounds and 50 pounds infrequently. Team Members are requested to visually inspect equipment and/or product. 

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those a Team Member encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The work environment is a plant setting with wet/slippery floors, varying degrees of temperatures with an average temperature of 40 degrees in the production area.  Team Members will be exposed to raw and/or cooked meat products and moving equipment and will be required to follow all Food Safety Quality requirements.

EEO Statement:

Jack Link’s provides equal employment opportunity (EEO) to all persons regardless of age, color, national origin, citizenship status, physical or mental disability, race, religion, creed, gender, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, genetic information, marital status, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, or any other characteristic that is protected by federal, state or local law.

Jack Link’s is participant in the federal E-Verify program to confirm the identity and employment authorization of all newly hired employees. For information about the E-Verify program, please visit:  http://www.uscis.gov/e-verify/employees

Disclaimer:

This job description is intended to generally describe the nature and level of work to be performed by team members in this position. It is not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and skills required of team members performing this role.