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 Asset Reliability Planner is responsible for planning, scheduling, coordinating, and improving maintenance and reliability activities across the facility. This role serves as the primary link between Operations, Maintenance, Engineering, and Reliability to ensure maintenance work is properly planned, scheduled, and executed in a safe, efficient, and cost-effective manner.

The Asset Reliability Planner drives proactive maintenance practices by maximizing planned work, improving PM effectiveness, supporting TPM initiatives, and reducing equipment downtime through effective planning and scheduling processes.

The position plays a critical role in supporting Packaging OEE, asset reliability, maintenance productivity, and operational excellence.

Primary Responsibilities

Maintenance Planning & Scheduling

• Develop daily and weekly maintenance schedules.
• Plan and schedule preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance activities.
• Ensure maintenance work orders contain clear instructions, labor estimates, required parts, permits, tools, and technical documentation.
• Create detailed job plans for recurring and critical maintenance activities.
• Coordinate maintenance schedules with production requirements.
• Maintain an executable maintenance backlog.
• Publish and communicate weekly maintenance schedules.

Work Order Management

• Review, prioritize, and manage work requests.
• Ensure work orders are appropriately coded and prioritized.
• Drive closure of completed work orders.
• Verify maintenance history accuracy within CMMS.
• Maintain data integrity within maintenance systems.
• Review completed work orders for comments, findings, and follow-up actions.

Preventive Maintenance (PM) Program

• Manage PM scheduling and compliance.
• Review PM frequencies and effectiveness.
• Eliminate unnecessary PM tasks.
• Identify opportunities to improve asset maintenance strategies.
• Support PM optimization initiatives.
• Coordinate PM execution during planned downtime opportunities.

Accountable For

• PM Compliance
• PM Effectiveness
• PM Optimization
• PM Schedule Attainment

Reliability Support

• Support reliability improvement initiatives.
• Assist with Root Cause Analysis activities.
• Track repeat failures and bad actors.
• Identify recurring equipment issues.
• Develop corrective action plans with maintenance and operations teams.
• Support reliability-centered maintenance activities.

Focus Areas

• Thermoformers
• Packaging Equipment
• Robotics
• Conveyors
• Utilities Systems
• Refrigeration Systems

Maintenance Resource Coordination

• Coordinate labor resources to support maintenance execution.
• Ensure proper staffing of planned work.
• Balance preventive and corrective maintenance activities.
• Coordinate support contractors as required.
• Identify resource constraints and escalate risks.

Parts & Materials Management

• Coordinate with storeroom personnel to ensure parts availability.
• Verify required materials prior to work execution.
• Review critical spare parts inventory.
• Support inventory optimization initiatives.
• Identify obsolete and excess inventory.

Responsibilities

• Critical Spare Parts Management
• Planned Parts Availability
• Inventory Accuracy
• Storeroom Optimization

Shutdown & Outage Planning

• Develop detailed shutdown plans.
• Coordinate outage schedules.
• Manage outage work lists and priorities.
• Coordinate contractors and vendors.
• Track outage execution performance.
• Support startup readiness activities.

TPM & Operational Excellence Support

• Support TPM deployment initiatives.
• Participate in Autonomous Maintenance programs.
• Support Focused Improvement activities.
• Drive maintenance planning best practices.
• Support OEE improvement initiatives.
• Participate in loss elimination projects.

Continuous Improvement

• Identify maintenance process improvement opportunities.
• Develop efficiency improvements within maintenance workflows.
• Analyze maintenance performance metrics.
• Support lean maintenance initiatives.
• Drive standardization of maintenance planning processes.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

Maintenance

• PM Compliance >95%
• Schedule Compliance >90%
• Planned Work >70%
• Emergency Work <10%
• Work Order Closure Compliance

Reliability

• Reduction in Repeat Failures
• MTBF Improvement
• Reduced Maintenance Downtime
• Bad Actor Elimination

Planning

• Weekly Schedule Attainment
• Backlog Health
• Parts Availability
• Work Order Data Accuracy

TPM

• Planned Maintenance Pillar Performance
• TPM Audit Scores
• Autonomous Maintenance Support

Required

• High School Diploma or GED
• 3+ years maintenance, planning, reliability, or manufacturing experience
• Experience with CMMS systems
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills
• Mechanical and electrical maintenance knowledge
• Strong organizational skills
• Strong communication skills

Preferred

• Associate's Degree or Technical Degree
• 5+ years manufacturing maintenance experience
• SAP PM experience
• TPM experience
• Reliability experience
• Planning and scheduling experience
• Lean Manufacturing experience

Knowledge & Skills

Maintenance Systems

• Preventive Maintenance
• Predictive Maintenance
• Work Order Management
• Planning & Scheduling
• Asset Management

Reliability

• Root Cause Analysis
• Failure Analysis
• Reliability Fundamentals
• Equipment Criticality

Software

• SAP PM
• Microsoft Excel
• Power BI (Preferred)
• Microsoft Office Suite

Leadership Expectations

The Asset Reliability Planner will:

• Promote proactive maintenance practices.
• Build strong partnerships with Operations, Engineering, and Maintenance.
• Drive accountability for planning and scheduling excellence.
• Support TPM and Operational Excellence initiatives.
• Focus on safety, reliability, and continuous improvement.

Success Measures

Within the first 12 months, the Asset Reliability Planner should help Perry achieve:

• PM Compliance >95%
• Planned Work >70%
• Emergency Work <10%
• Improved Packaging OEE
• Reduced equipment downtime
• Improved maintenance productivity
• Enhanced TPM maturity
• Improved spare parts readiness
• Reduction in repeat equipment failures

Primary Mission

Ensure the right work is planned correctly, scheduled effectively, and executed safely to maximize asset reliability, improve Packaging OEE, and support world-class maintenance performance.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The starting rate for this role is $81k - $95k (Annual). Actual salaries 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.

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 an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The work environment is a plant / office setting with varying degrees of temperatures and noise levels. Exposure to manufacturing equipment movement and wet / slippery floors. Travel may be required.

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer
Jack Link's is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

E-Verify
Jack Link's provides the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new Team Member’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. IMPORTANT: If the Government cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, we are required to provide you written instructions and an opportunity to contact SSA and/or DHS before taking adverse action against you, including terminating your employment. We do not use E-Verify to pre-screen job applicants or to re-verify current employees and may not limit or influence the choice of documents presented for use on the Form I-9. In order to determine whether Form I-9 documentation is valid, we use E-Verify’s photo screening tool to match the photograph appearing on some permanent resident and employment authorization cards with the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) photograph. If you believe that Jack Link’s has violated our responsibilities under this program or has discriminated against you during the verification process based upon your national origin or citizenship status, please call the Office of Special Counsel at 1-800-255-7688 (TDD: 1-800-237-2515).

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.