Associate Director, Maintenance & Reliability

Associate Director, Maintenance & Reliability

Northern Germany, approx. 1 hour from Bremen

This is a rural location . Ideal if you prefer that lifestyle.

If you’re more city-based, a weekly commute is likely more realistic than daily travel .

A leading global manufacturer within the regulated manufacturing sector is looking to appoint a Associate Director, Maintenance & Reliability to lead and develop a critical engineering function at one of its key European production sites.

This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for an experienced maintenance and reliability professional who wants to move beyond day-to-day operations and play a strategic role in shaping the future of a manufacturing organisation.

You’ll inherit responsibility for maintenance, reliability, planning, scheduling, and spare parts strategy across a complex production environment, while also helping drive culture change, team development, and long-term operational improvement initiatives.

The business is investing heavily in strengthening the site’s engineering capability, making this a genuinely exciting opportunity to build, influence, and create lasting impact.

The Opportunity

You will:

• Lead and develop a multidisciplinary maintenance and reliability team
• Drive preventative, predictive, and corrective maintenance strategies
• Improve asset reliability, equipment performance, and long-term maintenance planning
• Implement reliability improvement initiatives including RCA and FMEA methodologies
• Own maintenance planning, scheduling, and spare parts strategies through SAP PM / CMMS systems
• Partner closely with Production, Quality, HSE, and Engineering leadership teams
• Play a key role in strategic engineering decisions and succession planning at site leadership level

This role offers significant visibility, autonomy, and long-term progression potential within a large international organisation.

What We’re Looking For

We’re interested in speaking with individuals who bring:

• Strong maintenance and reliability leadership experience within a manufacturing environment
• Experience operating in regulated industries such as pharmaceutical, biotech, food, chemical, or similar sectors
• Strong knowledge of SAP PM or equivalent CMMS platforms
• Experience driving reliability, asset performance, and continuous improvement initiatives
• Proven people leadership capability, including team development and culture building
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Fluent German and English communication skills

Why This Opportunity Stands Out

• Newly created leadership position with genuine influence
• Opportunity to shape team structure, culture, and strategy
• Strong long-term career progression potential
• Highly collaborative international environment
• Attractive location close to the coast
• Excellent compensation and benefits package

If you’d be interested in discussing the opportunity confidentially, please get in touch directly.