SlipstreamJobs tracks this role from the company's public career site. Apply directly on the employer's site.
Bright Machines is seeking an Automation Reliability & Performance Manager to lead equipment reliability and performance at its CVG production facility in Florence, Kentucky. This is a 24/7 operation where you will serve as the single point of accountability for robotic assembly equipment availability and performance.
You will lead a team of Automation Engineers across multiple shifts, managing scheduling, on-call rotations, and response-time commitments. You report to the Site Operations Director and work cross-functionally with Automation/Controls, Software, Systems Engineering, Mechanical Design, Quality, and equipment vendors.
Core responsibilities include:
**Drive Automation Performance:** Own the integrity of equipment stop data by establishing standardized failure codes and consistent stop definitions. Collect structured feedback from floor engineers on every shift through handovers and weekly reviews. Analyze losses using Pareto methods to separate chronic from sporadic failures and identify bad-actor machines and failure modes. Maintain a ranked top-loss list and drive improvements across functions with data-backed countermeasures. Close the loop by feeding recurring failure modes back into Bright Machines' equipment and software roadmap. Verify all results with before/after data.
**Report and Escalate:** Hold full accountability for technical availability across all equipment. Represent performance at daily standups and gemba walks with data, root cause, and corrective action. Report weekly on technical availability, MTBF, MTTR, top-loss closure rate, PM completion, open work orders, parts availability, and data capture completeness. Surface developing trends before they cause line stops.
**Lead the Team:** Manage Automation Engineers supporting 24/7 coverage. Own scheduling and on-call rotation. Coach engineers on troubleshooting methodology, root cause analysis, and documentation discipline. Hire, develop, and performance-manage your team to build bench strength. You are the final escalation point and must respond at any hour.
**Maintain Safety:** Own maintenance safety practices for all robotic and automated equipment, including LOTO/energy control, NFPA 70E electrical safety, and safe work inside robot cells (ISO 10218 / ANSI/RIA R15.06). Ensure safety systems are verified during PM and machine acceptance and never bypassed for uptime. Partner with EHS on risk assessments and incident investigations.
**Build Full-Spectrum Maintenance Program:** Establish asset criticality ranking by production and safety impact. Design autonomous maintenance (AM) routines and visual standards for assembly technicians. Establish preventive maintenance (PM) schedules driven by criticality and failure modes (PFMEA/RCM). Lead corrective maintenance (CM) with documented root cause analysis. Implement predictive maintenance (PdM) using equipment data and AI-driven analysis. Own the CMMS, including work orders, asset histories, failure codes, and PM scheduling. Manage wear-parts replacement and equipment calibration (robot TCP, vision systems).
**Lead Technical Acceptance:** Serve as the technical point of contact for final machine acceptance. Ensure acceptance packages are complete before sign-off: spare parts lists, schematics, PLC and robot backups, safety validation, and all licenses. Resolve documentation gaps before production. Translate acceptance documentation into inputs for criticality ranking, PM program, reason codes, and parts inventory.
**Operate the Moonshine Shop:** Own and operate the rapid-build workspace for fixtures, jigs, end-of-arm tooling, material presentation solutions, and custom maintenance aids. Prioritize and sequence build requests. Maintain tooling standards and documentation.
**Requirements:**
- 8+ years of experience in manufacturing operations, equipment reliability, or maintenance engineering
- Proven track record leading technical teams in 24/7 operations
- Deep knowledge of robotic assembly systems, servo systems, pneumatics, vision systems, conveyors, and end-of-arm tooling
- Ability to read and troubleshoot PLC logic and familiarity with industrial robot controllers
- Solid grounding in maintenance safety: LOTO, NFPA 70E, and robot cell safety systems
- Experience leading technical machine acceptance, including schematics, spare parts lists, PLC backups, and license documentation
- Familiarity with data-driven or AI-assisted predictive maintenance; experience turning equipment data into maintenance triggers
- Experience building a full-spectrum maintenance program (AM, PM, CM, and preferably PdM), ideally from scratch
- CMMS experience (SAP PM, Fiix, UpKeep, or equivalent)
- Comfort with data tools (SQL, Power BI, or similar) for loss analysis
- Experience standing up or managing a spare parts storeroom with accountability for availability and cost
- Ability to develop and deliver training to engineers who then coach operators
- Clear written and verbal communication; concise reports and well-framed escalations
- Availability outside standard hours as the final escalation point for a 24/7 operation
**Nice to Have:**
- Experience in contract manufacturing or customer-facing production environments
- Background in electronics assembly, PCB handling, or server/data center hardware manufacturing
- Experience working with an equipment OEM's engineering team or on the OEM side
- Hands-on experience with MES integration or working alongside software and systems engineering teams
- Formal RCM or FMEA facilitation experience
- Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional (CMRP) or similar
- Formal Lean/TPM practitioner experience
