Utilities Maintenance Planner

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At Smithfield, our people are our greatest strength, and we are building a culture that places value on encouraging team members at all levels to find opportunities that allow them to build rewarding and long-lasting careers with our company.

If you think this open position is right for you, you are encouraged to apply!

THE VALUE YOU'LL BRING:

This role plays a critical part in supporting the plant's utilities reliability, with a strong emphasis on ammonia refrigeration systems and associated infrastructure. As the Utilities Maintenance Planner, you will be responsible for developing detailed job plans for refrigeration and utilities equipment, ensuring all labor, materials, and safety requirements are clearly defined and available prior to execution.

You will serve as the subject matter expert for utilities maintenance planning within the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), with a focus on refrigeration systems, boilers, compressed air, water systems, and other critical utilities. By maintaining accurate equipment data, building robust job plans, and coordinating closely with maintenance, operations, and storeroom teams, you will help ensure safe, compliant, and reliable plant operation-particularly within regulated systems such as ammonia refrigeration.

This position will also play a key role in supporting Process Safety Management (PSM) compliance by ensuring maintenance work is properly planned, documented, and executed in accordance with regulatory and company standards.

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

The below statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, or skills required. Other duties may be assigned as needed.

Maintenance Planning & Coordination

• Develop, review, and maintain equipment master data for utilities systems, including refrigeration assets, compressors, vessels, piping systems, boilers, and ancillary equipment.
• Build and maintain detailed job plans for preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance on ammonia refrigeration and utilities systems.
• Walk down jobs in the field to verify scope, identify hazards, and confirm materials and labor requirements.
• Estimate labor hours, materials, specialized tools, and contractor support required for each work order.
• Coordinate with vendors and contractors for refrigeration system work, including inspections, repairs, and compliance-related activities.
• Ensure all required permits, procedures, and documentation are in place prior to job execution (e.g., line breaking, confined space, hot work).
• Track material deliveries and coordinate staging/kitting of parts for planned utilities work.
• Maintain a well-organized backlog of utilities maintenance work, prioritized by risk, compliance, and operational impact.
• Support weekly scheduling and outage planning for utilities systems, including coordination of refrigeration shutdowns or system interruptions.
• Review completed work orders to ensure accurate documentation and feedback, especially for compliance-critical work.

CMMS & Data Management

• Serve as the CMMS subject matter expert for utilities and refrigeration systems.
• Maintain accurate and complete asset hierarchies, bills of material (BOMs), and preventive maintenance task lists.
• Ensure refrigeration system PMs align with PSM and regulatory inspection/testing requirements.
• Generate reports on backlog status, PM compliance, equipment reliability, and maintenance trends for utilities systems.
• Support continuous improvement by identifying gaps in PM programs, job plans, and asset data.

Inventory & Procurement Support

• Partner with storeroom and procurement teams to ensure availability of critical refrigeration and utilities spare parts (e.g., valves, seals, sensors, compressors, instrumentation).
• Identify and maintain critical spares for ammonia refrigeration systems and other essential utilities equipment.
• Recommend min/max adjustments based on usage trends, failure history, and risk to operations.

Safety & Compliance (PSM Focus)

• Ensure all job plans incorporate appropriate safety procedures, including lockout/tagout, line breaking, confined space entry, and ammonia safety protocols.
• Support compliance with OSHA PSM requirements and company standards for refrigeration systems.
• Assist with documentation and preparation for audits, inspections, and regulatory reviews related to utilities systems.
• Promote safe work practices and reinforce a strong safety culture within utilities maintenance activities.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Work closely with utilities maintenance teams, reliability, and operations to coordinate planned work and minimize production impact.
• Provide technical planning support for refrigeration and utilities maintenance activities.
• Collaborate with engineering and reliability teams on system improvements, upgrades, and capital projects related to utilities.
• Serve as a key point of coordination between operations, maintenance, and contractors for utilities work execution.

WHAT WE'RE SEEKING:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Industrial Technology, or a related field; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Working knowledge of maintenance principles, mechanical and electrical systems, and CMMS software.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook).
• Strong organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to work effectively with others in a fast-paced production environment.
• Demonstrated ability to be approachable, team-oriented, and maintain a positive work environment.

OTHER SKILLS THAT MAKE YOU STAND OUT:

• Previous experience as a Maintenance Planner or Scheduler.
• Previous experience with Ammonia Refrigeration Systems.
• Strong understanding of preventive and predictive maintenance practices.
• Experience with CMMS software, preferably SAP.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS & WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The plant environment may include wet or humid conditions (non-weather related), extreme cold or heat, working near moving mechanical parts, and exposure to fumes, airborne particles, or chemicals. Noise levels in production areas may be moderate to loud.

• Frequently required to stand, walk, use hands to handle or feel, reach with hands and arms, and talk or hear.
• Occasionally required to stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Frequently lift and/or move up to 25 pounds; occasionally up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, and the ability to adjust focus.

If you are interested in exploring other opportunities, visit the internal Jobs Hub, or click Create Job Alert to receive notifications when new job openings are posted.

EEO Information

Smithfield is an equal opportunity employer committed to workplace diversity. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, age, gender identity, protected veterans status, status as a disabled individual or any other protected group status or non-job characteristic as directed by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment selection process, please call us at 757-357-1595.

Check out this video to learn more about this role!