The Opportunity
Reporting to the Planning Manager, the Planner is the “quarterback” of the Maintenance department and plays a key role in managing Work Management, Asset Lifecycle Management, and Asset Reliability activities at the plant.
The Planner is responsible for developing comprehensive maintenance plans in alignment with the Asset Reliability Strategy, as well as managing, optimizing, coordinating, and scheduling required resources to execute the plans with minimal disruption to production.
This position is responsible for improving work force productivity and work quality by anticipating and eliminating potential delays through balancing the availability of internal labour, external contractors, parts & material, and equipment.
This position will drive proactive and effective maintenance planning and scheduling that is critical for a well-functioning organization and improved production.
This role has a high degree of visibility, where focus and attention are on avoiding unnecessary production delays while optimizing trades wrench-time is key for success. This role requires frequent interactions, negotiation, and direct engagement with Maintenance Managers, Plant Managers/Site Leads, Operations, Production and management in cross-functional groups, such as food and health safety, as well as external contractors and OEMs to advance the relationship and needs of all departments regarding planning and avoid unnecessary downtime.
The position requires strong communication, technical, organization, project management, and problem-solving skills for precise planning, management and analyses of the competing priorities of each department. Decision making, negotiation and stakeholder management skills will have significant impact on prioritizing work that is critical for optimizing trade’s utilization to increase productivity, maximizing asset lifecycle, and reduce equipment downtime towards the Maple Leaf Foods M/E Downtime BOLD GOAL.
Any MLF team member interested in being considered for this role are encouraged to apply online by September 14. Applications received beyond that date are not guaranteed consideration.
Reason for vacancy: Existing Headcount
Compensation: $71,000 - $103,000 CAD base pay annually plus annual short-term incentive
The above compensation reflects the target compensation for the position at the time of posting. The base salary offered may vary based on a variety of factors including skills, experience, education, training, job- related knowledge, and other organizational requirements. For part-time roles, salaries are adjusted according to scheduled hours. In addition to base salary, this role is eligible to participate in Maple Leaf’s annual short-term incentive plan.
Snapshot Of a Day-in-the-Life
- Develop comprehensive, and thorough maintenance job plans for routine or repetitive preventive, condition based, and predictive maintenance activities that facilitate the safe and effective execution of work
- Review, optimize, and update 5% of the PM routes registered in SAP every quarter
- Manage asset bill of material (BOM) supporting job plans, review and update 5% of the BOMs registered in SAP every quarter
- Create a scheduling horizon for short, mid and long-term activities including annual overhauls and new equipment installations; Develop extended maintenance schedules that facilitate the 3-year Plan
- Review, risk assess, and rout non-emergency work orders for approval at the correct organizational level against defined acceptance criteria based on the business risk
- Determine and recommend the scope and maintenance strategy (repair/overhaul/replace) of key maintenance work; document work plan, and manage required resources to full execution of the of preventive or corrective work
- Manage assets history, technical manuals, OEM support contracts and other technical files for inclusion in job plans to anticipate and avoid delays
- Develop condition-based monitoring routes, load levels, and seed dates
- Plan and schedule work using Visual Scheduling tool, PowerBI, and SAP using in depth analytics and advanced techniques.
- Track and analyze Maintenance KPIs; improve the lagging KPIs using insights from SAP and PowerBI
- Visit the floor with the goal of increasing team productivity by removing all obstacles to executing the work safely, correctly and with minimum downtime and effort. Adopt the concept of eyes on the job and eyes on the parts
- Optimize maintenance labour availability vs. workload to minimize production disruptions
- Prioritize maintenance work using criticality analysis; schedule work through proactive communications with Maintenance & Production to ensure the highest value and/or most critical work is being scheduled and completed in a timely manner
- Lead maintenance planning/scheduling meetings where maintenance interventions are synchronized with Production
- Develop schedule loading with the understanding of resource availability, operational requirements and a knowledge of time, cost and quality estimating
- Lead PM Optimization activities, Root Cause Failure Analysis, PM/overhaul postmortems, and work order quality reviews
- Understand the risks and timing variances that may occur and adjust as necessary to ensure schedule and cost compliance, this includes early start and late finish dates as well as asset criticality
- Review and regularly update all maintenance backlogs
- Provide technical assistance as required for maintenance personnel in executing the work
- Strongly collaborate with the stores and the MRO staff to ensure the availability of parts / materials to execute work
- Monitor parts/materials from point of order until staging
- Seek approval to expedite parts for late jobs
What You’ll Bring
- Minimum 5 year of experience
- Minimum college diploma; university degree in is preferred; Journeyperson’s ticket is a significant asset
- Project Management Professional and/or related technical diploma preferred
- Must be highly competent and thrive on using and championing advanced technology such as Asset Reliability Mobility, Visual Scheduler, PowerBI, and Intelligent Enterprise Asset Management systems.
- Extensive experience in applying proven Maintenance best practices in industrial environment (5 years)
- Experience with implementing and in-depth knowledge of maintenance and reliability concepts
- Experience in client facing or site support roles including technical consulting
- High degree of competency in performing in-depth analytics, drawing insights, and continuous improvement
- Experience in manufacturing or industrial environment
- Highly skilled with Computerized Maintenance Management Systems is a must-have skill (CMMS); SAP is preferred
- Experience with technology, reporting, analytical platforms
- Advanced software skills in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Visio
- Self-starter, high energy, customer oriented, with superb communication/interpersonal skills
- Continuous improvement mindset, critical thinker, challenging the status quo
- Highly results oriented, extremely organized, and capable of working independently while managing multiple priorities
- Must be highly adaptable to constant change and comfortable in a very fast-paced environment
- Knowledge of GMPs, food safety development and health & safety requirements.
- Knowledge of contract development and execution
- Proven capability to provide technical leadership to business and operations.
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills at all levels
What We Offer At Maple Leaf Foods
- Being part of a high-performance, people-focused company that has an inspiring and unique vision to become the most sustainable protein company on earth, and a deep commitment to sustainable protein across North America.
- An inclusive company culture and a work environment that keeps our people safe, rewards excellence, and empowers everyone to learn and contribute their best.
- Competitive Health and Wellness benefits that offer flexibility to meet your individual or family needs, including programs focused on improving mental health and wellbeing. These benefits start on your first day of employment.
- Defined Contribution Pension Plan with company matching that starts on your first day of employment.
- Learning and development opportunities, including workshops, ‘speaker series’ events, and resources that allow you to develop your skills and progress your career.
- Comprehensive tuition reimbursement program that supports continuous learning and development of our team members through investment in eligible degrees, diplomas, professional certification, or trades programs.
- Supporting our deep commitment to community impact, we offer up to two paid days annually to volunteer at a cause of your choice.
About Us
We’re a carbon neutral food company on a purposeful journey to Raise the Good in Food through better nutrition, safer food and workplaces, more humane animal care, and environmental sustainability efforts that protect our planet. We care about our communities and commit to reducing food insecurity in Canada. Join us on the journey. Let’s build a better future, together.
We’re passionate about food. For more than 100 years, we’ve made delicious, healthy protein that Canadians love under iconic national and regional brands, like Maple Leaf®, Schneiders®, and Greenfield Natural Meat Co.® We’re on a journey to become the most sustainable protein company – not just in Canada – but on earth.
- We are carbon neutral.
- We are one of the only food companies in Canada to set science-based targets.
We’re a global food company with approximately 10,000 team members. We operate sites in 20+ locations across Canada. We also have locations in the U.S. and Mexico, and do business in Asia.
A diverse and inclusive work environment
Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision and living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values. We believe in building, investing in, recognizing, and rewarding remarkable people who value an inclusive workplace, embrace all forms of diversity, and commit to including every voice in our collaborative environment. We’re so much stronger when we know we’re accepted and valued for who we are and what we each bring to the workplace.
We embrace a strong, values-based culture
Our eight Leadership Values are our north star. They guide the decisions we make for all our stakeholders: our consumers, our customers, our people, our communities, our shareholders, and the environment.
- Doing What’s Right
- Shared Value
- High Performance
- Diverse and Inclusive Teams
- Disciplined Decision Making
- Our Accountability
- Intense Curiosity
- Transparency and Humility
We thank all applicants for their interest in exploring employment opportunities with Maple Leaf Foods; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Applicants may be subject to a background check and must meet the security criteria designated for the position.
Championing diversity and inclusion is a critical component to advancing our collective purpose and vision, living the Maple Leaf Leadership Values, and delivering winning results. Accommodation is available upon request for applicants with disabilities in the recruitment and assessment process and when hired; please contact our Talent Attraction Team at
Disclaimer: Please note that salaries posted on sites other than the MLF Careers Page are not a reflection of Maple Leaf Foods and are an estimated salary range provided by that particular job board. Maple Leaf Foods offers competitive wages and an attractive total rewards package, which will be discussed during an interview with our Talent Team.
