The posting
Ashland Specialty Ingredients, GP
Daily Maintenance Leader
Are you the kind of person that is always thinking, sketching, seeking, and adjusting? Who needs to understand how things work and then figure out how they can work better? Are you a passionate, tenacious, solver who loves to work with others who share your drive? Are you positive, constructive, and ingenious?
Are you always solving?
Then we’d like to meet you and bet you’d like to meet us.
Ashland has an exciting opportunity for a Daily Maintenance Leader to join our Ashland LLC, Specialty ingredients business at our Hopewell, VA site. This is a very visible, significant role within the Company and the Maintenance function. This position will report to Maintenance Manager.
The responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Leader - Culture change/developerModel and exemplify excellent leadership behaviors Lead/Facilitate/Develop Tier 1 meetings - report out at Tier 2 mtgs Provide coaching, create a high accountability culture Ensure adherence to stewardship and quality rules Provide operational feedback regarding policies/rules that don't appropriately fit operational capabilities Facilitate an effective union/company relationship Conduct 1:1 with employees
- Daily Maintenance Workflow LeaderOwn the site daily maintenance work flow process (Identify the need, approval, prioritization, scoping, planning, scheduling, execution, close out, and learning Establish decision rights, standard work, meeting cadence, escalation pathways, and performance expectations across maintenance disciplines Align daily maintenance execution with plant safety, compliance, quality, production, and cost priorities (in that order) Ensure supervisors, planners, schedulers, engineers, crafts, contractors, and Operations work through one disciplined process
- Safety, Compliance & Field Leadership OwnerSet and reinforce expectations for safe work planning, permitting, LOTO, line breaking, confined space, hot work, lifting, and other high-hazard activities Maintain visible field leadership through job-site engagement, verification of controls, and removal of barriers to safe execution Ensure maintenance work complies with site procedures, mechanical integrity requirements, environmental obligations, and quality standards Lead response to significant safety concerns, events, and changing field conditions
- Work Prioritization & Schedule Governance LeaderLead cross-functional prioritization of maintenance work through partnerships with Operations (engineering and operators), Reliability (engineering and SMEs), and Maintenance (engineering and technicians). Approve the daily and weekly maintenance schedule and protect schedule stability from avoidable break-ins Establish escalation and authorization requirements for emergency work, priority changes, and resource conflicts Ensure deferred work has documented risk, ownership, interim controls, and a planned path to completion
- Execution Performance & Resource LeaderDirect maintenance supervisors and functional leads in safe, efficient execution of the schedule and work priorities Balance internal crafts, contractors, tools, equipment, and specialist support across plant priorities Review execution progress, emergent constraints, labor loading, backlog exposure, and recovery actions Remove cross-functional barriers and escalate decisions as required to maintain team collaboration and engagement
- Planning, Scheduling & Backlog Health OwnerSet standards for job-plan quality, materials readiness, permits, procedures, drawings, isolation needs, contractor support, and acceptance criteria Govern backlog segmentation, aging, risk ranking, planning status, and readiness for scheduling Coach planning and scheduling functions on work-package quality, resource leveling, and schedule constructability Ensure the weekly schedule is based on ready work, realistic capacity, and operating access
- Reliability & Defect Elimination Strategy ImplementorIntegrate daily maintenance decisions with asset strategies, bad-actor priorities, preventive maintenance, predictive findings, and reliability improvement plans Sponsor root-cause analysis and defect-elimination actions for significant or repetitive failures Challenge recurring repairs, temporary fixes, and maintenance practices that do not address verified failure causes Partner with Reliability, Engineering, and Operations to convert failure learning into sustainable equipment and process improvements
- Maintenance Quality & Work Management Assurance LeaderEstablish expectations for precision maintenance, repair specifications, technical tolerances, inspection points, testing, documentation, and equipment turnover Review significant rework, post-maintenance failures, incomplete work orders, and quality escapes Ensure work orders capture failure information, labor, materials, findings, and follow-up requirements Hold leaders and service providers accountable for technical quality and complete closeout
- Performance, Cost & Contractor Governance OwnerMaintain a decision-focused maintenance scorecard covering safety, schedule compliance, planned-work percentage, reactive work, backlog, PM/PdM completion, rework, overtime, contractor use, and cost Analyze performance gaps and assign corrective actions with owners and due dates Govern contractor strategy, service quality, productivity, safety performance, and commercial compliance Manage maintenance spending and forecasts while protecting safety, compliance, reliability, and production requirements
- Actively contribute to the organizational goals by taking initiative, executing on goals and focusing on performance and safety
- Improve the organization capacity and capabilities through building collaborative relationships, optimizing diverse talent and utilizing positive communications and influence with others
In order to be qualified for this role, you must possess the following:
- 5-10 years in manufacturing supporting Maintenance/Operations
- Demonstrated experience leading maintenance teams in a union environment
- HS Diploma or equivalent
- Experience with maintenance planning, scheduling, and reliability programs in a chemical manufacturing environment
- Demonstrated responsible and ethical behavior at all times
The following skill sets are preferred by the business unit:
- Maximo CMMS experience
Perks of working at Ashland:
- Comprehensive Benefit package, Medical, Dental and Vision starting on Day 1 for you AND your family
- 401(k) plan with company match
*Third party recruiters and agencies (“Agency”) should not contact employees of Ashland or its subsidiaries directly. Any resumes sent by an Agency to a hiring manager, recruiter or submitted to Ashland’s career portal are considered unsolicited and property of Ashland. Ashland will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume, unless the Agency has a signed contract with Ashland’s Human Resources/Procurement department in advance of submitting a candidate for consideration. Verbal and written approvals will not be considered a valid contract for service.
In more than 100 countries, the people of Ashland LLC. (NYSE: ASH) provide the specialty chemicals, technologies and insights to help customers create new and improved products for today and sustainable solutions for tomorrow. Our chemistry is at work every day in a wide variety of markets and applications, including architectural coatings, automotive, construction, energy, personal care and pharmaceutical. Visit www.ashland.com to see the innovations we offer.
At Ashland our vision is to be a leading, global specialty chemicals company whose inspired and engaged employees add value to all we touch. In fact our people, employees, customers and vendors define who we are. They are the driving force behind everything we do.
Not only do we value our customers but we value our employees, and we work to offer them a dynamic and challenging environment. We hold ourselves to high standards at Ashland, and we value integrity and honesty.
Ashland has a history of attracting the best people and keeping them. The reasons are simple: industry competitive salary and benefits, pay-for-performance incentive plans and a diverse work environment where employees feel challenged and valued. People come to Ashland and stay. As a growing Fortune 500 specialty chemicals company, we offer opportunities for development and advancement throughout our global organization. Our values define who we are and what we care about as a company. If you are looking for a relationship with a company instead of simply a job, this may be a great fit.
Ashland is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer Minorities/Women/Veterans/Disabled/Gender Identity/Sexual Orientation.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against on the basis of disability. NOTE: We do not accept resumes from external staffing agencies or independent recruiters for any of our openings unless we have a signed recruiting agreement in place to fill a specific position.
