Maintenance Project Engineer

Company Description

Ulbrich was established in 1924 and is family-owned and privately held. An international corporation with subsidiaries located in the US, Mexico, Germany, and Austria. Ulbrich employs over 700 people worldwide.

At Ulbrich, we are Improving Lives with More Than Metal. We work hard for each other, our families, and the communities we live in. The respect and integrity of Ulbrich team members, dedication to their professions, collaborative participation in lean, and ensuring that safety comes first, has created a culture that has a positive impact on the lives of many. We connect with the world through our responsibility to produce critical products that benefit mankind.

The Ulbrich culture is guided by a set of shared values we call Our Core Tenets. The tenets we live by each day are Continuous Improvement, Quality Commitment, Family Values, Total Company Involvement, and Customer Responsiveness. Through practicing these shared values, we drive profitable growth and success.

Come join the Ulbrich team and become part of a greater purpose and a promising future!

Job Description

Responsibilities

Equipment Reliability & PM Optimization

• Review and optimize PM procedures.
• Analyze repetitive failures and engineer permanent solutions.
• Evaluate bearings, seals, housings, lubrication, alignment, and wear patterns.
• Monitor motors/drives, including insulation trends, commutator/brush inspection for DC motors, encoder health, SCR stack conditions.

Capital & Upgrade Projects

• Scope, quote, design, and manage upgrades:
  • Drive modernization (AC drives replacing DC, rectifier upgrades, SCR improvements).
  • Mill rebuilds, roll changes, precision alignments.
  • Hydraulics upgrades (AGC, bending cylinders, tensioning).
  • Instrumentation replacements (encoders, tachometers, tension cells, thickness gauges).
  • Expansion projects.
• Manage fabrication, installation, commissioning, vendor coordination, and documentation.

Maintenance Outage Coordination

• Plan, sequence, and coordinate mill outages.
• Create work packs, job safety analyses, checklists, and acceptance criteria.
• Manage contractors and ensure work meets standards.

Problem Solving & Breakdowns

• Respond to unplanned downtime:
  • Troubleshoot drives, transformers, encoders, PLC faults, mechanical jams, overloads, bearing failures, misalignment, and hydraulic issues.
• Determine root cause and prevent recurrence.

Documentation & Compliance

• Keep updated drawings, torque specs, electrical schematics, PM instructions.
• Ensure compliance with company, OSHA, and industry standards.
• Maintain spare parts strategies and bill of materials for critical assets.

Vendor & Contractor Management

• Source parts, get quotes, coordinate repairs.
• Work with OEMs (for example, Ungerer, Sendzimer, ABB, Siemens, Hitachi, Morgan, etc.).
• Evaluate vendor proposals and ensure technical accuracy.

Cost Control

• Track project budgets, downtime costs, maintenance expenses.
• Build cost-benefit analyses for upgrades (e.g., replacing motors, transformers, drives).

Training & Knowledge Transfer

• Train technicians on new systems.
• Maintain “tribal knowledge” documentation.
• Improve team competency in alignment, balancing, lubrication, safety, troubleshooting.

Qualifications

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Electromechanical, Manufacturing, or other relevant engineering discipline strongly preferred. Associate's Degree in Electrical or Mechanical Engineering, or related discipline with relevant experience considered as well.

Strong Technical Foundation

• Solid understanding of mechanical, electrical, and controls systems.
• Ability to read/interpret P&IDs, mechanical drawings, schematics, PLC I/O tags, power distribution diagrams, etc.
• Familiar with industrial equipment: motors (AC/DC), drives (for example, Micromaster, Siemens, ABB, Rockwell), gearboxes, pumps, compressors, mechanical drives, bearings, housings, hydraulics.

Troubleshooting Mindset

• Skilled at diagnosing failures: mechanical, electrical, instrumentation, or process-related.
• Able to perform root cause analysis (RCA) using methodologies such as 5-Why, fishbone, FMEA.
• Comfortable jumping into a mill or line under pressure and methodically isolating issues.

Project Management Discipline

• Knows how to manage capital projects, maintenance outages, rebuilds, upgrades, and equipment installations.
• Understands planning tools (ex. Gantt, MS Project, Excel, Monday, etc.), budgeting, vendor coordination, timelines, and risk mitigation.

Communication & Leadership

• Writes clear work instructions, PMs, engineering reports, and capital request justifications.
• Works well with maintenance techs, operators, management, and vendors.
• Can walk into a breakdown, take lead, direct resources, document findings.

Continuous Improvement Approach

• Identifies chronic issues and develops long-term fixes.
• Implements reliability tools—vibration analysis, oil sampling, thermography, ultrasonic leak detection.
• Comfortable applying ISO/TS/IATF standards where needed.

Safety-Driven

• Knows lockout/tagout (LOTO), arc flash boundaries, confined space, crane/rigging practices.
• Ensures engineered solutions eliminate hazards rather than shift them.

Ownership Mentality

• Treats equipment as “their asset.”
• Knows uptime, MTBF, maintenance costs, downtime drivers, and takes responsibility.

Optional, But Highly Valuable Preferred Skills

• PLC knowledge (Siemens S7/TIA, AB ControlLogix).
• Drive parameterization conventions (Siemens Micromaster/Phoenix, ABB DCS800, Eurotherm, Sprint).
• CAD or other similar experience (ex. AutoCAD, SolidWorks, etc.).
• Experience with rolling mills, annealing lines, slitting lines, tension leveling, straightening, coiling systems.

PLEASE NOTE, NO SPONSORSHIP OR VISA SUPPORT IS AVAILABLE FOR THIS POSITION.

Additional Information

Ulbrich offers competitive wages, benefits and a friendly, safety focused work environment. Rewarding career opportunities in a world-class business environment where employees are committed to lean thinking and continuous improvement. At Ulbrich, We Deliver Precision® thanks to our highly-skilled and dedicated workforce.

This position offers competitive salary and benefits and the opportunity to expand your skills within a company that offers both a diverse workforce and a welcoming company culture. Pay range for this role is $85,000 to $100,000 annually, dependent on relevant education/experience.

Ulbrich is an Equal Opportunity Employer

M/F/Veterans/Disabled

As part of our commitment to maintaining the highest standards of integrity and compliance, we require all applicants to disclose whether they are subject to any non-compete, confidentiality, non-disparagement, or similar agreements with current or former employers that may still be in effect. This disclosure is essential to ensure that your employment with us will not conflict with any existing contractual obligations, and that you are able to perform your duties without restriction. By identifying any such agreements at the outset, we can address potential issues proactively and uphold both our legal responsibilities and yours as a prospective employee.