Maintenance Team Leader

Job Description :

About us

With over 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, we’re the world’s leading premium drinks company. From global icons like Johznnie Walker, Guinness and Tanqueray to Smirnoff and Don Julio, we create brands consumers love. Bring your passion and use your curiosity as you explore, collaborate and innovate. Together with passionate people from all over the world, you’ll test new ideas, learn and grow, and unlock a brighter, more exciting future.

Join us to create a career worth celebrating.

About the Function:

Supply Chain & Manufacturing is where our brands are made, moved and delivered to the world.

With over half of our people working across more than 100 sites, this is a complex, large-scale operation that brings together production, logistics, engineering and supplier partnerships.

It’s fast-paced and hands-on, with teams working together to ensure quality, efficiency and sustainability at every stage. From sourcing ingredients to getting products into customers’ hands, you’ll play a role in delivering the brands people know and love.

Maintenance Team Lead

Department: Maintenance / Asset Care Reports To: Asset Care Manager Position Type: Full-Time, Salaried Schedule: 12-hour shift schedule, night shift: 6pm – 6am, weekends, and holidays

About the role:

The Maintenance Team Lead provides hands-on technical leadership and coordinates maintenance activities during the assigned shift. This position serves as the primary technical resource for the maintenance team and supports safe, reliable, and efficient operation of production equipment.

The Maintenance Team Lead is a working leadership position and is expected to actively participate in troubleshooting, repairs, preventive maintenance, and equipment improvement while providing technical direction and support to maintenance employees.

The role serves as a key link between Maintenance, Production, Controls/Automation, Engineering, Planning, and other support functions during the shift.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide day-to-day technical leadership and direction to maintenance employees assigned to the shift.

• Coordinate and prioritize maintenance activities based on safety, production impact, equipment criticality, and the maintenance plan.

• Lead maintenance response and troubleshooting during equipment breakdowns.

• Actively participate in mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, hydraulic, and controls-related troubleshooting and repairs.

• Ensure equipment is repaired safely and returned to Production in a reliable operating condition.

• Support execution of preventive maintenance (PM), corrective work orders, inspections, and planned maintenance activities.

• Ensure maintenance work is properly documented in SAP, including work performed, findings, parts used, and required follow-up.

• Ensure effective communication and handoff between maintenance shifts.

• Escalate significant equipment failures, safety concerns, resource needs, and recurring technical problems to the Asset Care Manager.

• Identify recurring equipment failures and participate in Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and corrective actions.

• Support improvements to equipment reliability, PM programs, maintenance procedures, and spare-parts strategy.

• Provide hands-on coaching, technical guidance, and knowledge sharing to maintenance employees.

• Support employee skill assessments, training, and cross-training activities.

• Coordinate effectively with Production, Controls/Automation, Engineering, Planning, Storeroom, contractors, and other support functions.

• Promote and enforce compliance with site safety procedures, LOTO, GMP requirements, and established maintenance standards.

Technical Skills

The Maintenance Team Lead should demonstrate strong industrial maintenance and troubleshooting capabilities, including:

• Strong mechanical and electrical troubleshooting skills.

• Working knowledge of motors, sensors, VFDs, servo systems, pneumatics, hydraulics, conveyors, and automated production equipment.

• Ability to read electrical schematics, mechanical drawings, and equipment documentation.

• Basic PLC troubleshooting skills, including the ability to connect to a PLC, navigate the program, and trace logic to identify equipment faults and conditions preventing machine operation.

• PLC programming or program modifications are not required for this position.

• Ability to use PLC and HMI information to support troubleshooting and identify mechanical, electrical, controls, or process-related issues.

• Basic understanding of machine safety circuits and safety devices for troubleshooting purposes.

• Ability to work effectively with Controls/Automation personnel on advanced controls-related issues.

• Experience with CMMS systems; SAP PM experience preferred.

Leadership Expectations

The Maintenance Team Lead is expected to:

• Lead by example in safety and quality, accountability, and quality of work.

• Maintain a strong presence on the production floor and remain actively involved in maintenance activities.

• Provide clear technical direction and establish priorities during maintenance activities and breakdowns.

• Promote teamwork, communication, and knowledge sharing across shifts.

• Make sound technical decisions and communicate effectively during high-pressure situations.

• Hold the team accountable for following established maintenance processes and standards.

• Escalate employee performance, attendance, conduct, and disciplinary concerns to the Maintenance Supervisor.

• Support a culture focused on safety, equipment reliability, continuous improvement, and employee development.

Experience / skills required:

• High school diploma or GED required; technical degree or certification preferred.

• Strong industrial maintenance experience in a manufacturing environment.

• Demonstrated mechanical and electrical troubleshooting experience.

• Basic PLC and industrial controls troubleshooting experience.

• Experience with automated manufacturing or packaging equipment.

• Strong problem-solving, communication, organization, and leadership skills.

• Ability to coordinate multiple maintenance priorities in a fast-paced manufacturing environment.

• Previous Team Lead, Lead Mechanic, Senior Maintenance Technician, or similar leadership experience preferred.

• Experience in high-speed manufacturing, packaging, bottling, food, or beverage manufacturing preferred.

• Allen-Bradley / Rockwell Automation and Studio 5000 experience preferred.

• SAP PM experience preferred.

Work Schedule

This is a salaried position working a 12-hour shift schedule, night shift 6pm – 6am.

The position requires availability for scheduled weekends and holidays based on the assigned shift rotation. Additional hours may be required to support significant equipment breakdowns, shutdowns, startups, or other critical maintenance activities.

Additional hours worked outside the normal schedule are not eligible for overtime pay.

Regular and reliable attendance is an essential requirement of this position.

Role Authority

The Maintenance Team Lead provides technical leadership and operational coordination of maintenance activities during the assigned shift, including prioritizing maintenance response, coordinating resources, providing work direction, and ensuring effective execution of maintenance activities.

The Maintenance Team Lead is responsible for overall shift accountability and employee management, including performance management and disciplinary actions. The Team Lead also provides hands-on technical support when needed, particularly during complex troubleshooting and critical equipment breakdowns.

The role will operate in accordance with the applicable Collective Bargaining Agreement and established site practices.

Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you, so that you’re supported to manage your wellbeing and balance your priorities from day one.

We recognise and value performance, offering our people a highly competitive Rewards and Benefits package including:

Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this.

We embrace diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you’ll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You’ll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, mindsets, and more.

Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to new heights and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you.

If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you capture this information when you submit your application.

Recruitment Scam Warning

Protecting candidates is very important to us. All communications regarding your application will come from an email address ending in @diageo.com. In our recruitment process, we'll never ask for money.

Worker Type :

Regular

Primary Location:

Plainfield Plant

Additional Locations :

Job Posting Start Date :

2026-08-25

PLAINFIELD, ILLINOIS: SALARY RANGE IS FROM $81,113 TO $135,188 (ANNUAL)

At Diageo certain roles are eligible for additional rewards, including annual incentive payment and stock awards. US-based employees are eligible for healthcare benefits, retirement benefits , short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, wellness benefits and industry leading parental leave, among others. (Benefits/perks listed may vary depending on the nature of your employment with Diageo and the country where you work.) The salary range displayed is the salary range for the role’s primary location.