Location
Location: Thorold, ON
Division
Water & Wastewater
Important Notices & Amendments
This position currently falls within our hybrid model, allowing the employee to typically work a minimum of 50% of your time at your regular work location and the other 50% of time at home.
As an employer of choice, Niagara Region offers competitive salaries and benefits, a defined benefit pension plan, a corporate wellness centre, access to the Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP), mentorship and training programs, employee recognition programs, and more. In addition, the Region recognizes the value of having flexible work arrangements to support better work-life balance for our employees. Hybrid work arrangements may vary from one employee to another and may also differ in the number of remote workdays. These opportunities remain subject to the alignment of operational needs, business requirements, and customer service expectations.
Job Description
Job Summary
Salary Pending Review
Reporting to the Associate Director of Maintenance Management Systems, the Manager of Reliability Engineering is a hands-on leadership role accountable for developing, executing, and sustaining reliability strategies, maintenance management processes, and asset data governance across the Public Works department. This position balances strategic leadership with day-to-day technical contribution, directly supporting infrastructure reliability, maintenance optimization, and asset performance objectives. The role ensures safe, reliable, and cost-effective asset performance through disciplined reliability-driven maintenance practices, data-driven decision-making, and risk management.
Education
- Post-secondary degree in engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Reliability, or related discipline) is required, or an equivalent combination of education and extensive practical experience in maintenance and reliability management.
Knowledge
- Minimum 7-10 years of progressive experience in maintenance, reliability engineering, asset management, or industrial operations, including experience in a leadership capacity.
- Advanced knowledge of reliability engineering principles, including RCM, FMEA/FMECA, RCFA, Weibull analysis, bad actor identification, and asset lifecycle management.
- Strong working knowledge of maintenance management tactics implementation and their application, including preventive, predictive, redesign and run-to-failure (RTF).
- In-depth understanding of maintenance planning and scheduling best practices, job plan development, backlog management, and schedule compliance.
- Expert knowledge of CMMS/EAM systems, including asset hierarchies, functional locations, BOMs, task lists, work management processes and reporting, and master data governance principles.
- Strong knowledge of master data governance, data standards, data quality controls, and their impact on maintenance and reliability performance.
- Practical knowledge of capital project execution, including reliability and maintainability in design, commissioning, and asset handover.
- Knowledge of maintenance and reliability KPIs, analytics, and performance dashboards.
- Familiarity with continuous improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, TPM, or similar).
- Working knowledge of health, safety, and regulatory requirements related to maintenance and asset management.
- A demonstrated record of strong leadership and guidance, team advocacy, staff delegation, empowerment, staff development and results orientation.
- Professional designations such as RCM, CRL, CMRP, CRE, MMP, AMP, PMP or equivalent are highly desirable.
Responsibilities
Reliability Engineering & Asset Care Process - Lead and improve reliability engineering and asset care programs to optimize asset performance, reduce risk, and support safe and cost-effective service delivery across the department’s infrastructure assets. (40% of time)
- Lead and sustain the department’s Reliability Program and Asset Care process across the asset base.
- Act as the technical authority for reliability engineering, governing the application of methodologies such as RCM, FMEA/FMECA, Weibull analysis, bad-actor management, and RCFA.
- Lead development, approval, and sustainment of asset strategies, maintenance tactics, and equipment life plans.
- Drive improvements in asset reliability, availability, maintainability, risk exposure, and total lifecycle cost.
- Ensure top loss learnings and corrective actions are implemented, sustained, and reflected in asset care strategies.
- Champion Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and similar strategies to build strong asset management programs in partnership with operations and maintenance.
- Monitor asset care and maintenance performance through defined KPIs and drive corrective actions and improvement initiatives where required.
Planning, Scheduling & Work Order Lifecycle Management - Provide oversight and continuous improvement of maintenance planning, scheduling, and work management processes to enhance maintenance effectiveness and support reliable infrastructure operations. (20% of time)
- Provide functional leadership and oversight for maintenance planning and scheduling processes across the W-WW Division.
- Ensure maintenance job plans include clearly defined scope, labour, materials, and permits.
- Support the development of optimized short and long-range maintenance schedules aligned with demand and asset risk.
- Monitor schedule compliance, backlog performance, and work execution quality and metrics, and implement corrective actions where required.
- Participate in planning and scheduling governance forums to ensure alignment with asset care and reliability objectives.
- Identify opportunities to improve work management processes, standardization, maintenance productivity, and workflow integration.
Reliability Support: Tactical Lifecycle & Maintenance Readiness - Provide reliability engineering and maintenance readiness support to strengthen lifecycle decision-making, improve asset supportability, and support effective integration of reliability practices across the department. (10% of time)
- Provide reliability-focused support by strengthening tactical lifecycle decisions and maintenance readiness outcomes.
- Support tactical lifecycle management by applying RAMS analysis, asset performance data, and reliability engineering to inform condition appraisal, refurbishment, renewal, and life-extension decisions.
- Enable sound investment decisions by distinguishing maintenance-addressable risks from capital intervention triggers using CMMS/EAM condition, failure, and maintenance history.
- Partner with capital planning and project teams to embed maintenance strategy, reliability, and supportability requirements into project planning, design, and execution activities.
- Support maintenance readiness by ensuring maintenance strategies, task lists, spares, and asset data are complete, accurate, and CMMS/EAM-ready prior to commissioning.
- Strengthen cross-functional execution by fostering safe, accountable, and data-driven decision-making across Operations, Engineering, Projects, and Maintenance.
- Provide technical leadership, coaching, and guidance to staff in the application of reliability engineering and asset care practices.
People Leadership - Manage people resource planning for the division or operating unit, determining ideal organizational structures, identifying desirable role and skill mix requirements, and ensuring ongoing work quality and deliverability of results. (20% of time)
- Enable results with the organization’s human capital strategy to foster employee engagement.
- Direct and provide leadership for the activities and coaching of direct reports, providing work direction, setting priorities, assigning tasks/projects, determining methods and procedures to be used, resolving problems, ensuring results are achieved, and managing staff recruitment, performance, and skill development activities.
- Ensure alignment and coordination of activity and quality of output between teams under their direction.
- Ensure focus is service excellence, communication/transparency, innovation, and data integrity and work flow integration.
- Ensure staff has the information and resources to make successful plans and decisions.
- Ensure all people related issues, including recruitment, grievances and labour relations issues, are aligned to HR and Corporate standards and practices.
- Help to break down barriers to employee success, ensuring collaboration and cooperation with other teams within their division and department.
- Ensure Occupational Health & Safety policies, programs and practices are implemented and maintained. This includes workplace inspections, monitoring, accident reporting and investigations, and ensuring any observed hazards or lapses in the functioning of OH&S processes, and other OH&S concerns are responded to promptly.
- Ensure all individuals under supervision have been informed of hazards and instructed on the necessary risk control and emergency response measures.
CMMS & Master Data Governance - Lead governance and continuous improvement of CMMS/EAM systems and master data to support maintenance execution, reliability analysis, and asset management decision-making. (5% of time)
- Lead governance, integrity, and continuous improvement for the CMMS/EAM system as a core asset care process enabler.
- Ensure asset inventories, hierarchies, and master data standards are defined, maintained, and consistently applied.
- Govern CMMS/EAM processes to ensure they support reliability analysis, maintenance execution, and decision-making.
- Lead or sponsor system enhancements, integrations, reporting improvements, and data quality improvement initiatives.
Financial Leadership - Develop, manage, and administerannual and multi-year Capital and Operating budgets for the operating unit, ensuring support of Council’s objectives, financial transparency and accountability, monitoring budget adherence, identifying and explaining variances, and financial reporting is effectively managed in compliance with corporate financial policies. (5% of time)
- Ensure goods and services are acquired in accordance with the procurement policy.
- Authorize and administer the acquisition of goods and services for the operating unit and direct reports in accordance with the procurement policy and procedures.
Perform other related duties and responsibilities as assigned or required.
Special Requirements
- Must maintain the ability to travel in a timely manner to other offices, work locations or sites as authorized by the Corporation for business reasons.
- In accordance with the Corporate Criminal Record Check Policy, the position requires the incumbent to undergo a Criminal Records Check and submit a Canadian Police Clearance Certificate.
- Regional staff strive to enable the strategic priorities of council and the organization through the completion of their work. Staff carry out their work by demonstrating the corporate values.
About Us
Niagara Region serves a diverse urban and rural population of more than 475,000 and is focused on building a strong and prosperous Niagara. Working collaboratively with 12 local area municipalities and community partners, the Region delivers high-quality programs and services that support the well-being of individuals, families and communities. Nestled between Lakes Erie and Ontario, the Niagara peninsula is home to fertile agricultural land, the majesty of Niagara Falls, vibrant modern cities, Canada’s most developed wine industry, and communities rich in history, recreation and culture. With a temperate climate, breathtaking countryside and easy access to neighbouring New York State, Niagara attracts more than 14 million visitors each year, along with new residents and businesses. Niagara Region values diversity in background and experience and is committed to building an inclusive workforce that reflects the community it serves, strengthening programs and services across Niagara. While specific qualifications are important for certain roles, we invite individuals from diverse backgrounds to apply. Our recruiters will evaluate your suitability for the role.
Closing Statement
Uncover the wonder of the Niagara Region and join a team dedicated to meeting tomorrow’s challenges TODAY!
Let us know why you would be an excellent team member by submitting your online application.
We thank all candidates for their interest however, only those candidates selected for an interview will be contacted.
We confirm that we do not use AI in screening of applicants, and this position is an existing vacancy.
If you require an accommodation for the application process in accordance with the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, the alternate formats for contacting us are as follows:
- Email: [email protected]
- Phone: 905-980-6000 or 1-800-263-7215
- Bell Relay: 1-800-855-0511
- In-person: Sir Isaac Brock Way, Thorold, ON L2V 4T7 – Human Resources Department
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Work Location: In person
