TPM Systems Manager

At Link Snacks, we show up hungry, roll up our sleeves, plaid or otherwise, and dive straight into the hard work. We don’t hide from challenges; we hunt them down. We push harder, move faster, and take the kinds of big swings that built this business in the North Woods of Wisconsin four decades ago.

We’re everyday people who deliver extraordinary results. Innovation, creativity, and urgency aren’t buzzwords, they’re expectations. And just like the real protein snacks we make across our global house of brands—Jack Link’s®, Lorissa’s Kitchen®, Golden Island®, BiFi®, and Peperami® and KOOEE!® to name a few—there’s nothing artificial about us. What you see is exactly what you get: humble, gritty, passionate people who show up every day ready to not just be a participate in the meat snack industry that the Link Family created, but to move faster, innovate harder and keep raising the bar so high, the rest of the world needs a ladder just to see it.

Dominating this space across the world takes a team. A team that runs together, succeeds together, and celebrates together. A team that’s full of relentless energy and spirit that can only be fueled by one thing: a fist full of our delicious meat snacks.

Real Meat Protein. Real People. Real Results. THAT is Link Snacks.

The TPM Manager is responsible for leading the deployment, sustainment, and continuous improvement of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) across the Perry facility. The role serves as the site leader for TPM systems, Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) governance, Autonomous Maintenance, Daily Management Systems, and loss elimination activities.

The TPM Manager works cross-functionally with Operations, Maintenance, Reliability, Engineering, Quality, Warehouse, and Training to improve manufacturing performance, increase equipment reliability, reduce losses, and build a culture of continuous improvement.

This role is a key leadership position responsible for driving Perry's Operational Excellence strategy and supporting the plant's long-term objectives related to Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost, People, and Reliability.

Key Responsibilities

TPM Deployment and Governance

• Lead development and execution of the Perry TPM roadmap.
• Manage implementation of TPM pillars and sustainment activities.
• Facilitate TPM steering committee meetings and pillar reviews.
• Develop annual TPM maturity plans and site assessments.
• Conduct TPM audits and provide feedback to leadership teams.
• Establish TPM standards, processes, and governance systems.
• Drive continuous improvement in TPM pillar performance.

OEE Management

• Own site OEE governance process.
• Lead OEE loss analysis and prioritization.
• Facilitate weekly and monthly OEE reviews.
• Identify and quantify equipment losses.
• Partner with Operations and Reliability teams to eliminate chronic losses.
• Develop and maintain OEE dashboards and visual management systems.
• Ensure OEE improvement initiatives align with site priorities.

Accountable Metrics

• OEE
• Availability
• Performance
• Quality Rate
• Changeover Efficiency
• Schedule Attainment

Autonomous Maintenance

• Develop and sustain Autonomous Maintenance programs.
• Establish operator ownership of equipment conditions.
• Implement cleaning, inspection, lubrication, and tightening standards.
• Ensure completion of Autonomous Maintenance activities.
• Develop centerlining and standard work documentation.
• Partner with Training to build operator capability.

Accountable Metrics

• AM Completion Rate
• CILT Compliance
• Equipment Basic Condition Scores
• Operator Defect Identification

Loss Elimination

• Lead focused improvement activities targeting the largest operational losses.
• Facilitate structured problem-solving activities.
• Drive root cause analysis and corrective actions.
• Develop loss trees and Pareto analysis.
• Support kaizen events and rapid improvement workshops.
• Validate operational improvements and sustainability plans.

Focus Areas

• Equipment reliability losses
• Startup losses
• Packaging downtime
• Changeover losses
• Yield losses
• Labor productivity losses

Data Analytics and Performance Management

Lead and direct site Data Analysts supporting Operational Excellence efforts.

Responsibilities

• Develop KPI dashboards
• Analyze operational losses
• Establish performance reporting systems
• Build predictive performance metrics
• Support data-driven decision making

Key Analytics

• OEE
• Downtime
• Reliability
• Packaging performance
• Labor productivity
• Yield and MUV
• TPM pillar health

Daily Management Systems

• Develop and sustain Daily Management processes.
• Standardize Tier Meeting structure and effectiveness.
• Establish KPI review cadence.
• Ensure accountability through action management systems.
• Support escalation and problem-solving processes.
• Drive visual management implementation across the facility.

Accountable Metrics

• Action Closure Rate
• Tier Meeting Compliance
• KPI Review Compliance
• Problem Solving Effectiveness

Reliability and Maintenance Partnership

Work closely with Maintenance and Reliability leadership to improve asset performance.

Responsibilities

• Support Planned Maintenance pillar execution
• Review PM effectiveness
• Participate in bad actor reviews
• Support reliability improvement initiatives
• Drive loss elimination related to equipment performance

Key areas of focus include:

• PM compliance
• MTBF
• MTTR
• Repeat failures
• Emergency work reduction

Leadership and Culture

• Coach leaders on TPM principles and Operational Excellence tools.
• Develop team member engagement in continuous improvement.
• Drive ownership and accountability across the organization.
• Build cross-functional relationships that support plant performance.
• Promote a culture of fact-based decision making and continuous improvement.

Key Performance Indicators

TPM Metrics

• TPM Audit Score
• Pillar Maturity Score
• Autonomous Maintenance Completion
• TPM Participation Rate

Operational Metrics

• OEE
• Availability
• Performance Rate
• Changeover Time
• Schedule Attainment

Reliability Metrics

• PM Compliance
• MTBF
• MTTR
• Repeat Failures
• Emergency Work %

Continuous Improvement Metrics

• CI Savings
• Productivity Improvements
• Action Closure Rate
• Loss Elimination Achievement

People Metrics

• Training Completion
• Skills Matrix Completion
• Employee Engagement
• TPM Certification Progress

Preferred Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Operations Management, Industrial Technology, Manufacturing, Business, or related field.

Experience

• 5+ years of manufacturing leadership experience.
• 3+ years of TPM, Lean Manufacturing, Continuous Improvement, Reliability, or Operational Excellence experience.
• Experience leading cross-functional improvement initiatives.
• Experience in food manufacturing preferred.
• Experience with automation and packaging systems preferred.

Preferred Certifications

• TPM Certification
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belt or Black Belt
• CMRP (Certified Maintenance & Reliability Professional)
• Certified Reliability Leader (CRL)
• Project Management Certification (preferred)

Critical Competencies

Leadership

• Drives Results
• Ensures Accountability
• Develops Talent
• Builds Effective Teams

Operational Excellence

• TPM Expertise
• Lean Manufacturing
• Root Cause Analysis
• Continuous Improvement

Business Acumen

• Data Analytics
• Financial Acumen
• KPI Management
• Strategic Thinking

Collaboration

• Communicates Effectively
• Influences Without Authority
• Cross-Functional Partnership
• Change Management

Success in the First 12 Months

The TPM Manager will be expected to:

• Establish TPM governance across the facility.
• Implement a site TPM roadmap.
• Improve OEE performance.
• Increase Autonomous Maintenance participation.
• Strengthen Daily Management Systems.
• Improve PM effectiveness through partnership with Reliability.
• Develop TPM capability within Operations and Maintenance.
• Deliver measurable improvements in productivity, reliability, and loss elimination.

The starting rate for this role is $140,000 to $155,000. Actual salaries will vary based on several factors, including but not limited to external market data, internal equity, location, and candidate skill set and experience. Base pay is just one component of Jack Link’s Total Rewards package for Team Members. Other rewards may include annual incentive and program-specific awards. Jack Link’s provides a variety of benefits to eligible Team Members, including medical, dental and vision benefits, life and disability insurance, 401k participation, paid holidays, and paid time off.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to be successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job the employee is regularly required to stand, walk, use hands to finger, handle, or feel, lift and/or move up to 25 pounds, and talk or hear.  The employee is occasionally required to sit, and reach with hands and arms.  The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.  Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:
The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. The work environment is a plant / office setting with varying degrees of temperatures and noise levels. Exposure to manufacturing equipment movement and wet / slippery floors. 

Equal Employment Opportunity Employer
Jack Link's is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

E-Verify
Jack Link's provides the Social Security Administration (SSA) and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), with information from each new Team Member’s Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. IMPORTANT: If the Government cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, we are required to provide you written instructions and an opportunity to contact SSA and/or DHS before taking adverse action against you, including terminating your employment. We do not use E-Verify to pre-screen job applicants or to re-verify current employees and may not limit or influence the choice of documents presented for use on the Form I-9. In order to determine whether Form I-9 documentation is valid, we use E-Verify’s photo screening tool to match the photograph appearing on some permanent resident and employment authorization cards with the official U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) photograph. If you believe that Jack Link’s has violated our responsibilities under this program or has discriminated against you during the verification process based upon your national origin or citizenship status, please call the Office of Special Counsel at 1-800-255-7688 (TDD: 1-800-237-2515).

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.