Spare Parts Coordinator / Maintenance Planner & Scheduler
Company Overview
Ancient Crunch Inc. is the fastest-growing healthy snack brand in the U.S. Our flagship product, MASA Chips, is the #1-selling tallow-fried tortilla chip in premium retailers like Erewhon. We manufacture all MASA products in-house at our Hackettstown facility using real ingredients: no seed oils, artificial flavors, or preservatives. All operations adhere to strict Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and food safety standards.
Position Summary
The Spare Parts Coordinator / Maintenance Planner & Scheduler is responsible for planning and scheduling preventive and corrective maintenance work and for managing the lifecycle of machinery spare parts, tools, and maintenance supplies. This role connects Maintenance, Production, and our suppliers: making sure every job is planned, the right parts are on hand before work starts, and equipment downtime is scheduled around production instead of being forced by breakdowns.
The ideal candidate combines strong organizational and planning skills with technical familiarity with production equipment (or a strong desire and willingness to learn) to maximize uptime while controlling maintenance and inventory costs.
The responsibilities listed below are not exhaustive. As Ancient Crunch scales, the requirements of this position will expand and adapt. The Spare Parts Coordinator / Maintenance Planner & Scheduler is expected to lead new initiatives and take on additional duties consistent with this title and the long-term evolution of our maintenance strategy.
Key Responsibilities
Maintenance Planning & Preventive Maintenance
- PM Program Ownership: Build, maintain, and continuously improve preventive maintenance (PM) work orders and task lists in the CMMS for all production, packaging, and facility equipment, including frequencies, procedures, labor estimates, and required parts.
- Job Planning: Prepare complete job packages for planned work (scope, steps, required parts and tools, labor hours, LOTO/safety requirements, and sanitation needs) so technicians can execute without delays.
- Component Life Tracking: Track the service life of critical wear components (e.g., bearings, belts, seals, blades, heating elements, sealing jaws) using runtime hours, cycle counts, and failure history, and plan replacements before they fail.
- Failure History & Improvement: Analyze work order history, recurring breakdowns, and downtime data to adjust PM frequencies, identify problem equipment, and recommend reliability improvements.
Scheduling & Downtime Coordination
- Weekly Maintenance Schedule: Build and publish the weekly maintenance schedule, balancing PMs, corrective work, and projects against technician availability and skill sets.
- Planned Downtime: Coordinate with Production to schedule equipment downtime around the production plan, changeovers, and sanitation windows, minimizing the impact on output.
- Shutdowns & Overhauls: Plan scheduled shutdowns and major overhauls, including scope, timeline, parts kitting, contractor coordination, and post-job review.
- Schedule Compliance: Track scheduled vs. completed work, follow up on missed or deferred PMs, and reschedule as needed so nothing falls through the cracks.
Work Order Backlog & Parts Follow-Up
- Backlog Management: Own the work order backlog in the CMMS and prioritize open work orders by safety, food safety, equipment criticality, and production impact.
- Waiting-for-Parts Work Orders: Keep full visibility of every work order on hold for parts, follow up on POs and delivery dates, and release jobs back to the schedule as soon as parts arrive.
- Parts Kitting: Stage and kit parts for planned jobs ahead of the scheduled date so work starts on time.
- Work Order Close-Out: Ensure work orders are closed with accurate labor, parts used, findings, and failure codes to keep equipment history reliable.
Inventory Management & Critical Availability
- Establish Inventory Controls: Create, monitor, and adjust minimum/maximum stock levels, reorder points, and safety stock thresholds based on lead times, usage history, and upcoming PM and component replacement forecasts.
- Critical Part Availability: Identify high-risk, critical operational components and ensure 100% availability to prevent unexpected line downtime.
- Audits & Cycle Counts: Schedule and execute regular cycle counts and physical inventory audits to maintain continuous database accuracy.
- Stockroom Organization: Organize physical parts storage using 5S or lean layout principles for efficient retrieval, labeling, and space utilization.
Procurement & Supplier Relations
- Purchase Order Management: Coordinate with our Procurement Specialist to issue, track, and follow up on purchase orders (POs) with vendors to guarantee on-time delivery, prioritizing parts holding up open work orders.
- Strategic Sourcing: Research, evaluate, and source new suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to improve cost efficiency, lead times, and quality.
- Vendor Performance: Track vendor delivery reliability, pricing trends, and lead-time accuracy. Resolve discrepancies regarding invoices, damaged goods, or incorrect shipments.
- Warranty & Returns: Coordinate warranty claims, repairs, and returns for defective parts with manufacturers and rebuilders.
Operational Support & Systems
- Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner closely with maintenance technicians, production supervisors, plant engineers, and purchasing to align work plans, parts, and downtime windows.
- CMMS: Maintain accurate equipment records, asset hierarchy, part numbers, bills of materials (BOMs), PM schedules, pricing, and vendor details in our Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS), currently UpKeep.
- Receiving & Issuance: Receive incoming shipments, verify physical condition against packing slips, check parts into the system, and issue parts to maintenance personnel against specific work orders.
- Maintenance Reporting: Prepare weekly reports on PM compliance, backlog, waiting-for-parts status, downtime, and inventory levels for the Production Manager and leadership.
Required Skills & Competencies
Experience & Education
- Education: High school diploma or equivalent. An Associate or Bachelor's degree in Maintenance, Engineering Technology, Supply Chain, Logistics, Business, or a related technical field is preferred but not required.
- Experience: Experience in maintenance planning and scheduling, spare parts management, inventory control, or purchasing within a manufacturing or industrial environment is preferred. Food manufacturing experience is a plus.
Technical & Soft Skills
- Software Proficiency: Hands-on experience with CMMS platforms (e.g., UpKeep, MaintainX, SAP PM, Maximo, Maintenance Connection, Fiix), including building PMs, managing work orders, and running reports. Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel.
- Maintenance Knowledge: Understanding of preventive and predictive maintenance practices, equipment criticality, and common failure modes of mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic equipment.
- Technical Aptitude: Ability to read technical drawings, part manuals, schematics, and mechanical/electrical bills of materials.
- Planning & Prioritization: Ability to manage competing priorities, build realistic schedules, and communicate clearly with both maintenance and production teams.
- Negotiation & Sourcing: Proven ability to negotiate terms, pricing, and freight details with external suppliers.
- Attention to Detail: High precision in data entry, physical counts, work order records, and order tracking.
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- PM Compliance: Percentage of scheduled PMs completed on time.
- Schedule Compliance: Percentage of planned weekly work completed as scheduled.
- Planned vs. Unplanned Maintenance: Ratio of planned work to reactive/emergency work.
- Unplanned Downtime: Hours of equipment downtime caused by unexpected failures.
- Waiting-for-Parts Backlog: Number and age of open work orders on hold for parts.
- Part Availability / Service Level: Percentage of critical parts available on demand.
- Stockout Frequency: Number of downtime events caused by missing spare parts.
- Inventory Accuracy: Variance percentage between physical stock and CMMS records.
- Inventory Turnover: Balance between carrying costs and part utilization.
- Stockroom Readiness: Spare parts inventory organization and cleanliness for audit preparedness.
Physical Requirements (Onsite)
- Ability to stand and walk for extended periods
- Ability to lift, push, pull, and carry materials throughout the shift
- Ability to use stairs and ladders throughout the shift
- Ability to work in hot, humid, wet, and industrial production environments
- Ability to wear required PPE, including respirators, gloves, hearing protection, face shields, and protective clothing
Qualifications
- Authorized to work in the U.S. and able to commute to Hackettstown, NJ
- Good memory, follow-up skills, and ability to manage multiple priorities
- Interest in product quality, manufacturing, or food/science environments a plus
- Bachelor's degree preferred
What We Offer
- Medical, Dental, Vision, and Life Insurance
- A health and wellness-focused culture
- All the chips you can eat!
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) & Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Statement
Ancient Crunch Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.
All employment decisions at Ancient Crunch Inc., including hiring, promotion, discipline, or discharge, are based on business needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion, belief, national, social or ethnic origin, sex (including pregnancy), age, physical, mental or sensory disability, HIV status, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, past or present military service, family medical history or genetic information, family or parental status, or any other status protected by the laws or regulations in the locations where we operate.
In accordance with the ADA, we provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of the job, unless doing so creates an undue hardship for the company. Applicants requiring accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact the HR Department.