Maintenance Buyer

Company Description

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.

Job Description

The Maintenance Buyer is responsible for the strategic procurement and management of Maintenance, Repair, and Operations (MRO) materials supporting a highly automated USDA-regulated beef stick manufacturing facility. This role manages a multi-million-dollar annual R&M budget and ensures uninterrupted plant operations by maintaining optimal inventory levels, supplier performance, and cost control across critical spare parts, consumables, and services.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Sourcing & Supplier Management

• Develop category strategies for high-spend MRO segments (e.g., automation components, OEM parts, electrical, controls, packaging systems).
• Balance OEM vs. aftermarket sourcing to optimize cost without increasing downtime risk.
• Build redundancy in critical supply chains (dual sourcing for high-risk/long-lead items).
• Establish and manage supplier scorecards:
  • On-Time-In-Full (OTIF)
  • Lead time adherence
  • Quality/reject rates
  • Responsiveness during downtime events
• Negotiate long-term agreements (LTAs), blanket POs, and consignment programs to reduce working capital and expedite availability.
• Manage vendor escalation during line-down events (expedited freight, priority production, aftermarket solutions).

Critical Spare Parts Strategy & Inventory Optimization

• Lead criticality analysis with Maintenance & Reliability:
  • Identify “zero-fail” components (PLC cards, drives, robotics, proprietary OEM parts).
  • Define stocking strategy: on-site, regional, vendor-managed, or non-stock.
• Set and continuously refine:
  • Min/Max levels
  • Safety stock based on failure rates and lead times
  • Reorder points tied to usage patterns and predictive maintenance insights
• Eliminate obsolete and duplicate SKUs while standardizing parts across lines where possible.
• Implement kitting strategies for:
  • Preventive Maintenance (PMs)
  • Planned shutdowns
• Improve inventory accuracy and cycle counting discipline (≥98% target in high-performing plants).

Maintenance & Reliability Integration

• Act as embedded partner to Maintenance, Reliability Engineers, and Planners:
  • Align procurement with weekly/daily maintenance schedules
  • Pre-stage parts for planned work vs. reactive purchasing
• Support predictive and condition-based maintenance programs:
  • Ensure availability of failure-prone components before predicted end-of-life
• Participate in root cause failure analysis (RCFA):
  • Identify recurring part failures and sourcing alternatives
  • Recommend higher reliability or upgraded components
• Coordinate materials for shutdowns, capital installs, and line expansions:
  • Sequencing deliveries to match project timelines
  • Preventing overbuying or last-minute shortages

Budget