Lead Locomotive Maintenance Technical Advisor – Kansas City, KS

It’s not just about your career or job title… It’s about who you are and the impact you will make on the world. Because whether it’s for each other or our customers, we put People First. When our people come together, we Expand the Possible and continuously look for ways to improve what we create and how we do it. If you are constantly striving to grow, you’re in good company. We are revolutionizing the way the world moves for future generations, and we want someone who is ready to move with us.

Who will you be working with?

As a leader on our Field Services Americas team, you will be responsible for leading a team or shift of highly trained technicians in ultimately assisting our customer (BNSF) maintain their fleet of GE/Wabtec locomotives. This is largely accomplished through advising, informing, researching, and assisting their mechanical employees. You will be part of an overall team made up of Wabtec technical and materials experts, all working to ensure our customer’s fleet is running at optimal levels.

How will you make a difference?

Our Lead Locomotive Maintenance Technical Advisors are front line leaders, entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring operations run smoothly for a shift or group of Wabtec employees. This role is a critical steppingstone in the career of our Locomotive Maintenance Technical Advisors and/or our Locomotive Maintenance Material Technical Advisors as they take on roles of increasing leadership responsibility and/or technical expertise.

What do we want to know about you?

• Strong leadership presence, ability, and preferably prior experience
• Undergraduate degree (preferably in a technical discipline) from an accredited university/college
• OR an associate degree in a technical discipline + 2 years of relevant professional work experience in lieu of the undergraduate degree
• OR high school graduate/GED + 4 years relevant professional work experience in lieu of the undergraduate degree
• An additional 3+ years shop operations or engineering experience.
• Wabtec Level 2 Certification highly preferred (Level 1 required)
• Experience, willingness, and ability to work in shop environment and to work various shifts on various days as required, including having a flexible work schedule to perform auditing and training on various shifts.
• Ability and willingness to travel as required for training, auditing, and supplier visits
• Demonstrated proficiency in MS office applications
• Ability to gather, comprehend, and analyze large sets of data and present findings and conclusions based on the analysis
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills
• Success with previous customer service and problem-solving roles
• Demonstrated interpersonal, leadership, and influencing skills
• Demonstrated ability to leadership experience (both front line leadership of others and coordination projects)
• The ability to maintain reliable and predictable attendance
• A high level of dependability, a great attitude, and an ability to work well with a team towards achieving a common goal

What will your typical day look like?

• Provide effective leadership and training to new and current Wabtec employees, ensuring they have the knowledge and tools necessary to be successful in their roles.
• Provide technical expertise, instruction, and services to railroad employees (the customer) concerning subjects such as, but not limited to: 
  • Preventative and corrective actions
  • Troubleshooting
  • 5Y analysis
  • Material ordering and handling
  • Tooling
  • Safety procedures
  • Contract requirement clarification.

• Work with railroad employees and management (the customer) to promote, maintain, and drive continuous improvement in safe work practices while monitoring quality, productivity, and adherence to contract requirements.
• Coordinate and provide instruction on key quality and process improvement programs and procedures.
• Provide clear communication to customer and Wabtec employees on work to be performed, quality scope, process improvements, and liaison with other cross functional departments as necessary.
• Establish production plans for labor, material, and logistics as required for your team
• Ensure compliance with all applicable regulations, OSHA work practices, and industry / site specific work rules.
• Make operational risk assessments, balancing customer requests with Wabtec requirements.
• Work with various software systems to manage Safety, Quality, Material, and Production plans, along with other system requirements
• All other duties as required

What about the physical demands of the job?

• Standing and walking throughout the day
• Wal