Maintenance Planner

Reports To: Engineering and Maintenance Manager

Purpose of the Role

The Maintenance Planner is responsible for minimising plant downtime, maximising equipment reliability and extending the operating life of plant machinery and assets through effective planning and scheduling of preventive maintenance, planned corrective maintenance and major shutdown activities.

This role is the key liaison between Maintenance, Production and supporting departments to agree the timing, scope, resources and execution requirements for planned maintenance work, with the objective of ensuring minimal disruption to production.

The successful candidate will also be responsible for administering, improving and maintaining the Computerised Maintenance Management System / DMS, ensuring accurate asset management data, effective maintenance reporting, work order control, spares coordination and maintenance KPI tracking.

This is a critical planning role within the Engineering and Maintenance function and requires a structured, disciplined and highly capable individual who can influence across departments, work under pressure and support high standards of engineering execution.

Key Responsibilities

• Maintenance Planning, Scheduling & Coordination
  • Plan, schedule and coordinate routine maintenance, major maintenance activities and plant shutdowns.
  • Develop and maintain effective two-week rolling maintenance plans.
  • Ensure maintenance activities are properly scheduled, coordinated and resourced to support maximum production efficiency, plant availability and asset reliability.
  • Coordinate planned work to minimise disruption to production and ensure maintenance activities are completed within agreed timeframes.
  • Chair weekly shutdown planning meetings with maintenance and production leadership teams to discuss scope, dates and requirements for all shutdown‑related work orders.
  • Chair weekly planning meetings with maintenance foremen and production team leaders to discuss scope, dates and requirements for all maintenance work orders.
  • Create, review and update maintenance plans and job plans to optimise utilisation of engineering resources in conjunction with the Engineering Management team.
  • Carry out job loading for maintenance personnel to ensure planned maintenance work is allocated effectively.
  • Coordinate standby lists for Production and Engineering support.
• Shutdown Planning & Execution Support
  • Plan and coordinate routine and major plant shutdowns, taking into account shutdown work, major maintenance, capital work, statutory requirements and operational requirements.
  • Ensure all shutdown work is properly scoped, planned, resourced and aligned with production requirements.
  • Confirm availability of resources, materials, spares, contractors and services required for planned shutdown activities.
  • Follow up on shutdown‑related work orders and provide updates to relevant maintenance and production stakeholders.
  • Support the Engineering and Maintenance teams in driving disciplined shutdown preparation and execution.
• CMMS / DMS, MRO & Maintenance Data Management
  • Take responsibility and accountability for the effective operation of the CMMS and MRO systems.
  • Administer, manage, configure and control asset management data within the CMMS.
  • Manage the CMMS system, with knowledge of DMS being preferable.
  • Capture work orders as they are received.
  • Create work orders from completed preventive maintenance schedules.
  • Ensure work orders are accurate, properly captured, updated and closed out in line with maintenance requirements.
  • Submit CMMS system management reports to the Engineering Manager.
  • Assist the Plant Engineers and Engineering Management team to administer, improve and maintain the CMMS / DMS.
  • Maintain accurate maintenance planning, job history and asset management information to support reliability improvement and maintenance decision‑making.
• Spares, Requisitions & Supplier Coordination
  • Ensure the correct spares, materials and services are available at the right time before planned work is executed.
  • Follow up on the status of spare parts required for maintenance work orders.
  • Arrange quotations for services due on equipment.
  • Create and update purchase requisitions.
  • Follow up on quotations, orders and supplier responses to ensure maintenance work is not delayed.
  • Liaise with stores, buying, suppliers and contractors to support planned maintenance execution.
  • Escalate delays, risks or shortages that may impact planned maintenance activities.
• Reporting, KPI Tracking & Performance Monitoring
  • Generate