Jobs › 3M

Plant Engineering Supervisor*

3M · Cordova, IL · $109,202–$133,469 a year · Full time

Posted Aug 31, 2026 · We last checked this listing on Oct 6, 2026

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Likely interview questions for this role

Written from this job description, not a generic list. Each one notes what the interviewer is really checking.

About your past

Tell me about an incident investigation you led. How did you get from what happened to the real cause, and how did you present it to site leadership?

What they are checking: Whether they dig past the first easy answer and can explain findings plainly to people above them.

Tell me about a time you had to give hard feedback to a skilled technician who had been doing the job longer than you.

What they are checking: Whether they can coach experienced trades people with respect and still hold a clear standard.

This role is open to people coming from military or public sector work. How does what you led before carry over to a manufacturing maintenance team?

What they are checking: Whether they can translate past leadership into plant terms rather than assuming it transfers on its own.

Tell me about a time you recognized a safety problem nobody had reported and fixed it.

What they are checking: Whether they look for hazards actively rather than waiting for reports or injuries to surface them.

What would you do

How do you model safe behavior as a supervisor when the line is down and everyone wants it back up fast?

What they are checking: Whether safety holds for them under production pressure, since that is when shortcuts happen.

Walk me through how you balance preventive maintenance against breakdown work when your crew is short-handed.

What they are checking: Whether they protect planned work instead of letting firefighting eat the whole schedule.

A mechanic skips a lockout step to save ten minutes and nothing bad happens. You find out the next day. What do you do?

What they are checking: Whether they act on near misses consistently, not only after someone gets hurt.

How do you keep production supervisors and your maintenance team from blaming each other when equipment goes down?

What they are checking: Whether they can build trust between departments that naturally pull against each other.

About the work

You'll own WIMs reports and incident follow-up. What makes a corrective action actually stick on the floor instead of living in a binder?

What they are checking: Whether they know the difference between paperwork closure and a change that prevents the next injury.

How do you use Overall Equipment Effectiveness to decide where your maintenance crew spends its time?

What they are checking: Whether they can turn availability, performance and quality losses into real maintenance priorities.

What technical direction would you give a crew on a recurring failure of the same machine every few weeks?

What they are checking: Whether they push toward root cause and reliability work instead of repeating the same repair.

Practice this interview out loud.

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The full job description

As published by 3M.

Job Description: Job Title Plant Engineering Supervisor* Collaborate with Innovative 3Mers Around the World Choosing where to start and grow your career has a major impact on your professional and personal life, so it’s equally important you know that the company that you choose to work at, and its leaders, will support and guide you. With a wide of people, global locations, technologies and products, 3M is a place where you can collaborate with other curious, creative 3Mers. This position provides an opportunity to transition from other private, public, government or military experience to a 3M career. The Impact You’ll Make in this Role As a Plant Engineering Supervisor, you will have the opportunity to tap into your curiosity and collaborate with some of the most innovative people around the world. Here, you will make an impact by: • Creating and maintaining a safe, healthy and sustainable workplace. • Providing daily supervision and coordination of Contractor resources in support of the needs of our business partners • Plans and executes preventative maintenance activities on the facility and its equipment • Identifying and supporting business efforts to drive improvement in equipment reliability • Providing technical guidance to site personnel. • Impacting through cost reduction programs, equipment effectiveness, and safety of work environment • Communicate project or program status and results to stakeholders Your Skills and Expertise To set you up for success in this role from day one, 3M requires (at a minimum) the following qualifications: • Bachelor’s Degree or higher from an accredited institution AND a minimum of three (3) years previous experience in a manufacturing environment in a private, public, government or military environment. OR • High School Diploma or higher from an accredited institution AND a minimum of six (6) years previous experience in a manufacturing environment in a private, public, government or military environment. Additional qualifications that could help you succeed even further in this role include: • Secondary Degree or higher in Engineering or related Technical Field (completed and verified prior to start) from an accredited institution preferred. • Five (5) years of manufacturing maintenance/reliability experience in a private, public, government or military environment. • Experience coaching, mentoring and developing Technicians as well as their peers and influencing higher levels of the organization. • Experience with project management along with electrical or mechanical experience in manufacturing operations. • Experience in managing contractors. • Basic understanding of Environmental and Regulatory Compliance, NFPA, and OSHA standards. • Certified Reliability Leader (CRL), Certified Maintenance Manager, Certified Maintenance Reliability Professional, RE or CAMA certification. Work location: • Cordova, IL Travel: May include up to 10% domestic/international Relocation Assistance: May be authorized Must be legally authorized to work in country of employment without sponsorship for employment visa status (e.g., H1B status). Responsibilities of this position may include direct and/or indirect physical or logical access to information, systems, technologies subjected to the regulations/compliance with U.S. Export Control Laws. U.S. Export Control laws and U.S. Government Department of Defense contracts and sub-contracts impose certain restrictions on companies and their ability to share export-controlled and other technology and services with certain "non-U.S. persons" (persons who are not U.S. citizens or nationals, lawful permanent residents of the U.S., refugees, "Temporary Residents" (granted Amnesty or Special Agricultural Worker provisions), or persons granted asylum. To comply with these laws, 3M must help assess candidates' U.S. person status. The questions asked in this application are intended to assess this and will be used for evaluation purposes only. Failure to provide the necessary information in this regard will result in our inability to consider you further for this particular position. Supporting Your Well-being 3M offers many programs to help you live your best life – both physically and financially. To ensure competitive pay and benefits, 3M regularly benchmarks with other companies that are comparable in size and scope. Chat with Max For assistance with searching through our current job openings or for more information about all things 3M, visit Max, our virtual recruiting assistant on 3M.com/careers. Applicable to US Applicants Only:The expected compensation range for this position is $109,202 - $133,469, which includes base pay plus variable incentive pay, if eligible. This range represents a good faith estimate for this position. The specific compensation offered to a candidate may vary based on factors including, but not limited to, the candidate’s relevant knowledge, training, skills, work location, and/or experience. In addition, this position may be eligible for a range of benefits (e.g., Medical, Dental & Vision, Health Savings Accounts, Health Care & Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, Disability Benefits, Life Insurance, Voluntary Benefits, Paid Absences and Retirement Benefits, etc.). Additional information is available at: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/. Good Faith Posting Date Range 08/31/2026 To 09/30/2026 Or until filled All US-based 3M full time employees will need to sign an employee agreement as a condition of employment with 3M. This agreement lays out key terms on using 3M Confidential Information and Trade Secrets. It also has provisions discussing conflicts of interest and how inventions are assigned. Employees that are Job Grade 7 or equivalent and above may also have obligations to not compete against 3M or solicit its employees or customers, both during their employment, and for a period after they leave 3M. Learn more about 3M’s creative solutions to the world’s problems at www.3M.com or on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn @3M. Responsibilities of this position include that corporate policies, procedures and security standards are complied with while performing assigned duties. Safety is a core value at 3M. All employees are expected to contribute to a strong Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) culture by following safety policies, identifying hazards, and engaging in continuous improvement. Pay & Benefits Overview: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/benefits/ 3M does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, religion, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Please note: your application may not be considered if you do not provide your education and work history, either by: 1) uploading a resume, or 2) entering the information into the application fields directly. 3M Global Terms of Use and Privacy Statement Carefully read these Terms of Use before using this website. Your access to and use of this website and application for a job at 3M are conditioned on your acceptance and compliance with these terms. Please click on the following links and select the country where you are applying for employment to review the applicable Terms of Use (link here) and Privacy Policy (link here) . Before submitting your application, you will be asked to confirm your agreement with the terms.

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