Automation & Controls Engineer

First Milk Limited; Shaftesbury; On-site; GBP 46,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

34 days holiday per year (incl. public

Holiday purchase scheme (up to 5 days)

On-site parking

Health & wellbeing program

Company pension

Company events & store discounts

Job summary

BV Dairy, part of the First Milk group, is seeking an Automation & Controls Engineer to maintain on-site automation, PLCs, HMIs, SCADA and drives at our Shaftesbury site. Shift is Monday to Friday, 08:00–16:30, with a salary of £51,125 per year.

You will support the engineering team with complex plant breakdowns, assist with electrical panel design and commissioning, lead capital investment projects, and drive continuous improvement through advanced automation while ensuring quality and budget

Qualifications

• Qualified in an engineering discipline.
• IT literacy including Microsoft Office and Epicor.
• Experience in Automation, to include writing software for PLCs, HMIs and supporting SCADA.
• Knowledge of Mitsubishi PLCs (GX Works), Beijer HMI (IX Developer) and Prodigy SCADA (Tascomp) preferred.
• Experience of regulatory requirements for the role.
• Strong communication skills.
• Experience managing contractors beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Maintain on-site automation and control systems (PLCs, HMIs, SCADA, drives).
• Support engineering with complex plant breakdowns and fault finding.
• Assist with process/plant design, including P&ID drawings and electrical panels.
• Lead capital investment projects and ensure delivery within time, budget and quality.
• Drive continuous improvement and integration of new technologies.

Skills

Automation experience

PLC programming

HMI development

SCADA

Regulatory compliance

Contractor management

Strong communication

Education

Engineering degree or equivalent

Tools

Mitsubishi GX Works

Beijer IX Developer

Prodigy SCADA Tascomp

Job description

BV Dairy is a manufacture of specialist dairy produce, established 1958 in Shaftesbury Dorset. In 2024 we joined the First Milk group – a British farmer-owned dairy co-operative. You can find our products in most supermarkets across the whole of the UK.To strengthen our Engineering team, we are looking for a Automation & Controls Engineer.

Shift Pattern – Monday – Friday, 08:00 – 16:30
Salary £51,125 per year

The Role

• To support/maintain the automation and control systems on site, to include PLC’s, HMI’s, SCADA, Frequency drives.
• To support the engineering team with complex plant breakdowns as well as using electrical and automation skills to problem solve and fault find. To assist team with engineering resource if required.
• To support with process/plant design, including P&ID drawings, electrical panel design and installation/commissioning.
• Participate, support and lead in capital investment projects to install the right technical solution. Ensure it meets the correct standards, delivered within a timescale to the required quality and to the budget set out.
• Play a key role in continuous improvement of the factory through automation and engineering. Implement improvement projects identified as part of this role or identified by the production/engineering teams to help increase plant efficiency, operator functionality and to meet business objectives.
• Help to drive forward and identify technological advances within engineering and the dairy industry and implement these as is required by the business. With a key role in integrating these systems into the company. Provide recommendations when required for business continuity.

About You

We’re looking for someone who is:

• Qualified in an engineering discipline.
• IT literacy including Microsoft Office and Epicor.
• Experience in Automation, to include writing software for PLC’s, HMI’s and supporting SCADA. Knowledge of Mitsubishi PLC’s (GX works software), Beijers HMI (IX developer software and C# scripting) and prodigy SCADA system (Tascomp) preferred.
• Experience of the regulatory requirements required for the role.
• Strong communication skills
• Experience of managing contractors beneficial.

If you want a role where you can shape performance, develop professionally, and work at the heart of the operation — we want to hear from you.

The Benefits

• Competitive salary & Bonus;
• 34 days holiday per year (incl. public holidays)
• Additional Holiday purchase scheme (up to 5 days);
• Colleague Discounts Platform.
• Great career development and training opportunities within the company
• Free on-site parking
• Benefits such as health & wellbeing program, company pension, company events, store discounts, and many more

We are a certified B Corp who welcome applications from everyone.