Automation Engineer

Princes Group; Bradford; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual Leave

Pension Plan

Flexible Holidays

Family Friendly Policies

Critical Illness Cover

Learning & Development

Job summary

Princes Group in Bradford is seeking a Site Automation Engineer to deploy and maintain automation & control applications across the site.

You will support PLCs, HMIs, PCCs and instrumentation, diagnose faults, and work with the MES team to optimise operations and reduce downtime.

This role requires collaboration with engineering and operations to deliver safe, reliable and cost-effective automation solutions.

Qualifications

• Experience in site automation engineering and instrumentation.
• Knowledge of PLC, HMI, PCC and SCADA systems.
• Ability to diagnose, debug and program PLC level problems.
• Strong collaboration with engineering and MES teams.

Responsibilities

• Provide support for deployment and maintenance of electrical process control systems.
• Maintain site PLC, HMI, PCC and related instruments.
• Coordinate with MES team for SCADA system support.
• Ensure 100% uptime and respond to faults within agreed budgets.

Job description

Role Description

Reporting to the Site Automation Team Leader at Bradford. The role will facilitate the deployment and maintenance of the Princes Automation & Control Applications at the Bradford site.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Site Automation Team Leader at Bradford. The role will facilitate the deployment and maintenance of the Princes Automation & Control Applications at the Bradford site. The role provides plant support on integrated solutions for level 0 & 1. This role will integrate all the practices involved into the wider Group strategy for delivering Automation Control & Instrumentation solutions to the Bradford site. At level 0 the role will be expected to integrate and maintain key industrial components used in the manufacturing process e.g. sensors, valves, process control systems, Industrial PC’s & PLC’s. The level 1 support will require diagnosis, debug and programming at the PLC level to rectify problems and connect to other automated systems. This engineering resource should provide effective support of levels 0 and 1. The Princes MES team supports the SCADA and Wonderware on site. These applications will need occasional automation support as required. The role will be expected to perform key support activities which reduce reliance on 3rd party support suppliers. The Site Automation Engineer will support the Site Electrical Engineer to reduce machine obsolescence to ensure future equipment resilience. As a Part Of The Support Function This Role Will Work With The Business To Strive To Achieve Optimal Operational Efficiency At The Lowest Cost Through The Delivery Of Targets Against The Strategic Objectives Of The Function: Quality, Cost, Delivery, Safety, People. The role also provides a structured link between the Site Engineering function and the Site Operational systems and teams.

Duties And Responsibilities

• The role of the Site Automation Engineer is required to provide support to the engineering and manufacturing operations through the development, maintenance and administration of all aspects of the electrical process control systems infrastructure and instrumentation.
• The scope of the role includes all automated manufacturing systems on site. PLC, HMI, PCC and systems along with all measuring instrumentation and devices.
• This key role also serves the site competent person in electrical systems to guide and support, through close collaboration with the whole Engineering team, Operational teams, Continuous improvement and Projects teams.
• The key aims are to have 100% up time of systems and infrastructure, eliminate breakdowns resulting from electrical systems, control systems and instrumentation, within agreed budgets.

Specification, maintenance and administration of all site PLC, HMI, PCC and other automated systems, which includes: Code backups, Fault finding and disaster recovery Modifications, Maintenance monitoring, Version control, Validation, Upgrades and bug fixes, System document and procedure updates, Licensing.

• Administration, maintenance of site process control communication networks which include:
• Ethernet, Profinet, Profibus, AS-i
• Configuration management - managing and updating network configurations including operating system versions, and network parameters.
• Fault management - detecting, logging, rectifying issues or faults within the network.
• Competent person for Process Control & Instrumentation Engineering:

(Equipment specification, equipment inspection and compliance, instrument setup and calibrations, Loop tuning, fault diagnosis)

• Develop User Requirement Specifications for new/modifications to control and instrumentation systems.
• Training team members and cross functional teams as required to continuously build site capabilities.
• Commissioning and validation including FAT, SAT, IQ, OQ.
• Change control agent for equipment, instrumentation and control systems
• Support Engineering shutdown planning and execution, for calibration and electrical control and process equipment systems maintenance.
• Support Business continuity risk assessment and strategy planning including Obsolescence reviews.
• Maintain and Update control and instrument CAD drawings and other documents.
• Contract support for all site instrument calibrations contracts, process control system support and software license contracts, and the building management system service support contract.
• Management of self, contractors and project engineers when on site and assigned under your control.

Dimensions

• Manage the version control and disaster recovery of key plant equipment at deployed sites including PLC’s, HMI’s and other automated systems.
• Responsible for systems support of manufacturing execution systems across the site

Key Relationships

• Engineering Team, Operational Teams & MES Team

Key Responsibilities

Development of solutions

The role will provide development skills to support the implementation of automation and control systems at the PLC and device layers within the system architecture. The main areas of responsibility are described in more detail in the table below

Responsibility Description

Conduct FIT Gaps Liaising with OEM’s to ensure that all future Line installations are configured for Future Applications.

For current production lines identifying the PLC configuration gaps and develop the work stream necessary to address these in line with implementation plans.

Prepare Automation solutions and maintenance strategies. Liaise with OEMs on new installations ensuring the PLC configuration is in line with Agreed standards.

For current production lines preparing the PLC program and managing the solutions as per agreed standards.

Standards Ensuring that the standards applied to the solution comply with existing Group Electrical and Automation Standards.

Documentation Preparing and updating the necessary reference documentation for site teams and handover documentation for the service desk transition.

Version Control Authorising and maintaining any version updates for the integrated plant deployed applications.

Establish and manage test rigs/environments. Ensure effective monitoring and support of deployed integrated plant applications. Establish an Engineering environment to model and assess developed PLC solutions.

Deployment of Applications

The role holder will support the deployment plans in the following areas:

• Perform Testing and Factory Acceptance of newly developed solutions.
• Assist in the development of training materials for the support of the rollout of functionality
• Provide site roll-out training
• Provide predefined audit of the methodology and process usage by site to verify compliance with Group CI strategy.

System Support

The role holder will be involved in the development and delivery automation site support for deployed Automation, Control & Instrumentation systems enhancing the process with the purpose of optimizing the reliance and cost of External service contracts.

• If the engineering shift team cannot resolve, then elevate to site engineering management.
• Revert to external support if outside current support skills of team member

All aspects of support will be conducted within the site engineering framework for support based on best practice.

• Safety, Quality, Hygiene

Undertake duties in a responsible manner giving due consideration to Safety, Environmental & Quality procedures, which form part of the Integrated Management System

Ensure work undertaken conforms to legislative requirements

Embrace a culture of safe behaviour and contractor health and safety within the production and engineering areas

Support and embrace a culture enhancing behavioral awareness to reduce accidents, incidents and near misses

Specific responsibilities can be found at section 4.4.1.8 of the Health & Safety Management system

• Continuous Improvement

Support and audit the A, C & I systems which is used for production, line downtime electronic data capture enabling site operational teams to practise Short Interval Control (SIC) meetings using the data provided by MES to make informed decisions on tackling Route Cause of Downtime

• Communication

Work closely with Site operational teams on key project implementations

Working cross functionally to deliver full support for deployed systems

Effectively managing all business stakeholders involved with engineering projects ensuring that the team and site values are adhered to in all interactions

• Manage/Develop People

Ensure that the cross-functional teams are appropriately supported and mentored to be able effectively and safely to deliver their tasks and ensuring the stability and continuity of the teams are consistent with the long-term needs of the business

Align self and deploy resource appropriately to meet site and group strategy

Challenge work practices and processes to achieve improved operational performance

Conduct self in line with the site values and behaviors at all times

Develop a culture of ownership within the team for the on-going development of the automated integrated solution

• Technical Leadership

Act as first point of technical support for engineering team

Apply defined best practice in all engineering and project management matters

Develop and apply own specialist technical skills in support of group KPI’s

Role Requirements

• In-depth manufacturing plant knowledge on critical control equipment
• Advanced knowledge of SAP
• Ability to test changes to manufacturing systems and feedback on improvements
• Knowledge of architecture for the relevant plant industrial networks
• Understanding of lean manufacturing processes – 5S, Kanban, SMED, Kaizen
• Detailed understanding of developing test scripts for scenario impact analysis
• Project management skills from concept to delivery of capital investments

Key Behavioural Indicators

• Conduct self in line with the site values and behaviour
• Strong interpersonal skills; able to quickly establish good relationships both internally, with people at all levels of an organisation, and externally, with customers. Has the ability to leverage this to inspire others to identify and own change as well as motivate, coach and mentor others
• Ability to develop good working relationships and cross functional team working across other business teams and functions
• Ability to communicate openly and effectively with teams, factory management and across other business teams and functions at all levels tailoring the level of detail to the target audience
• Creative problem solver, able to analyse problems and opportunities and determine the most appropriate course of action to rectify
• Excellent organisational skills, able to set and drive through an agenda
• Strong influencer, able to contribute effectively outside immediate area of expertise
• Assertive, persuasive, patient and resilient
• Attention to detail and ability to plan, prioritise and work to tight deadlines
• Ability to work on own initiative
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills

Benefits

• 22 Shifts Annual Leave
• 14.5% Pension – 5% employee opt in / 9.5% employer
• Flexible Holiday Option - Buy 5 Additional Days
• Enhanced Family Friendly Policies
• Critical Illness Cover
• Learning & Development Opportunities

Country United Kingdom

Location Bradford

Business Area Operations

Workplace Type Onsite

About Princes

The Princes Group has over 7,000 employees with offices and production sites in the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Poland, France and Mauritius. Princes manufactures 350 different food and drink products responsibly sourced and enjoyed by consumers every day. None of this would be possible without striving to be an employer of choice, where our colleagues are proud to represent our business.

Benefits

• 22 Shifts Annual Leave
• 14.5% Pension – 5% employee opt in / 9.5% employer
• Flexible Holiday Option - Buy 5 Additional Days
• Enhanced Family Friendly Policies
• Critical Illness Cover
• Learning & Development Opportunities