Craftsman (Mechanical Engineering)

Plymouth Hospitals; Plymouth; On-site; GBP 28,000 - 31,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Recruitment & Retention

Job summary

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is seeking a capable Mechanical Technician to join the Estates team in Plymouth. The role focuses on maintenance of mechanical services, plant and equipment, with training provided to broaden skills across hospital engineering disciplines.

Work includes planned and reactive tasks, on-call duties, and adapting to a busy clinical environment. The Trust emphasises development, safety, and service continuity for patient care.

Qualifications

• Time served mechanical apprenticeship or equivalent.
• Knowledge of electrical and mechanical building services, techniques and standards.
• CPD and training willingness.

Responsibilities

• Carry out planned and reactive work to core skills and other duties as trained.
• Diagnose and repair faults on mechanical and electrical installations, plant and equipment.
• Work on hospital mechanical systems: heating, water, generators, control systems, lighting, ventilation, boiler plant, energy management and more.
• Manufacture, assemble, erect, and install new installations to standard.
• Perform a wide range of work of other trades.
• Carry out repairs, maintain and run engineering plant and equipment.
• Carry out water system inspections and maintain records.
• Use test equipment and relevant tools.
• Interpret engineering drawings and wiring diagrams with methods and sequence of operation.
• Plan and manage the working day from work orders.

Skills

Mechanical knowledge

Electrical fault finding

Reading drawings

AutoCAD

Teamwork

Health & safety awareness

Education

City & Guilds Mechanical Craft certificate

Recognised Mechanical Apprenticeship

WRAS Approved water services

First aid course

Health & Safety qualification

CPD

Tools

AutoCAD

Job description

Main area Mechanical/Hospital Engineering Grade NHS AfC: Band 4 Contract Permanent: On call and shift rota Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week (37.5 hours per week) Job ref 216-DH-CO8279347

Site University Hospitals Plymouth Town Plymouth Salary £28,392 - £31,157 Additional payment of £3277 R & R Salary period Yearly Closing 09/11/2026 23:59

Job overview

To carry out Engineering Maintenance work on all Mechanical Services, Systems, Plant and Equipment (Planned and Breakdown) in addition to Mechanical Installation works in accordance with the current Regulations.

The Estates team pride themselves on being able to tackle any job to keep clinical services operational. We do this with continued development through training and mentoring in the varied systems we are responsible for.

£28,392 - £31,157 Per Annum. Additional payment of £3277 Recruitment & Retention

Main duties of the job

This role requires a time served mechanical engineering apprenticeship or equivalent. This is an entry level trade position into hospital engineering where successful candidates would take part in additional training to enable them to carry out varying maintenance tasks in all mechanical hospital engineering disciplines.

Working for our organisation

We are a people business – where every member of staff matters and can make a difference. Patients are at the heart of everything we do. Joining University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust means becoming part of a team of dedicated staff, who are committed to leading the way through innovation, clinical excellence and great customer care. The Trust has great opportunities for career development in a highly progressive working environment. We offer all of this in a vibrant, modern city with a historic reputation for adventure.

We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants around less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. Please contact the recruiting manager to discuss this prior to your application submission. We commit to giving this full consideration in each case. We encourage people from diverse backgrounds to apply for our roles, as diversity strengthens our teams. It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Operational Electrical/Mechanical Engineering Service

1. Carry out planned and reactive work appropriate to core skills in addition to other duties (Dependent on relevant training) in order to achieve flexibility and efficiency.

2. Diagnose and repair faults on complex Mechanical and electrical installations, plant, engineering systems, and equipment in accordance with current regulations and guidance.

3. Work on a wide range of hospital mechanical systems including but not limited to heating systems, hot and cold water systems, emergency generators, control systems, electrical motors / drive systems, domestic equipment, catering equipment, lighting systems, ventilation plant, boiler plant, building energy management system and communication systems.

4. Manufacture, assemble, erect, and install new installation work unsupervised to a recognised standard within an acceptable timescale.

5. Perform a wide range of work of other trades.

6. Carry out repairs, maintain and efficiently run engineering plant & equipment.

7. Carry out water system inspections, tests and maintain records in conjunction with the Trusts Water Management Policy.

8. Use all relevant test equipment, tools and equipment.

9. To interpret and work from, complex engineering drawings & wiring diagrams and specifications with appropriate methods and sequence of operation

10. To plan and manage the working day based on work orders issued by Supervisor.

Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.

Person specification

Knowledge and Experience

• CPD, Short courses, and Self study
• Proven technical ability
• Thorough knowledge of electrical and mechanical building services, techniques and standards
• Sound proven knowledge of trade principles and practice
• Understanding of relevant health & safety legislation.
• Fully conversant with the Legislation governing the safe working practices relevant to the department
• Electrical / Mechanical fault finding
• Ability to read and implement engineering drawings
• An appreciation of other building services and trades.
• Understanding of other building services trades
• Willingness to work towards Specialist Grade with relevant training
• Working proven knowledge of computerised building management system

Qualifications

• City & Guilds Mechanical Craft certificate or equivalent demonstrable experience
• Recognised Mechanical Apprenticeship
• WRAS Approved water servicesHealth & Safety qualification
• First aid course
• Relevant Health & Safety qualification or equivalent
• Proven evidence of CPD

Aptitude and Abilities

• An understanding of risk assessment procedures
• Team player
• High level of technical ability
• Ability to prioritise own workload
• Good communication skills at all levels, across all disciplines together with tact & diplomacy
• Fault diagnosis and repairs on complex systems. Producing and receiving electronic and written information and the ability to convey test results and fault-finding criteria to the relevant department.
• Good people skills including ability to work with persons of other disciplines both inside and external to the trust
• Proven working knowledge of AutoCAD,

Disposition and motivation

• Able to work well within a busy environment
• Highly motivated and works own initiative
• Exemplary standards of personal and professional behaviour
• Ability to manage conflicting priorities and variations to workload

Circumstances

• Flexibility in approach to hours of working, to include shift, overtime where necessary, & emergency call out.
• Rotation of duties where possible. Work outside of office hours and contributing to site services on-call rota
• Ability to travel between multiple sites

PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL COMMUNICATION WILL BE ELECTRONIC, PLEASE CHECK YOUR EMAIL ACCOUNT REGULARLY INCLUDING YOUR JUNK FOLDER.

If you need support with the online application process or require reasonable adjustments with the application and/or interview process please contact the Recruiting Manager for this post.

We recognise that work life balance is important for our colleagues and so we invite requests from applicants about less than full time/flexible working for our advertised roles. We recommend contacting the manager of the role prior to applying and we commit to giving requests full consideration.

We welcome and encourage applicants who identify with all protected characteristics to apply for our roles. We believe that diversity strengthens our teams and improves our patients' experience. At UHP we aim to create an inclusive workplace and hospital where everyone feels they belong and included .

It is sometimes necessary to close vacancies before the closing date. If you have not heard from us within 4 weeks of the closing date, please assume that you have not been shortlisted.

Providing false information is an offence & could result in the application being rejected or summary dismissal/police action if an applicant is successful.

Please note that if you are successful in your application & accept the position you agree that the Staff Health and Wellbeing Department can access your health records from your current/previous employer in order to check the status of your inoculations & screening tests. This is an automated process & the information will only be used for these purposes prior to your taking up the position with us.

For Doctors Roles:

Unsolicited CVs and Candidate Profiles/Details University Hospitals Plymouth has a commitment to sourcing candidates directly and as such we do not accept speculative CVs from agencies.

We do, however, work with a defined list of preferred HTE Framework suppliers who may be invited to support us in sourcing candidates for particular roles.

In line with our preferred supplier list, we only pay agency fees where we have a signed agreement in place and an agency has been instructed by a member of the Trust’s Medical Workforce team.

We do not pay agency fees where speculative and unsolicited CVs are submitted to the Trust or Trust employees by any other means than the official route above. Where this is not observed the Trust reserves the right to contact these candidates directly and initiate discussions without payment of any agency fee.

Any candidate details (whether written or spoken) or CVs that are referred directly will not constitute an introduction. The Trust will under no circumstances be responsible for any recruitment fees in relation to these contacts.

Submission of any unsolicited CVs, candidate’s details and/or proposals to the Trust will not be considered further and will be deemed evidence of full and unlimited acceptance of this Agency Protocol.

In order to establish and maintain good working relationships with the Trust’s agency suppliers, we ask that this Protocol is adhered to and thank you for your co-operation.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

We’d love to hear from you if you feel you’re a great fit for the role - and that the role is right for you.Below, you’ll find more information about our recruitment process and what happens once you’ve submitted your application.