Field Service Engineer – Separation and Homogenisation Equipment

GEA Group; Milton Keynes; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

GEA Group is seeking a dedicated Service Engineer to service homogenisers and separation equipment across the United Kingdom. You will perform maintenance, repairs, and commissioning on-site at customer locations, ensuring safety and high-quality service standards.

The role requires strong mechanical skills, the ability to fault-find across electrical and hydraulic systems, and willingness to travel with regular overnight stays, including weekend on-call rotations.

Qualifications

• Qualified to City & Guilds standard in Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent).
• Proven experience servicing industrial processing equipment within food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, or process industries.
• Strong mechanical knowledge; electrical knowledge is an advantage.

Responsibilities

• Perform preventative maintenance, inspections, and servicing of homogenisers and centrifugal separation equipment.
• Carry out planned maintenance contracts and overhauls on rotating equipment (bowl assemblies, spindles, gear drives, pumps, hydraulic systems, valves).
• Diagnose and rectify mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and process faults; respond to breakdowns and site emergencies.

Skills

Mechanical knowledge

Electrical knowledge

Reading drawings

Health and safety

Independent working

Team collaboration

Education

City & Guilds Mechanical Engineering

Tools

None

Job description

GEA is one of the world’s largest systems suppliers for the food, beverage and pharmaceutical sectors. Our portfolio includes machinery and plants as well as advanced process technology, components and comprehensive services. Guided by a strong sense of purpose, our more than 18,000 dedicated employees work to enhance the sustainability and efficiency of production processes globally.

Responsibilities / Tasks

GEA is seeking a highly motivated and customer-focused Service Engineer to support servicing of our installed base of homogenisers and centrifugal separation equipment across the United Kingdom. This field-based role is responsible for delivering expert maintenance, repairs, troubleshooting, commissioning, and technical support services to customers within the dairy, food, beverage, brewing, pharmaceutical, chemical, and industrial processing sectors.

The successful candidate will be a self-sufficient engineer with strong mechanical and electrical fault-finding skills, capable of working independently at customer sites while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality, and customer service. To ensure effective coverage of our customer base, candidates should ideally be geographically based in the North of England.

Due to the nature of the role, extensive travel and regular overnight stays will be required. The role will also require participation in an on‑call rota, covering one weekend in every eight.

Service & Maintenance

• Perform preventative maintenance, inspections, and servicing of GEA homogenisers and centrifugal separation equipment.
• Carry out planned maintenance contracts in accordance with GEA service procedures and customer requirements.
• Conduct mechanical overhauls and rebuilds of rotating equipment, including:
• Bowl assemblies
• Spindles
• Gear drives
• Pump systems
• Hydraulic systems
• Homogenising valves and associated components
• Replace worn or defective parts and ensure equipment is restored to optimal performance.
• Produce detailed service reports documenting findings, repairs completed, and recommendations.

Fault Finding & Repairs

• Diagnose and rectify mechanical, electrical, hydraulic, and process-related faults.
• Respond to customer breakdowns and emergency service requests.
• Analyse equipment performance issues and provide practical solutions to maximise reliability and uptime.

Customer Support

• Build and maintain strong customer relationships through professional service delivery.
• Provide technical advice and operational guidance to customers.
• Identify opportunities for service agreements, upgrades, spare parts, and additional support services.
• Act as a technical ambassador for GEA at customer sites.

Health, Safety & Compliance

• Ensure all activities are performed in accordance with GEA and customer health and safety policies.
• Carry out risk assessments and comply with site‑specific safety procedures.
• Maintain company-issued tools, equipment, vehicles, and documentation to a professional standard.

Availability Requirements

• Some overtime and occasional weekend work to meet customer needs.
• Participation in regular engineering team meetings.
• Flexibility to support changing workloads in a fast-paced environment.

Your Profile / Qualifications

• Qualified to a minimum City & Guilds standard in Mechanical Engineering (or equivalent).
• Proven experience servicing industrial processing equipment within food, beverage, dairy, pharmaceutical, or process industries
• Strong mechanical knowledge is essential, with electrical knowledge considered a distinct advantage.
• Ability to interpret engineering drawings, schematics, and technical documentation.
• Solid understanding of health and safety practices within the workplace.
• Experience servicing and upgrading high‑pressure homogenisers, with typical pressure ranges from 100 to 2000 bar.
• Ideally familiar with the dairy, food and beverage, pharmaceutical, and chemical industries.
• Ability to work carefully, methodically, and safely, both independently and as part of a team.
• A full UK drivers licence is required for this role.
• Must have a valid Right to Work in the UK. Please note we are not able to offer visa sponsorship for this role.