ICA (Instrumentation, Control & Automation) Technician

Thames Water; City Of London; On-site; GBP 47,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading water utility company in London is seeking an experienced ICA technician to join their team. You will be responsible for installing and maintaining plant equipment, ensuring adherence to safety standards, while contributing to the company's efforts to reduce environmental impact. The ideal candidate should have a strong background in control systems and effective communication skills. This role offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits.

Benefits

Salary up to £47,000 per annum

Contributory pension – Defined Contribution

24 days annual leave, increasing to 28

Performance-related pay plan

Access to health and wellbeing benefits

Qualifications

• Qualified to HNC level or NVQ level 3 (or equivalent) in instrumentation, control and automation.
• Practical understanding of operational plant and control systems is essential.
• Experience with calibration and maintenance of front-line instrumentation.

Responsibilities

• Install, modify, and commission new plant equipment to relevant standards.
• Carry out instrumentation, control, and automation maintenance on wastewater assets.
• Provide specialist technical advice and coach staff under supervision.

Skills

Operational plant and control systems understanding

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Team player

Education

HNC level or NVQ level 3 in instrumentation, control and automation

18th Edition (BS7671) qualification

Tools

Wonderware

ClearSCADA

PLC programming (Rockwell & Alan Bradley)

Job description

We currently have an opportunity for an experienced instrumentation, control & automation (ICA) technician across London and the Thames Valley.

As a successful candidate, you will be working with multi-disciplinary teams, alongside a range of operational teams such as systems, mechanical and electrical technicians.

You will be responsible for installing, modifying, and commissioning new plant equipment to relevant standards. Diagnose and repair faults on systems and plants.

Proactively identifying and reporting works for enhancement and delivering cost-effective improvements to assets and systems.

Role Overview

This is an excellent opportunity to make a real difference to Thames Water's environmental impact, and you will be actively helping to reduce pollution from our sites.

Responsibilities

• Ensuring the health, safety and well-being of yourself, colleagues, contractors, and visitors is always your top priority by displaying the correct behaviours at all times, by complying with the Health and Safety at Work regulations and Thames Water’s Health and Safety guidelines.
• Carrying out instrumentation, control and automation maintenance on a variety of wastewater assets, including planned maintenance and defect maintenance, along with installing, modifying and commissioning new plant equipment to relevant standards, and diagnosing and repairing faults on systems and plants. Proactively identifying and reporting follow-up work or areas for enhancement.
• Record work and asset information to improve business performance, along with identifying possible future risks and recommending changes in the course of your day-to-day work and to raise these for resolution as required.
• Provide specialist technical advice where appropriate, with up-to-date technical knowledge, along with coaching, training and developing staff under their supervision, including the apprenticeship programme.
• To deliver an excellent customer experience and positively contribute to overall customer satisfaction. Interacting with all of our customers (internal & external) in a timely, professional, efficient, respectful and polite manner.

Requirements

To thrive in this role, the essential criteria you’ll need are:

• Ideally, you will be qualified to HNC level or otherwise NVQ level 3 (or equivalent) in an instrumentation, control and automation discipline.
• Preferable for you to have an 18th Edition (BS7671) qualification.
• A good, practical understanding of operational plant and control systems is essential.
• An understanding of Wonderware and ClearSCADA is desirable.
• Knowledge and experience working with relay logic and PLCs (Rockwell & Alan Bradley), which will include management and programming.
• The ideal candidate will have the ability to read and fault-find from circuit diagrams, as well as have previous experience with inverter drives.
• We are looking for someone with experience in calibration and maintenance of front-line instrumentation.
• A problem solver, able to identify potential issues and implement solutions, or escalate if required.
• An excellent communicator, providing technical expertise to Internal and External staff and contractors.
• Resilient, adapting to the pressures of work and working in a constantly changing environment.
• Ability to work with minimum supervision, under own initiative to design and standards.
• Knowledge and awareness of Health and Safety issues relevant to the industry.
• Team player who can work in many different teams, showing respect for others, providing helpful feedback and supporting the development of others.
• Full UK driving licence.

Benefits

- Offering a salary up to £47,000 per annum, depending on skills and experience, plus a company van, tools, and PPE.

- Contributory pension – Defined Contribution - Maximum of 12% -2x employee contribution.

- Annual Leave: 24 days holiday per year, increasing to 28 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)

- Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.

- Generous Pension Scheme through AON.

- Generous Paternity Leave, including 4 weeks paid and an optional 2 weeks unpaid.

- Enhanced Maternity Leave, 26 weeks full pay and 13 weeks half pay!

- Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Company Overview

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive.

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.