Maintenance Engineer

Yolk Recruitment Ltd; Bridgwater; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading recruitment agency is looking for a Maintenance Engineer to join a rapidly growing textile manufacturer in Bridgwater. This role involves maintaining and optimising carding machinery, ensuring stable production. Candidates should have hands-on experience with carding equipment and an NVQ Level 3 in Mechanical Engineering. The position offers a competitive salary of £50,000 to £60,000, along with generous perks including relocation support and ample holidays.

Benefits

Up to £8,000 relocation support

22 days holiday + 8 bank holidays

Pension – 4% employer / 5% employee

Full company uniform

On-site parking

Access to Wellbeing 360

Qualifications

• Proven hands-on experience with carding machinery is essential.
• Strong mechanical fault-finding and strip-down ability required.
• Experience working within textiles, nonwovens or fibre-processing environments.

Responsibilities

• Maintain, repair, and optimise carding machinery.
• Perform planned preventative maintenance on carding machines.
• Diagnose faults across the carding lines.

Skills

Hands-on experience with carding machinery

Mechanical fault-finding

Good electrical awareness

Education

NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering

Tools

Trützschler

Spinnbau

Herguth

TAM

Job description

Maintenance Engineer

Days (Monday-Friday) or shift based will be considered

£50,000 + Shift Premium

Bridgwater, Somerset

Are you a time‑served mechanical engineer with hands‑on carding experience? Do you understand fibre behaviour, machine tolerances and the fine adjustments needed to keep carding lines running smoothly?

Yolk Recruitment are supporting a rapidly growing textile manufacturer who have increased turnover by more than 150% in five years. With continued investment across the site, they're looking for a Carding Maintenance Engineer to take ownership of carding machinery performance, reliability and quality. This is a rare opportunity in the South West to join a specialist process‑driven manufacturer where your carding experience genuinely matters.

This is what you'll be doing

You'll be responsible for maintaining, repairing and optimising a range of carding machinery and fibre‑processing equipment. Your work will ensure stable production, consistent web formation and minimal downtime.

Responsibilities include:

1. Carrying out planned preventative maintenance (PPM) on carding machines
2. Responding to mechanical and electrical breakdowns across the carding lines
3. Diagnosing faults on cylinders, strippers, doffers, workers, lickers‑in, feed systems and delivery sections
4. Performing alignment, clearance setting, tensioning and fine adjustments to maintain fibre flow and web quality
5. Working on machinery such as Trützschler, Spinnbau, Herguth, TAM or similar carding equipment
6. Supporting rebuilds, strip‑downs and card clothing changes as required
7. Collaborating closely with production teams to resolve quality issues and improve machine performance
8. Contributing to root cause analysis, asset care and continuous improvement activity
9. Sharing knowledge with apprentices, fellow engineers and operators to build internal capability
10. Ensuring all work is completed safely and in line with company procedures

Experience & Qualifications

Essential:

• Proven hands‑on experience with carding machinery (standard cards, strippers, or equivalent)
• NVQ Level 3 or equivalent in Mechanical Engineering
• Strong mechanical fault‑finding and strip‑down ability
• Good electrical awareness (motors, sensors, drives, inverters)
• Experience working within textiles, nonwovens or fibre‑processing environments
• Ability to work independently and diagnose machine performance issues
• Understanding of web formation, fibre movement and carding tolerances

Desirable:

• Experience with Trützschler, Spinnbau, Herguth, TAM or similar brands
• Apprenticeship in carding or textile engineering
• Exposure to continuous improvement or reliability projects

And this is what you'll get in return:

• £50,000 - £60,000 basic salary
• Up to £8,000 relocation support for candidates moving to the Bridgwater area
• 22 days holiday + 8 bank holidays (rising to 25 with service)
• Christmas & New Year shutdown
• Pension – 4% employer / 5% employee
• Full company uniform
• On‑site parking
• Access to Wellbeing 360 – discounts, GP services, wellbeing tools and more
• Bike2Work scheme
• A secure long‑term role with a financially strong and growing manufacturer

Are you up to the challenge?

If this sounds like the right fit, I'd love to hear from you. Please get in touch today with engineering specialist recruiter Liam Reid.

Apply with your CV – and feel free to include a short note about your experience with carding machinery. We also offer a referral scheme if you know someone suitable.

Please note: due to the high volume of applications, we may not be able to contact everyone. If you haven't heard back within 7 days, please assume you have not been shortlisted on this occasion.