Electrical & Instrumentation Technician

Dairy Farmers of America; Garden City (KS); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Dairy Farmers of America is seeking an Electrical and Instrumentation Technician to troubleshoot and maintain plant process control systems, instrumentation, and electrical networks. You will support automation technologies, calibrate instruments, manage calibration records, and assist in minor to major projects with the automation team.

The role requires familiarity with CMMS, PLCs, HMI, and VFDs, plus a safety-first mindset aligned with GMPs and LOTO policies.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or equivalent.
• Experience with IT/OT environments in a plant setting.
• Ability to read Electrical/Mechanical drawings and P&ID's.

Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot and maintain plant instrumentation and electrical control systems.
• Calibrate instrumentation and maintain calibration documentation.
• Maintain OT/IT systems including servers and networking devices.
• Assist with PLC/HMI software changes and automation projects.
• Promote safe working environment following plant GMPs and LOTO procedures.
• Coordinate with maintenance to plan shutdowns and preventive maintenance.

Skills

Instrumentation

Electrical

Maintenance

CMMS

IT/OT

PLC

HMI

VFDs

P&ID reading

Safety compliance

Education

High School Diploma

Industrial Instrumentation Degree

Tools

SCADA

CMMS

Networking

PLC programming

Job description

General Purpose:

The general purpose of the Electrical and Instrumentation Technician is to provide troubleshooting and maintenance as directed in respect to plant process control systems, related instrumentation and electrical networks, as well as all related automation technologies. Technician will repair, calibrate, troubleshoot and maintain plant instrumentation, electrical control systems, peripheral devices such as Servers or applications, as well as industrial networks. Position will provide technical assistance to plant maintenance and operations personnel on a day-to-day basis. This position is expected to promote a safe working environment, maintain a sanitary food environment while following plant GMP's, and strive to improve product quality.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Performs work requiring a thorough knowledge of instrument application, operation and calibration of the electrical and mechanical principles involved in repair, testing and calibration of plant instruments.
• Manage and maintain instrument calibration documentation while working with Maintenance department to follow CMMS corrective and preventative maintenance plans.
• Perform corrective and preventative maintenance for plant electrical power distribution and monitoring devices, VFD drives and motor control circuits.
• Evaluate and provide recommendations of MRO spares inventory for instrumentation and electrical devices and components. performs processes to ensure accurate inventory control.
• Performs preventive and predictive maintenance including calibration, data collection, bench and installed testing utilizing diagnostic tools, and computerized maintenance management systems
• Investigate equipment failures and participate in plant A3 to determine root cause of failures and plant downtime, and deploy solutions as requested to eliminate repeat failures.
• Participate in the planning and execution of minor and major plant shutdowns.
• Maintain plant OT/IT systems such as networking devices, servers, and software for maximum efficiency and uptime.
• Maintain, implement, and commission software changes as directed by automation team on PLC, HMI and PC-based automation systems with particular focus on Advanced Process Technologies and Automation networks. Assist in the evaluation of process management systems and related architectures.
• As an integral member of the plant maintenance and operations team, participate in site automation department on-call to support operations reliability/availability.
• Ability to work with both technical and non-technical personnel (internal and external of DFA) on instrumentation and control, electrical assets, OT/IT systems and infrastructure.
• Demonstrate sound hands-on understanding of instrumentation and electrical assets and infrastructure and ability to troubleshoot problems.
• Work with maintenance and operations personnel to scope, review, commission and troubleshoot new project installs.
• Ability to read and understand technical documents (Electrical/Mechanical drawings, P&ID's, Process Functional Descriptions, Control Narratives, etc.).
• Promote a safety-conscious Company Culture and follows all DFA policies, procedures, and standards such as LOTO, Fall Protection, NFPA 70E, as well as proper PPE.

Minimum Qualifications:

Education and Experience

• High School Diploma or equivalent
• Computer Science or Industrial Instrumentation Degree preferred but not required

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Must have good work history. Relevant training will be provided
• Experience or interest in IT/OT department environment
• Microsoft Office skills required including Outlook, Excel, Projects
• Industrial Network experience preferred
• Organized and self-motivated individual
• Drug testing / background must be cleared.

Reporting to this Position:

• None

Travel:

No travel required

5%-15% (1-3 times per year)

15%-25% (1-2 times per quarter)

25%-50% (up to 1 week per month)

50%-75% (up to 2 weeks per month)

75%-100% (3+ weeks per month)

Scope:

• None

See last page for Physical Demands

Sensory Demands

Verbal Communication Touch Smell

Hear Reading

Taste Writing

Vision

Close vision (clear vision at 20 inches or less)

Distance vision (clear vision at 20 feet or more)

Color vision (ability to identify and distinguish color)

Peripheral vision (ability to observe an area that can be seen up and down or to the left and right while eyes are fixed on a given point)

Depth perception (three-dimensional vision, ability to judge distances and spatial relationships)

An Equal Opportunity Employer