Instrument Mechanician

Anglo American; Kathu; On-site; ZAR 420,000 - 640,000; Full time

Job summary

Anglo American in Kathu, Northern Cape, seeks an Instrumentation Technician to maintain and calibrate laboratory instrumentation and control elements. You will support 24/7 maintenance, liaise with stakeholders, and ensure safety and environmental standards are met within the Processing (PRO) department.

Requires 3–5 years of maintenance experience in iron ore laboratory environments, PLC/SCADA familiarity, and a technical diploma or higher.

Qualifications

• Minimum technical education with a strong instrumentation focus.
• Experience maintaining and calibrating instrumentation in industrial labs.
• Ability to program/understand PLCs and SCADA systems is preferred.
• Valid South African drivers license is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and calibrate instrumentation and control systems in processing and lab environments.
• Provide 24/7 maintenance support, including on-call duties and overtime when required.
• Liaise with operations and projects to supply technical input and support.
• Ensure compliance with safety, health and environmental policies and procedures.
• Support and administer LIMS and related data systems.
• Contribute to continuous improvement and cost-reduction initiatives.

Skills

Maintenance experience

Instrumentation knowledge

Education

Grade 12 / N3 Technical

Higher National qualification in Instrumentation & Control / Instrument Mechanician (NQF5)

Tools

Siemens S7 PLCs

InTouch SCADA

Prepmaster Control

SuperQ

TCM Control

Sartorius Loadcell

ABB Robotics

Herzog instrumentation system

Job description

Company Description

We have an exciting opportunity for Instrumentation Technician. The purpose of this role is to maintain the reliability and efficiency of instrumentation systems within laboratory operations by maintaining, calibrating, and supporting measurement devices and control elements.

We’re the best in the industry. You’ll make us better. Guided by our purpose and our values, we enable both high performance and purposeful action as we aim to “re-imagine mining to improve people’s lives”, delivering the metals and minerals that make modern life possible – from mobile phones to medicines.

Kumba Iron Ore

We produce high-grade iron ore, the key component in steel widely used in construction and manufacturing across the world. Our activities include all aspects – exploration; mining; processing and blending; shipping; marketing and selling. In South Africa, we have mining operations in the Northern Cape province, as well as a head office in Rosebank, Gauteng, and a port operation in Saldanha Bay, Western Cape.

Job Description

As Instrumentation Technician your responsibilities will include but not limited to:

Safety, Health, and Environment:

• Comply with the health, safety, and environmental requirements.
• Participate in relevant safety audits, inspections and observations and address issues to demonstrate safety leadership.

Maintenance & Support:

• Maintain equipment, machines, processes, and tools to ensure maximum availability.
• Meet required quality standards and timelines.
• Fulfil all system and administrative requirements.
• Provide 24/7 maintenance support, including overtime and standby duties.
• Support and administer the LIMS system.
• Perform first-line maintenance and support for network systems.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with stakeholders to achieve sectional goals.
• Liaise with stakeholders to offer technical support and input for operations and projects.
• Communicate relevant information to the supervisor accurately and promptly.

Daily Operations and Scheduling:

• Report daily schedule progress and previous day’s performance, risks, and urgent work.
• Review daily output, schedule, and task compliance.
• Communicate management instructions and ensure safety and plant deviations are addressed.
• Generate and sign off on Routine Operating Schedule changes when necessary.
• Monitor daily schedule compliance and resolve deviations.
• Communicate scheduled tasks and resource availability with subordinates.
• Return completed work orders to the Work Management Planner for closure or rescheduling.
• Escalate and address schedule risks according to the Operating Model procedure.
• Ensure personnel follow Operating Model procedures.
• Provide feedback on execution performance and coach personnel.

Weekly and Monthly Planning:

• Address weekly schedule compliance, reconciliation, and deviations.
• Sign off and return work orders to planners for closure.
• Handover work orders to supervisors per Operating Model procedure.
• Review draft weekly schedule and attend formal schedule review meetings.
• Forward risks and deviations to risk owners for sign-off.
• Monitor work order cost control in the Task Status Report.
• Review work order planning and input.
• Attach the Section Safety strategy to all work orders.

Pre-Planning and Compliance:

• Complete pre-planning in line with Operating Model procedures.
• Resolve safety and health-related incidents and outstanding actions during pre-planning.
• Document all instructions regarding services, quality, environmental, and safety.
• Record all managerial instructions in pre-planning.
• Conduct meetings with contractors working in the section.
• Support standards committee procedures and revisions.
• Ensure training and induction needs are current and properly scheduled.

Review and Continuous Improvement:

• Review KPIs, including safety incidents, output, services, and schedule compliance.
• Assess Routine Operating Schedule compliance.
• Review the month-end cost expenditure.
• Update responsibility plans and appointments.
• Evaluate high-risk tasks and actions.
• Review maintenance strategy.
• Compare measured and scheduled compliance monthly and identify improvement actions.
• Minimise costs by optimising resource functionality and availability.
• Manage overtime and standby call-outs within limits to achieve cost savings.

This role is in Processing (PRO) department on a Band 7 (C-Upper) level reporting to the Instrumentation Technologist.

Qualifications

• Grade 12 Certificate / N3 Technical
• Higher National qualification in Instrumentation & Control / Instrument Mechanician (NQF5)
• PLC & SCADA Programming is preferred
• SA Drivers Licence

Technical Knowledge

• 3 -5 years of maintenance experience in an Iron Ore Laboratory systems environment.
• Experience with Herzog instrumentation systems, such as Weight, Flow, and Level.
• Pressure, Pneumatics, Temperature and Position.
• Experience on Siemens S7 PLCs, Prepmaster Control, SuperQ and TCM Control, Sartorius Loadcell, ABB Robotics, InTouch SCADA and Variable Speed Drives systems

Additional Information

Who we are?

Anglo American is a global diversified mining business. Our portfolio of world-class mining operations provides the metals and minerals that make modern life possible. We use innovative practices and the latest technologies to discover new resources and mine.

We work together with our key partners and stakeholders to unlock the sustainable value that those resources represent for our shareholders, the communities and countries in which we operate and for society at large. Anglo American is re-imagining mining to improve people’s lives.

How We Are Committed To Your Safety

Nothing is more important to us than ensuring you return home safely after a day’s work. To make that happen, we have the most rigorous safety standards in the industry. Not only that, we’re also continually investing in new technologies – from drones to data analytics – that are helping to make mining safer.

Inclusion and Diversity

Anglo American is an equal opportunities employer. We are committed to promoting an inclusive and diverse workplace where we value and respect every colleague for who they are and provide equality of opportunity so that everyone can fulfil their potential.