Automation Engineer

Automation Engineer Location: Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Salary: £55,000 - £60,000 + Bonus + Excellent Benefits

Hours: Monday to Friday – Days (with some flexibility required)

Automation Engineer – Manufacturing Are you an experienced Automation Engineer looking for a Monday to Friday role where you can take ownership of site automation, lead exciting projects and drive continuous improvement?

A well-established and highly successful food manufacturing business is looking to recruit an Automation Engineer to join its engineering team. This is an excellent opportunity to play a key role in maintaining and developing automation systems within a fast-paced production environment while working on a variety of improvement and capital investment projects.

The Role Reporting into the Engineering Management team, you will be responsible for supporting, improving and developing the site's automation infrastructure, ensuring equipment reliability and delivering automation projects from concept through to completion.

Working closely with Engineering, Production and Technical teams, you will provide technical expertise, improve automation standards and mentor colleagues to increase automation knowledge across the site.

Key Responsibilities

Provide technical support for all PLC and automation systems across the site.

Diagnose and resolve automation and control system faults.

Lead automation upgrades, obsolescence programmes and capital investment projects.

Manage automation projects from initial design through to commissioning.

Work alongside suppliers and contractors to deliver engineering improvements.

Develop and maintain automation documentation, software backups and control standards.

Coach and develop engineering colleagues to improve automation capability.

Support continuous improvement initiatives to increase efficiency, reliability and performance.

Ensure compliance with all Health & Safety, Food Safety and Environmental standards.

Participate in emergency support when required to maximise plant availability. The Ideal Candidate You will be an experienced Automation Engineer with strong PLC knowledge and a passion for continuous improvement.

You will ideally have:

HNC or equivalent qualification in an Engineering discipline, or a completed engineering apprenticeship with relevant experience.

Proven experience within an automation engineering role in a manufacturing environment.

Strong electrical engineering and control systems knowledge.

Experience working with Siemens PLCs as a minimum.

Knowledge of TIA Portal would be advantageous.

Experience with other PLC platforms such as Mitsubishi GX Works, Omron CX Programmer or Rockwell Automation would be beneficial.

Experience delivering engineering and automation projects.

Knowledge of MES systems, operational technology or energy management systems would be advantageous.

Experience coaching and supporting maintenance teams in automation best practice.

Understanding of continuous improvement methodologies.

Knowledge of food manufacturing or other highly regulated manufacturing environments would be beneficial.

Experience managing project budgets, CAPEX expenditure and contractor relationships. What's on Offer?

Salary of £55,000 - £60,000

Annual bonus scheme

Private healthcare package

Health cash plan

Digital GP service

Enhanced pension contribution

25 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Option to purchase additional annual leave

Employee discount and wellbeing platform

Ongoing training and career development

Monday to Friday days role

Excellent long-term career prospects within a growing manufacturing business If you're looking for an opportunity to make a genuine impact within a modern manufacturing environment and want to develop your career with a business that invests heavily in its people and technology, we'd love to hear from you