Controls Engineer

Location: based at our offices between Cheltenham and Tewkesbury, although there will be an amount of onsite work at our customer sites primarily in the UK, Europe, USA & Canada.

ALS Mechatronic is trusted globally by start-ups through to multinational powerhouses – ranging from dairies to pharmaceutical companies to help improve their efficiency and production capabilities with our state of the art, bespoke manufacturing machinery, and control systems. We typically automate end-of-line, repeatable labour-intensive processes at speed, by designing and building novel machinery, integrating robotics and vision inspection.

Testament to our global success is our prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise for International Trade, an honour awarded to us in 2021.

We’re expanding our operations and our solutions offerings as a result of increased customer demand and looking to appoint an experienced controls engineer. You’ll have the opportunity to bring our customers’ automation aspirations to life, working across a variety of industry sectors and on some ground-breaking projects. You must be able to programme from scratch and think on your feet.

A lot of what we do is typically bespoke to our customers and to date there’s not been an automation challenge we’ve not been able to support or walked away from.

The successful candidate will be self-motivated, tenacious, punctual, and able to manage their own time effectively. You’ll have high standards and be described as hard working, courteous, having a mature attitude and being a great team player.

Flexibility, pulling your weight and a can-do attitude are a must in order to fit in and become an integral part of our team.

This role comes with great career development opportunities for the right candidate!

The role:

Working as part of a closely-knit team, you will be required to work both in-house and on customers’ sites – mainly around the UK and Ireland but you should expect worldwide travel on occasion. It is rare that you will be expected to stay over a weekend, but this can happen, especially on overseas projects. You will be instrumental in the design / installation / service and manufacture of our bespoke control systems and machinery delivering the programming capabilities for single control panels but more often designing from scratch, intricate controls systems as part of larger / complete turnkey automation solutions working in close collaboration with our teams of mechanical and electrical design engineers.

Responsibilities include:

• Programming of PLC / Touch Screen / Network / SCADA
• Liaising with our internal panel builders to ensure the systems are built to the design spec
• On site installation and commissioning
• Service and fault find on existing systems
• Project management
• Ownership of certain customers projects from conception, design, build, customer delight!
• Training and mentoring other team members in control systems
• Ensuring all projects are delivered to the highest possible standards and in a timely fashion

To be considered for the role, you will be experienced in:

• Industrial Control Systems
• PLC programming (Allen Bradley / Siemens essential)
• Industrial networks (EtherNET, ProfiNET)
• Manufacturing industries / processes
• Liaising with customers/suppliers

Ideally, you will also have experience of the following (and therefore have an advantage):

• Working in foreign countries
• Experience of programming robotics
• EPLAN electrical design
• Plastics processing machinery
• Packaging systems

Key Requirements:

• Good eye for detail
• Great problem solver and tenacious
• An inquisitive mind
• Able to work autonomously and as part of a team
• The desire to learn and improve yourself
• Self-starter with the maturity to be able to work with minimal supervision but equally, knows when support is needed
• Fluent in English (second language is a plus)
• A ‘can do’ attitude (we’re a small but growing team – we don’t have room for divas!)
• Willingness to travel/work away from home on a regular basis (majority UK, but also abroad) – approx. 50%
• Full UK driving licence (with 3 penalty points or less)
• Presentable and articulate
• Be able to show evidence of your work/capability at interview
• Be eligible to work in the UK

If this sounds like you, then here’s what’s on offer:

• Remuneration: Good rate of pay in line with experience
• Opportunity to earn spot bonuses/awards for outstanding contributions
• Contributory Pension Scheme (after probationary period)
• 21 days holiday per annum plus statutory holidays
• Additional holiday for long service
• Private Health Insurance for you, your partner and children (after probationary period)
• Cycle to work scheme (after probationary period)
• Great colleagues
• Great opportunities for progression

Normal Hours: Monday-Thursday 08.00 to 17.00, Friday 08.00 to 14.00

(Note there may be occasional travel with longer hours)

Our location is fairly rural and not served by public transport, so own means of transport is essential.

You must be legally eligible to work in the UK, in order to apply or enquire. If you do not fulfil these criteria, you will be automatically rejected.

ALS Mechatronic welcome applications from all sections of the community irrespective of race, colour, gender, sexuality, age or disability.