Operations Technician in Edenbridge

Summary

The Operations Technician will operate a brewery wastewater treatment plant and all associated equipment to achieve water quality targets and maintain continuous plant operations without impacting customer production. The role focuses on ensuring water discharge compliance, driving operational excellence, and proposing improvements to safety, reliability, and efficiency. Work is scheduled within a 06:00‑22:00 shift pattern Monday‑Friday with on‑call weekend monitoring and possible shift flexibility.

Duties And Responsibilities

• Work within the client and NSI Health, Safety & Environment systems.
• Own HSE issues at all levels, promptly reporting any matters affecting the client or NSI.
• Monitor plant performance, adjust operations as needed, and conduct daily laboratory analysis on water samples.
• Write and update risk assessments and method statements.
• Contribute to solutions that minimise risk to the client, colleagues, and stakeholders.
• Complete assigned actions in a timely manner.
• Maintain professional relationships with Customer personnel, NSI, and subcontractor staff.
• Build recognition as a reliable O&M practitioner and achieve high plant performance.
• Identify operational gaps and submit improvement recommendations.
• Initial fault evaluation and recommendation for process changes or basic repairs.
• Set standards by demonstrating operational excellence across all activities.
• When on‑call, remotely monitor plant performance via an app and travel to site if issues cannot be resolved remotely.
• Respond to emergencies, including deployment requests to operational contracts.
• Gather system information, maintain plant logs, and interpret data for trend analysis.
• Utilise plant data to detect changes in system performance and propose corrective actions.
• Maintain good housekeeping practices and work unsupervised with a proactive attitude.
• Collaborate with the client and NSI staff, promote development of others, and demonstrate leadership.

Required Skills / Qualifications (Essential)

• Experience operating Water and/or Wastewater Treatment Plants.
• Experience conducting laboratory analysis.
• Experience maintaining mechanical equipment.
• Experience managing subcontractor activities and scheduling sub‑contract work.
• Ability to interpret technical information to effect plant changes.
• Work within a quality system.
• Ability to perform basic repairs and maintenance.
• IT literate.
• All required training provided for the right candidate.

Required Skills / Qualifications (Desirable)

• Completion of a competency‑based Water / Wastewater training programme.
• NVQ in a relevant discipline.
• Relevant training in Environmental Health and Safety.

Benefits and Working Conditions

• Salary Banding – Up to £31,000 (DOE).
• Hours – 40 hours per week, Monday to Sunday (shift pattern 06:00‑22:00, on‑call weekends).
• Shift Allowance – 10% of basic salary.
• Standby – £25 per day Friday to Sunday (currently one in three).
• Overtime – paid at 1.5 times basic rate.
• Holidays – 25 days + 8 statutory days.
• Probationary Period – 6 months.
• Pension – auto‑enrolled after 3 months; employee 5% and employer 5% via salary sacrifice.
• Private Healthcare – eligible after successful completion of probation.
• Death in Service benefit – 4 x basic salary and Group Income Protection upon commencement of employment.
• Notice – 1 week during probation, increasing to 1 month thereafter.

Equal Opportunity Employer Statement

Nijhuis Saur Industries UK & Ireland are an equal opportunity employer; we are committed to providing equal opportunities in all aspects of employment in line with the Equality Act 2010.