Shift Engineer in Northampton

Salary: £55,000+ per annum, plus 10% night shift allowance

Working Hours: Average 37.540 hours per week on a rotating shift pattern: 06:00-14:00, 08:00-16:00, 14:00-22:00, 22:00-06:00 (Sunday-Thursday nights). On-call cover operates on a rotating basis, approximately one weekend in four.

Holiday: 26 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Benefits:

• Company pension with employer-matched contributions
• Private healthcare cash plan
• Employee discounts platform
• Ongoing training and development opportunities

The Opportunity:

We are recruiting for an experienced Multi-Skilled Shift Engineer with a strong electrical bias to join a busy manufacturing site. The successful candidate will play a key role in maintaining production equipment, improving reliability, supporting continuous improvement initiatives, and ensuring all engineering activities are completed safely and efficiently. This position would suit an apprentice-trained engineer with experience in a fast-paced manufacturing environment, ideally within food, FMCG or another highly regulated industry.

Key Responsibilities:

• Carry out planned preventative maintenance (PPM) and reactive maintenance across production equipment.
• Diagnose and rectify electrical and mechanical faults to minimise downtime.
• Maintain accurate maintenance records using the site's Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS).
• Perform root cause analysis and implement permanent corrective actions.
• Support production teams to maximise equipment availability and efficiency.
• Review contractor risk assessments and method statements (RAMS) where required and issue permits to work.
• Ensure all maintenance activities comply with company safe systems of work, risk assessments and health & safety procedures.
• Complete dynamic risk assessments where necessary.
• Ensure maintenance documentation, operating manuals and technical information remain up to date and accessible.
• Maintain engineering workshops and plant areas to high housekeeping standards.
• Participate in continuous improvement projects to improve plant reliability, efficiency and performance.
• Support environmental initiatives aimed at reducing waste, energy usage and carbon footprint.

Key Objectives:

• Maintain an excellent health and safety record.
• Deliver preventative maintenance schedules on time.
• Reduce equipment downtime and increase plant reliability.
• Support production to achieve operational targets.
• Promote a strong food safety and quality culture.
• Contribute towards continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Achieve engineering KPIs relating to reliability, response times and maintenance completion.

Skills & Technical Experience:

Essential:

• Apprentice-trained Multi-Skilled Engineer with an electrical bias.
• Experience fault finding on PLC-controlled (Allen Bradley) machinery, HMIs and automated production equipment.
• Knowledge of preventative and predictive maintenance techniques.
• Experience using CMMS maintenance systems.
• Strong electrical and mechanical fault-finding ability.
• Excellent understanding of health and safety within a manufacturing environment.

Desirable:

• Experience managing contractors.
• Knowledge of SCADA or Distributed Control Systems (DCS).
• Instrument calibration experience.
• Experience within food manufacturing or another hygienic production environment.
• Experience of CHP, utilities or wastewater treatment plant equipment.

Qualifications:

Essential:

• Recognised Engineering Apprenticeship.
• Level 3 qualification (City & Guilds or NVQ) in Electrical, Mechanical or Multi-Skilled Engineering.

Desirable:

• HNC or HND in Engineering.
• 18th Edition Electrical Regulations.
• IOSH Managing Safely or NEBOSH qualification.
• CompEx certification.

What We're Looking For:

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong ownership and accountability.
• A proactive, hands-on approach to maintenance.
• Excellent fault-finding and problem-solving skills.
• Strong planning and organisational ability.
• A continuous improvement mindset.
• The ability to work independently while contributing positively within a team.
• A commitment to safe working practices and operational excellence.

This is an excellent opportunity to join a well-established manufacturing business offering long-term stability, investment in engineering, and opportunities for professional development.