Maintenance Engineer

I am recruiting on behalf of my client for a hands-on Maintenance Engineer to join their in-house production operation in Southampton on a permanent, full-time basis, with a salary of £40,000–£48,000.
Following the move of production in-house, the site now operates three fully automated production lines manufacturing and packaging cleaners, waxes, lubricants and other liquid products. This is an excellent opportunity for a practical Maintenance Engineer who enjoys being close to the machinery, solving problems and taking ownership of equipment performance.

As the Maintenance Engineer, you will play a key role in keeping production running safely and efficiently, covering breakdowns, fault finding, preventative maintenance, machine setup and product changeovers.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Responding to machine breakdowns across automated production lines.
• Diagnosing mechanical, electrical and automation-related faults.
• Carrying out practical repairs to restore production safely and efficiently.
• Troubleshooting recurring problems and identifying root causes.
• Resolving issues including machine alignment, leaks, packaging faults and production stoppages.
• Ordering replacement components and critical spares to minimise downtime.
• Developing and supporting planned preventative maintenance activities.
• Establishing maintenance schedules and maintaining accurate engineering records.
• Supporting machine setup, adjustments and product and packaging changeovers.
• Improving the consistency and repeatability of equipment changeovers.
• Learning the operation and technical requirements of machinery across all three production lines.
• Documenting equipment settings, known faults and effective solutions.
• Developing clear machine manuals and working instructions.
• Supporting Root Cause Analysis and implementing improvements to equipment reliability, safety and productivity.
• Working alongside Production to reduce downtime and improve changeover times.
• Guiding and supporting existing machine setters through practical coaching and knowledge sharing.

I am looking for a Maintenance Engineer with strong hands-on experience gained within an automated manufacturing or production environment. Relevant backgrounds could include packaging, chemical manufacturing, FMCG, food and beverage, cosmetics, consumer products or automated manufacturing.
The successful candidate will ideally demonstrate:

• Hands-on maintenance experience within manufacturing or production.
• Strong mechanical fault-finding skills.
• Experience with automated or semi-automated production equipment.
• Practical experience repairing production machinery.
• Machine setup and product changeover experience.
• A methodical approach to fault diagnosis and the ability to work effectively under production pressure.
• Confidence working directly on machinery and production lines.
• Strong communication skills when supporting operators and machine setters.
• Electrical fault-finding experience would be advantageous.
• Knowledge of pneumatics, sensors and actuators, variable-speed drives or PLC/HMI fault diagnosis would be beneficial.
• Experience with filling, capping, labelling, conveyor or packaging machinery would be particularly relevant.
• Previous exposure to preventative maintenance, Root Cause Analysis and Continuous Improvement would be advantageous.

This Maintenance Engineer position will suit someone practical, calm under pressure and confident troubleshooting equipment within a busy production environment. You should enjoy taking ownership of engineering problems and finding practical solutions rather than simply escalating issues.
The Maintenance Engineer will also have the opportunity to influence how equipment is maintained and operated, helping build stronger engineering knowledge across the production team as the in-house manufacturing operation continues to develop.
The package includes:

• £40,000–£48,000 salary.
• Permanent position.
• Full-time employment.
• Southampton location.
• Hands-on role working with three fully automated production lines.
• Opportunity to contribute to maintenance standards, machine reliability and continuous improvement within a developing in-house production operation.

If you are an experienced Maintenance Engineer looking for a hands-on opportunity where you can take ownership of machinery, fault finding and equipment improvement, please contact me to discuss the position.
Ian Broadhurst
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[email removed]