Field Service Engineer – Automation

Field Service Engineer – Automation | South Africa

Employ Global | Packaging and Industrial Equipment
Base: Work from home anywhere in South Africa; head office in Johannesburg
Travel: Extensive customer-site travel, often more than 80% of working time

Put your Siemens PLC skills to work where equipment performance matters. Employ Global is recruiting an Automation Field Service Engineer for an international industrial equipment business serving food, beverage and other manufacturing customers.

The opportunity

You will install, commission, maintain and troubleshoot automated equipment at customer sites, with a particular focus on service support, equipment reliability, tunnel equipment and related systems. Combining practical electrical and controls expertise with a customer-focused approach, you will help customers bring equipment into service and resolve the issues that affect production performance.

Most of your work will take place at customer plants, with some back-office support for field-service and technical support colleagues. You will work across different industrial environments and have opportunities to develop your equipment knowledge with technical training and support.

Your responsibilities

• Carry out equipment installation, start-up, commissioning and final testing, specialising in automation and control systems.
• Diagnose PLC, HMI and electrical control issues and implement effective corrective actions.
• Test equipment performance against technical, contractual and safety requirements.
• Investigate automation faults using root cause analysis and support recovery and preventive improvement plans.
• Identify, document and follow through on non-conformities, communicating clearly with customers and technical colleagues.
• Understand customer requirements, provide practical technical advice and support users during service interventions.
• Maintain job progress records and prepare clear weekly technical reports.
• Work safely at customer sites and collaborate with multidisciplinary teams across international environments.

What you will bring

• A relevant technical qualification or technical-school background in electrical, electronic or automation disciplines.
• Practical Siemens PLC programming experience, including S7, SCL and TIA Portal.
• Approximately three to five years of relevant automation, field-service or maintenance experience. Technician and engineer profiles across junior to senior levels will be considered against the technical requirements.
• Experience installing, commissioning and maintaining industrial equipment.
• A sound understanding of electrical safety systems, sensors, motion control, servo drives and inverters.
• Familiarity with Siemens and Allen-Bradley HMI systems and Zenon applications.
• Good written and spoken English, with the ability to explain technical issues clearly to customers and colleagues.
• Willingness and ability to undertake extensive travel, often exceeding 80% of working time, and adapt to different customer sites and international environments.

Helpful, but not essential

• An electronics engineering degree.
• Experience with bottlewashers, pasteurisers or comparable packaging and process equipment.
• Allen-Bradley PLC programming experience.
• French language skills.

Location and working arrangements

This is a work-from-home role open to candidates based anywhere in South Africa, supported by a Johannesburg head office. Customer-site travel may exceed 80% of working time. Travel territories, remuneration, employment terms and start date will be confirmed during recruitment. Work authorisation and any site-specific requirements will be discussed before appointment.

Selection process

The process is expected to include an initial talent acquisition interview followed by a technical assessment, then an interview with the relevant managers. A further office-based meeting may be arranged where practical, but is not essential.

Apply

Apply online with your CV, current location and availability. Please highlight your Siemens PLC programming, commissioning and troubleshooting experience, together with the equipment and control platforms you have worked on.

Equal opportunity and inclusion

Employ Global welcomes applications from suitably qualified candidates of all backgrounds and supports equal opportunity in recruitment. Selection is based on relevant skills, experience and the ability to perform the role, with reasonable adjustments where needed. Please tell us if you require an adjustment during the recruitment process.