Instrumentation Technician – East London Factory

About the role

As an Instrumentation Technician at Nestlé's East London factory, you will support continuous improvement initiatives by ensuring all instrumentation is calibrated, maintained, and compliant with food‑safety standards. You will report daily to the Automation Engineer and play a key part in keeping production assets running at peak performance.

Key responsibilities

• Perform preventive maintenance and calibration of critical control point (CCP) equipment such as metal detectors, X‑ray systems, and date‑coding devices.
• Diagnose and repair instrumentation faults, breakdowns, and VSD issues to minimise downtime.
• Install, service, and commission new instrumentation and control equipment.
• Execute fault‑finding and programming on PLCs, VSDs, and related devices.
• Support TPM and continuous‑improvement projects by providing technical input and data.

Required profile

• Minimum 3 years of hands‑on instrumentation experience, preferably in an FMCG environment.
• Tertiary qualification in Instrumentation; mandatory Trade Certificate (red seal) in Instrumentation.
• Relevant N6/S4 qualification in Instrumentation, Digital Electronics or Electrical Engineering.
• Ability to read and interpret engineering drawings.
• Strong communication skills and a sense of urgency while maintaining safety and product quality.

Required skills

• Calibration of CCP equipment (metal detectors, X‑ray, date‑coding).
• Allen Bradley PLC programming and troubleshooting.
• Variable Speed Drive (VSD) maintenance.
• Hazardous‑area rating knowledge and installations.
• Controls systems, data interfaces and communications protocols.
• Process control through PLC systems.
• Fault‑finding and programming on instrumentation equipment.
• Reading engineering drawings.