Combustion & Controls Lead Engineer

Job Summary: Responsible for the Control & Combustion activities and performance.

Front line management of day Control & Combustion technicians. This role has elements of engineering management and direct ‘on-the-tools’ engineering support. You will be highly motivated, with a ‘can do’ attitude towards your work, as well as having a degree of flexibility to help meet business needs and market demands. You will be a major exponent of Health and safety practices, with a strong focus towards work quality and plant standards. Subject matter expert for the plant and equipment.

Main Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Facilitating day to day control & combustion activities with a focus on proactive maintenance activities as well as support on reactive activities (hands-on engineering problem solving).
2. Managing and delivering mandatory compliance activities to support operations such as Thermal Uniformity Surveys (TUS), Calibrations and System Accuracy Tests (SAT).
3. Understanding complex electrical and control systems such as PLCs, Burner Management Systems and systems interfacing with the site IT network, with the ability to diagnose problems, perform safety & quality risk assessments and effect repairs quickly and safely.
4. Leading the development and implementation of PPM schedules to achieve maximum machine availability and reliability.
5. Utilising the site CMMS system for generation, management and scheduling of maintenance activities.
6. Providing technical and hands-on support for breakdowns and the ability to collate breakdown data/information for further analysis and priority setting.
7. Accountability for driving housekeeping and 6S standards and other established working standards.
8. Leading key continuous improvement activities such as Problem-Solving Reports and Root Cause Analysis.
9. Carrying out both reactive and proactive maintenance activities across the Melt Shop and Engineered Products site, including work on Vacuum Induction Melting Furnaces (VIM), Vacuum Arc Remelting Furnaces (VAR), Electroslag Remelting Furnaces (ESR), gas fired heat treatment and annealing furnaces, and a variety of other plant and equipment.
10. Front line management of the day Control & Combustion technicians ensuring adequate site engineering cover and engineering capability (skills).
11. Making effective engineering decisions to prioritise activities, assess the safety and condition of plant and equipment, and diagnose engineering issues.
12. Coaching and developing engineering technicians.
13. Understanding of natural gas and burner management systems and associated health and safety requirements.
14. Attending and contributing towards daily and weekly planned maintenance meetings/plant priority reviews.
15. Identifying/specifying and ordering engineering parts.
16. Ensuring that all on-stock parts required are booked out correctly and recorded as necessary.

Skills Experience and Qualification Desirable:

1. A relevant academic or vocational qualification and/or an appropriate apprenticeship.
2. Experience and knowledge in control and/or combustion engineering and the willingness to upskill in weaker areas.
3. Experience in a team lead role.
4. Experience of furnace mechanics and their control systems.
5. Experience of control logic, PLCs and PID theory.
6. Deep understanding of common types of instrumentation and their working principles.
7. Ability to interpret engineering drawings and process trend recordings.

The position also includes a bonus of up to 10% OTE £60k+