Automation & Engineering Lead - Beverages, PET, and Noodles
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- Kiambu
- Permanent
- Full-time
- Provide overall leadership and accountability for the engineering function across the Beverages, PET, and Noodles production lines at Our Client Industrial Park.
- Oversee all engineering and maintenance operations to ensure high equipment reliability and plant availability.
- Lead the engineering team in implementing best practices in preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance programs.
- Provide advanced technical expertise in electrical, electronic, instrumentation, and automation systems, particularly within Krones bottling lines, with preference for experience in Krones Combi Block Model C3.
- Diagnose and resolve complex electrical, instrumentation, and automation faults across production equipment.
- Ensure periodic automation program backups and maintain accurate technical documentation for plant systems.
- Implement proactive and predictive maintenance strategies to ensure optimal machine uptime and operational reliability.
- Drive improvements to reduce Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) and increase Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF).
- Maintain accurate records of maintenance history, machinery performance, and spares consumption.
- Support manufacturing operations to achieve production efficiency above 85% while maintaining process wastage below 1%.
- Work closely with production teams to ensure seamless coordination between engineering and manufacturing operations.
- Identify operational bottlenecks and recommend engineering solutions to improve throughput and productivity.
- Conduct breakdown analysis and root cause analysis (RCA) for equipment failures and process disruptions.
- Develop and implement corrective and preventive action plans to prevent recurrence of technical issues.
- Drive continuous improvement initiatives including Kaizen, digitalization, and process optimization across the engineering function.
- Ensure effective engineering spares inventory management, maintaining optimal stock levels to support uninterrupted operations.
- Manage vendor relationships for procurement of engineering components and services.
- Support vendor development, evaluation, and finalization for engineering materials and technical support services.
- Lead engineering support for plant expansion, upgrades, and development projects.
- Manage engineering projects including automation improvements, equipment upgrades, and new line installations.
- Ensure projects are delivered within agreed timelines, budgets, and technical specifications.
- Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Instrumentation Engineering, or Automation Engineering.
- Minimum 8–12 years of relevant experience, preferably within FMCG manufacturing or beverage bottling operations.
- Strong hands-on experience with Krones bottling lines, with preference for Krones Combi Block Model C3.
- Proven expertise in automation systems, instrumentation, electrical systems, and production line troubleshooting.
- Demonstrated experience in predictive maintenance, reliability engineering, and plant performance improvement.
- Advanced automation and control systems expertise
- Strong analytical and root cause analysis skills
- Leadership and team management capability
- Strong problem-solving and decision-making ability
- Project management and execution skills
- Continuous improvement and operational excellence mindset
- Strong stakeholder engagement and cross-functional collaboration skills