Instrumentation Engineer / Technician

Salary: £36,000 per year

Job Title: Instrumentation Engineer/Technician

Birchwood Park, Warrington (near Manchester)

Employment Category: Full Time (37.5 hours per week)

Salary/Benefits: £36,000 with excellent benefits including 25 days annual leave plus statutory holidays, additional leave purchase, up to 8% matched pension contribution, health care, life assurance and more

• Are you an electrical/electronic engineer/technician with a background in instrumentation maintenance/calibration?

• Do you have an understanding of motor drives, controls, telemetry or vacuum instrumentation – or have a willingness to learn?

• Are you self-motivated, and wanting to work in a research/development environment?

• Able to work within ISO 9001 or EN/AS9100:2018 procedures when required for calibration or test, but happy to use your judgement and initiative in fault-diagnosis/repair tasks and, if necessary, be trained to work to European space soldering standards?

• Do you want a varied, challenging and satisfying career working within an internationally renowned team?

• Do you expect to be recognised for your performance?

The Company

Our client is a leading Science and Engineering services company providing independent and specialist technical consultancy, products and services to the Oil & Gas, Space & vacuum, Industrial and Transport markets.

Operating primarily within our client’s space and vacuum team which focusses on the research and development/test of mechanisms and lubricants for space and vacuum, but with the flexibility to support electrical, instrumentation or test activities for other parts of our business, we are seeking an experienced electrical/ electronics engineer/technician to carry out instrumentation and test activities.

The Role

This is a suitable for a candidate with HND, Degree or equivalent background and a few years of experience in a relevant discipline.

Reporting to our Space Group PA Manager, the role will primarily require the provision of electrical/ electronics support to maintenance, calibration, setup and use of research and development instrumentation and test rigs, as well as electrical support for the maintenance of cleanroom infrastructure and specialist vacuum equipment.

The work is extremely varied, requiring setup, commissioning and fault diagnosis of test facilities, execution of in-house calibrations of equipment, as well as responsibility for arranging external calibrations.

The role also requires the ability to read and create basic electronic designs and PCB layouts and to manufacture/maintain dedicated “special to type” laboratory equipment (for example simple motor drives/switch boxes/trip systems etc).

Previous experience of test/measurement within vacuum /UHV systems would be helpful (but not essential), however, a sound understanding of control and instrumentation principles (e.g., servo motors, stepper motors and encoders), and the use of piezo-electric force/torque transducers, charge amplifiers, thermistors/thermocouples/RTD’s, strain gauges etc would be highly beneficial. The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate good mechanical and electrical assembly methods and practices, including digital interfacing techniques and be prepared to work within an ISO Class 7 cleanroom whilst maintaining appropriate cleanliness standards. In addition, from time-to-time, the successful candidate will be required to support the execution of thermal vacuum or other development tests, working within an EN/AS 9100:2018 quality system.

You will be located at our modern offices in Warrington, with a mixture of desk-based and laboratory/cleanroom work.

Some travel may occasionally be required to visit clients, suppliers and other project partners mainly within the UK.

Requirements

The successful candidate will need to be self-motivated, able to prioritise work and learn quickly whilst working alongside experienced colleagues of various disciplines. It is essential that the candidate is:

• Technically strong with an enquiring mind, willing to learn, contribute effectively and take full ownership of tasks and delivery deadlines.

• Willing to perform hands-on tasks in a laboratory/cleanroom environment working to appropriate standards within an ISO9001 or EN 9100:2018 Quality System..

• Able to read and create basic electronic designs and develop/test circuit layouts.

• Practical experience in electronic hardware assembly

• Experience working with a range of electronic and mechanical components and suppliers and constructing prototypes and lab experiments

• Electronics: experience with circuit prototyping including appreciation of schematics & PCBs, wiring assemblies etc; good soldering and PCB rework skills; knowledge of basic electronic test equipment and measurement techniques

• Experienced in the calibration and setup/commissioning of test hardware/facilities (e.g. drives and controllers, instrumentation/data acquisition and/or control software, calibration and validation of data).

• An effective communicator (both written and verbal).

• Sociable and a team player, who can work well to support mechanical and system-oriented design staff.

Qualifications

HND, BEng or BTEC or equivalent in relevant electrical/electronics or instrumentation/control discipline.

Electrically trained (18th edition) – or willing to undergo training

Travel Requirement

Occasional UK or international travel.