Job Title: Freelance Senior Technician (Electrical/Automation)
Number of Vacancies: 1
Location: Antwerp, Belgium
Project: Upgrading machines in a cleanroom/lab facility; and ongoing maintenance of machines.
Start Date: ASAP
Contract Type: Freelance (12 months+)
About the Client:
Our client is a global engineering company focussed on building machines for multiple sectors worldwide for production, testing, design work etc.. with this part of the role being machines used in the Pharmaceutical sector.
Role Overview:
We are seeking a Senior Technician (with commissioning knowledge) with an electrical/automation background to join the team in a high changing and fun environment to co-ordinate upgrades, installation of new machines and maintenance of existing machines; as well as perform maintenance and troubleshooting activities in an ever changing, exciting and complex environment.
Key Responsibilities:
- Join a team of 10 process specialists and 1 other technician in a clean-room lab facility ensuring the maintenance and readiness of machines used in pharmaceutical testing.
- There are 25 machines, all commercial available testing equipment etc.. which are complex and large machines needing a week to do full maintenance, and so the maintenance is outsourced to internal staff elsewhere or externally and part of your role is to co-ordinate with the specialists on each machine to perform maintenance tasks (all machines must have valid maintenance reports that are within 12 months and can be requested at random, so part of your role is to stay on top of this.
- In addition, you will also find the correct people to come in and do the maintenance, for smaller tools/machines that take up less of your time you can perform the maintenance yourself and will be able to utilise handbooks/manuals for them.
- Ensure the good, continuous technical operations of these installations and machines.
- Assist in the safe working environment in the cleanroom, and take responsibility for the stock management of the products, consumables and spare parts of the machines, and organisation and completion of logbooks of actions per machines (documenting repairs, calibrations, yearly maintenance) and report this (and feedback any findings/experience with new and current equipment) to management and relevant departments.
- Be responsible for utilities in the lab, ensuring the utility supplies to the lab are sufficient to support the activities of the lab, contact suppliers etc.. when required for issues.
- Follow up on purchases, time to delivery, what’s been ordered, what is outstanding. Etc..
- Technically monitor installations of new equipment.
- Should there be any rental equipment needed for a specific clinical trial, you will be responsible for the preparation of the rental equipment in conjunction with process specialist ready for shipment (documents, cleaning, shipping etc..)
- The machines and facility is used for clinical drug trials, external pharmaceutical clients come in and have their drugs tested using the machines – you will be there and together with the team be expected to fix machines that break down during the trial quickly and effectively (the drug trials range in value from €2 million to €10 million and hence fixes must be quick).
- In addition to quick, real-time fixes, you will also perform longer-term full proof fixes of the machines.
- There are plans to do major upgrades of machines built by different teams over the next 3 years, and part of your role will be to act as a Project Manager for their installation – this can involved organising the ceiling to be uplifted if the new machines are taller than the ceiling, you will organise the transport of them, organise installation and ensure the new machines are connected to everything properly.
- With such complex machines, it will take around a year to be fully up to speed with them, this is very much a team environment where everyone is highly experienced and help each other to get up to speed and to grow and you will be supported by another technician who has been there for 30 years on learning the machines. There are also opportunities to grow into the process specialist position should this be of interest, and you will be expected to be a team player and work closely with the team.
- Support the preparation of tests/trials and organise the calibration of machines. Due to the nature of the trials, after a clinical trial, the machine used needs to be dis-assembled for cleaning and re-assembled for the next use. You will be in charge of co-ordinating this, contacting the cleaning contractors for preparation of clean down of equipment, FAT systems etc.. whilst the process specialists perform the task, and you will also support the process specialists. This is the same with calibrating the machines, FATs and SATS – all tasks performed by the process specialists where you will assist (and is a role which you can grow into).
- You will need to troubleshoot machines quickly and effectively – the other technician has a strong mechanical background and hence the need for more electrical/automation background. For example, you must understand how a control room connects to the software – if an alarm goes off on a machine, is this an electrical or mechanical issue etc.. before resolving this yourself or co-ordinating a specialist on the machine to resolve the issue.
- Read P&ID drawings and use this to help troubleshooting and your work.
- Focus of this role would be specifically on the batch granulation equipment, while a colleague would have the main responsibility over the continuous equipment.
- Weekly team meetings for prioritisation of tasks and for planning.
Candidate Requirements:
- Experience as a technician.
- Background in Electrical/Automation.
- Fluent English.
Contract Details
Location: Antwerp, Belgium.
Working Schedule: 40 hours per week/5 days per week, fully onsite.
Duration: 12 Months +
Rate type: All-Inclusive Daily or Hourly Rate.