Automation Technician

Automation Technician | Food Manufacturing | $28-$32/Hour | Franklin Park, IL

This Jobot Job is hosted by: Amanda Ahmad
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Salary: $28 - $32 per hour

A bit about us:

Founded more than 50 years ago and based in Franklin Park, Illinois, we are a family-owned manufacturer of Greek and Mediterranean foods serving restaurant, retail, private-label, and national-brand customers. Our highly automated, 200,000-square-foot facility produces gyros, shawarma, pita and flatbreads, sauces, frozen products, and other specialty foods. We operate under USDA and FDA oversight and maintain SQF Level 2, HACCP, and certified Halal production programs, with a strong commitment to food safety, quality, innovation, and reliable production.

Why join us?

• Direct-Hire Opportunity: Full-time, permanent, on-site position
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision eligibility after 30 days
• Paid Time Off: PTO begins accruing on day one, with up to 10 days annually at hire and up to 15 days after three years
• Paid Holidays: Eligibility after 30 days
• Retirement Benefits: 401(k) eligibility after one year
• Advanced Automation Environment: Work throughout a highly automated food-manufacturing facility with PLC-controlled equipment, robotics, drives, servos, and high-voltage systems
• Career Growth: Strong performance-based raise structure and exposure to a wide range of electrical, controls, mechanical, and automation systems
• Consistent Schedule: Monday through Friday, with Saturdays when production is scheduled

Job Details

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Troubleshoot PLC logic, inputs and outputs, HMIs, sensors, interlocks, safety circuits, and communication faults on automated production equipment.
• Diagnose and repair 480V three-phase, 240V, and 24V control circuits.
• Troubleshoot motor circuits, contactors, overloads, relays, VFDs, control panels, and industrial wiring.
• Read and use electrical prints, schematics, PLC information, meter readings, equipment history, and operator observations to identify root causes.
• Install, maintain, troubleshoot, and replace servos, servo drives, encoders, photo-eyes, motion sensors, VFDs, and other automation components.
• Commission and verify replacement components and ensure required settings and configurations are backed up.
• Maintain and repair conveyors, bearings, chains, belts, gearboxes, shafts, motors, pumps, valves, actuators, mixers, grinders, slicers, ovens, and packaging equipment.
• Troubleshoot and repair pneumatic and hydraulic systems.
• Perform millwright-level equipment installation, build-up, tear-down, alignment, fit-up, and repair.
• Protect and properly restore E-stops, interlocks, light curtains, gate switches, guarding, and safety relays.
• Complete preventive maintenance and emergency repairs throughout the production plant, warehouse, coolers, freezers, docks, and utility areas.
• Follow lockout/tagout, stored-energy, electrical safety, PPE, and safe-work requirements without exception.
• Perform maintenance on product-contact and splash-zone equipment in accordance with GMP and food-safety requirements.
• Use approved food-safe parts and materials and maintain strict foreign-material controls.
• Reinstall guards and covers and obtain required Quality Assurance approval before returning equipment to service.
• Support the Sanitation Manager during washdowns by helping protect sensitive electrical and automation components.
• Document work orders, preventive maintenance, equipment usage, parts replacements, and cause-and-correction findings.
• Conduct root-cause analysis, verify that repairs hold, and escalate recurring equipment failures.
• Support pre-operation inspections, production-line startups, shutdowns, and emergency plant needs.
• Work collaboratively with Production, Quality Assurance, Sanitation, Warehouse, vendors, contractors, auditors, and federal inspectors.

Qualifications Needed

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, robotics, or a related field preferred; a relevant technical-school program, trade-school program, registered apprenticeship, OEM training, military technical training, or equivalent documented experience will also be considered.
• Minimum of three years of directly relevant, hands-on industrial manufacturing maintenance experience, including automation experience in a production environment.
• Hands-on experience safely troubleshooting 480V three-phase, 240V, and 24V control circuits.
• Demonstrated ability to read PLC logic and inputs/outputs to identify equipment faults-not solely monitor HMI screens.
• Strong experience troubleshooting HMIs, VFDs, motor controls, sensors, relays, interlocks, safety circuits, and automated production equipment.
• Ability to read and interpret electrical schematics, prints, wiring diagrams, and equipment documentation.
• Experience installing, maintaining, troubleshooting, and replacing servos, servo drives, encoders, photo-eyes, sensors, VFDs, and control components.
• Strong industrial mechanical background involving conveyors, bearings, chains, belts, gearboxes, shafts, motors, pumps, valves, and production machinery.
• Experience troubleshooting pneumatic and hydraulic systems.
• Proven ability to diagnose the root cause of equipment failures before replacing components.
• Working knowledge of lockout/tagout and stored-energy control procedures.
• Ability to complete work orders, PM records, parts logs, and cause-and-correction documentation accurately and on time.
• Ability to lift 50 pounds unassisted and work around ladders, mezzanines, elevated equipment, wet environments, loud machinery, extreme heat, 40F production rooms, and freezers reaching approximately -10F.
• Willingness to complete a practical skills demonstration, reference verification, background check, drug screening, and E-Verify process.
• Food-manufacturing experience involving GMP, HACCP, SQF, sanitation, or Quality Assurance is strongly preferred but not required.
• Bilingual English and Spanish skills are strongly preferred.
• Relevant certifications such as ISA CCST/CAP, NFPA 70E, OSHA 10/30, MSSC CPT, OEM controls training, AWS welding, EPA 608, RETA/IIAR, forklift, or aerial-lift certification are a plus.

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