Plant Engineer

Role: District Plant Engineer – Multi Skilled

Location: Coventry

Salary: Competitive + Pension & Healthcare

This is a Coventry-based role covering energy centres, network assets and customer substations, with occasional travel to other locations.

You will participate in on-call, planned outages and incident response, including occasional evening, night or weekend work under working-time and fatigue controls.

The Client:

My client is a prominent and forward-thinking energy infrastructure provider in the United Kingdom, specializing in the design, delivery, and long-term operation of large-scale decentralized low-carbon utility networks.

The company focuses heavily on urban district heating, cooling, and power solutions, managing critical assets that supply sustainable energy to thousands of residential and commercial properties. Renowned for its engineering excellence and commitment to the green transition, the business integrates cutting-edge technologies like industrial heat pumps and waste-heat recovery systems to drive urban centres toward a zero-carbon future.

The Role

The Multi-Skilled Engineer is responsible for the safe operation, planned and reactive maintenance, fault diagnosis, repair and improvement of the Coventry district-energy scheme. The role supports the energy centres, steam-to-water interfaces, medium-temperature hot-water (MTHW) distribution network and customer substations, working across mechanical, electrical, controls and instrumentation systems within the postholder's assessed competence.

The postholder may be mechanically or electrically biased but is expected to provide a capable first-line response across disciplines, recognise the limits of their competence and obtain specialist support when required.

The role protects customer continuity, asset integrity and statutory compliance through high-quality field work, accurate CMMS records, disciplined safe systems of work and participation in the on-call rota.

Responsibilities

Plant operation and network support

* Operate and monitor the Coventry energy centres, steam heat-exchange plant, gas-fired boilers, MTHW network pumps, plate heat exchangers, pressurisation systems, water-treatment equipment, thermal storage and customer-interface substations where these fall within operational boundaries.

* Complete plant rounds, readings and functional checks; identify abnormal pressure, temperature, flow, water quality, noise, vibration, leakage, alarm or equipment condition and take proportionate action.

* Carry out approved start-up, shutdown, duty and standby changeover, setpoint adjustment and return-to-service activities in accordance with operating procedures and the postholder's competence and authorisation.

* Respond to loss of supply, network pressure or temperature deviation, plant trip, leak and customer-interface fault; stabilise the system, protect people and assets, and escalate promptly where full recovery is not immediately achievable.

Planned and reactive maintenance

* Complete statutory, mandatory, planned and reactive maintenance through the approved CMMS, following the work instruction, risk controls, equipment manual and required testing standard.

* Inspect, service, adjust and repair pumps, valves, actuators, strainers, heat exchangers, vessels, pipework, seals, bearings, couplings, motors, MCCs, variable-speed drives, control panels, sensors and instrumentation within assessed competence.

* Diagnose the underlying cause of faults using drawings, P&IDs, electrical schematics, test instruments, BMS trends, alarms and maintenance history rather than repeatedly resetting or treating symptoms.

* Complete repairs and component replacement to a suitable engineering standard, then test, functionally prove, reinstate and monitor the asset before closing the work order or handing it back to operation.

Pressure systems, steam and MTHW

* Operate and maintain steam and relevant MTHW or associated pressure systems that fall within the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations 2000 (PSSR), in accordance with site procedures, defined safe operating limits and the applicable Written Scheme of Examination.

* Understand the system boundaries, hazards and stored-energy risks before work begins; prepare plant for inspection or repair through authorised isolation, lock-off, cooling, depressurisation, draining, venting and proving of a safe condition.

* Monitor the condition and correct operation of pressure, temperature and level instrumentation, protective devices, relief arrangements and interlocks; never defeat, bypass or adjust safety devices without the required written authority and change control.

* Treat steam release, water hammer, overpressure, loss of containment, corrosion, abnormal vibration or a defective protective device as a safety-critical condition; make safe within competence and escalate immediately.

Safe systems and technical appointments

* Plan and carry out work under the clients safe systems, including approved RAMS, permits, isolations, lock-out/tag-out, test-before-touch, confined-space, work-at-height, lifting, COSHH, hot-work and task-specific controls as applicable.

* Exercise stop-work authority where conditions, competence, documentation or controls are inadequate, and place plant in a safe condition before seeking further instruction.

* Undertake electrical isolation, mechanical isolation, steam or pressure-system duties, gas work or other controlled activities only where trained, assessed and appointed for that specific scope.

Controls, BMS, instrumentation and metering

* Provide first-line fault finding on BMS/SCADA, field sensors, actuators, control panels, communications, meters, MCCs and variable-speed drives, confirming that the physical plant condition agrees with the displayed graphics and alarms.

* Use point-to-point checks, trend data and functional testing to identify failed sensors, poor control response, recurring alarms, sequencing issues or communications faults and escalate software or specialist controls work when required.

* Support optimisation of plant sequencing, pump operation, network differential pressure, customer return temperature and system delta-T without compromising safety, service conditions or approved control philosophy.

* Protect approved settings, software backups and cyber-security arrangements. Do not make unapproved logic, setpoint-range, alarm, interlock or graphics changes; use the formal management-of-change process.

Contractors, work quality and asset information

* Support and, when delegated, supervise specialist contractors by checking site induction, competence, RAMS, permits, isolations, work boundaries and reinstatement requirements before work starts.

* Monitor workmanship and progress, challenge unsafe or poor-quality work, witness testing where competent to do so, and ensure defects, waste, temporary arrangements and documentation are resolved before close-out.

* Support commissioning, snagging and operational handover of repaired, modified or new assets, ensuring drawings, O&M information, settings, training, spares and maintenance requirements are complete before acceptance.

Person Specification

Core technical capability

* A strong primary mechanical or electrical maintenance bias, together with practical cross-discipline knowledge sufficient to provide safe first-line diagnosis and support across an operational energy centre and heat network.

* Ability to read and use P&IDs, mechanical drawings, electrical schematics, control narratives, equipment manuals and safe operating procedures to plan work and diagnose faults.

* Working knowledge of boilers, heat exchanges, MTHW/LTHW networks, pumps, valves, pressurisation, water treatment, motors, drives, controls, BMS/SCADA, instrumentation and heat-metered customer interfaces.

* Competence with CMMS and digital reporting tools, and the ability to produce accurate maintenance records, defect descriptions, test evidence and shift handovers.

Qualifications and experience - Essential

* Recognised Level 3 apprenticeship, NVQ, BTEC or equivalent in mechanical or electrical engineering, or demonstrably equivalent industrial maintenance experience.

* Relevant hands-on maintenance and fault-finding experience in energy, utilities, process, industrial, healthcare, campus, facilities or other critical infrastructure.

* Evidence of working safely across discipline boundaries, recognising competence limits and using specialist support appropriately, together with practical CMMS experience.

* Full UK driving licence and ability to join the Coventry on-call rota and attend site outside normal hours when required
Only candidates based in UK and eligible to work in UK are allowed