Job Description

Location : Belfast
Job Ref: UDF/2025/445
Employment : Full-Time Permanent
Closing Date : 23 May 2025 05:00 pm

Dale Farm Cooperative is a UK dairy farmer co-operative owned by over 1200 dairy farmers who supply us with fresh milk. Dale Farm has operations throughout the UK and Ireland producing and distributing a wide range of dairy products which it sells across the UK and Ireland as well as exporting to over 45 countries worldwide.


At Dale Farm virtually every career discipline is represented in our workforce, from production, engineering and distribution, to sales & marketing and food technology/quality assurance, to Finance, HR and IT through to general management. Our standards are high and when we recruit we are looking for those with energy and drive, who are keen for responsibility and motivated to succeed with a record of achievement and with the potential to develop as the company grows.

Culture

Our culture is based on setting best in class standards, working to-wards and delivering on committed objectives, striving for constant improvement and involving everyone in the company. We strive to develop our people and harness everyone's contribution to deliver a winning team.

Equal Opportunities

The company is an Equal Opportunities employer and is committed to a safe, inclusive and relationship based workspace.

Benefits

In return, we offer a high degree of responsibility, plenty of challenge, good opportunities for learning and personal development and rewarding benefit packages, all within a fast moving and results oriented environment.

Group Automation Engineer

About Us:

Dale Farm is a leading dairy company, which manufactures an extensive range of consumer and food ingredient products. With an annual turnover in excess of 500m the Group exports globally to over 40 countries, with a particularly strong presence in the UK retail market. It is our mission to ensure that we exude the highest standards through our processes, products, and people.





At Dale Farm, core to our success is our people, and have a great opportunity for a key role within our IT team, based at our Head Office on Dargan Road, Belfast.

About the Role:

As a Control Systems Engineer, you will be responsible for developing a production systems strategy that will deliver new standard practices to ensure business continuity for all key production lines in the Dale Farm Group. Within this exciting role, the successful candidate will be passionate about production system contingency and new technologies that can build an effective response to unplanned events.

Key responsibilities:

Reporting to the Manufacturing Automation and Control Support Engineer, the key responsibilities of this role will include:

Reviewing existing production systems across various manufacturing sites; identifying areas of risk, and making recommendations for upgrade and improvement Providing key support on any high priority faults across manufacturing sites; interrogating PLC systems, and on occasion liaising with 3rd party vendors to assist with ad-hoc program changes if required Conducting a Gap assessment of current state vs future state and helping to lead projects to deliver group manufacturing operational technology improvements Obtaining a clear understanding of network infrastructures and building a close working relationship with the group IT team Working with key business stakeholders to develop a production contingency strategy, ensuring best practices are implemented to optimise manufacturing performance Developing close working relationships with colleagues and third-party providers to ensure technical compatibility Developing and maintaining backup register for production sites to include PLC and equipment production programs Assisting with the development and implementation of training plans to improve skills and knowledge with key production systems




While based at our Head Office, this role will require travelling to our various Manufacturing sites.

About You:

The Essential





The successful candidate for this role will have:





A 3rd level qualification or equivalent preferably in electronics/electrical engineering, automation, and control A minimum of 3 years in the field or 5 years' post-apprenticeship experience working in a similar field or related area Project Management experience including implementation of production systems end-to-end A proven track record and working knowledge of various PLC hardware and software platforms such as Allen Bradley and Siemens, and familiarization with their concept of product life cycle Extensive programming experience in all high-level automation languages Working knowledge of electrical control systems and ability to understand electrical schematics and process and instrumentation drawings Working knowledge of Variable frequency Drives and associated control theory and practices Strong teamwork skills and ability to manage your own workload in a fast-moving environment Strong communication skills, both written and verbal, and the ability to carry out independent reviews. A full UK driving license and access to your own car, to enable travel between sites.




The Desirable





While not essential, the following criteria would be advantageous for candidates:





Working knowledge of IT back-up and restore processes Awareness of virtualisation technology which will be used to aid contingency from an IT perspective Knowledge of PC/Server operating systems Understanding of network segregation of IT and OT systems in a factory environment Experience delivering projects to support enterprise data acquisition strategy Strong interest in IIOT and the convergence of automated operational technology with IT systems to help deliver data driven results.

Why Dale Farm?

We have a lot to offer at Dale Farm, not only to our farmer members that we support but also to our employees, and we are committed to a learning and development journey for all. In addition to a competitive salary commensurate with the role and our standard benefits such as 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays and contributary company pension, we also offer benefits such as Life Assurance, full wellbeing support through our Employee Assistance Programme, and enhanced Maternity and Paternity leave.


We promote an open and supportive culture which is based on our core values:

Teamwork | Positivity | Resolve | Ambition | Curiosity | Accountability

You can find out more about life at Dale Farm on our LinkedIn and Facebook Career pages, and on our company website.


linkedin.com/company/dale-farm-ltd/


facebook.com/DaleFarmCareers/


dalefarm.co.uk/careers


The closing date for applications is 5pm on

Friday 23

rd

May 2025

Please apply

We are an Equal Opportunities Employer





Only applications from EU Nationals or those with a valid permit to work in the UK will be accepted


No unsolicited CVs from Agencies