Plant Engineer (Mordialloc)

I. Position Purpose The Plant/Operations Engineer exists to support Dowson’s process technicians, who create the value on the plant. The role owns the engineering health of the plant (maintenance planning, safety, engineering change) and builds the systems that allow technicians to operate confidently and independently (documentation, troubleshooting guides, capability frameworks, escalation rules, operational planning). The Plant/Operations Engineer is not the default first responder for routine production issues; the role exists to strengthen technician capability, reduce unnecessary engineering dependence, improve process control, and resolve the engineering work that genuinely exceeds shift bandwidth. This includes engineering projects that fall outside of capital projects. II. Key Responsibilities Daily Operations & Planning
• Chair the daily site meeting. Set the agenda, drive actions, hold the team accountable to follow through.
• Support the development and execution of daily, weekly, and monthly operations plans.
• Coordinate with relevant teams to align people, machines, materials, tooling, documentation, and priorities.
• Track operational actions, blockers, risks, and follow-up items.
• Identify capacity, capability, documentation, maintenance, or quality gaps that may affect delivery.
• Support the team, directly and indirectly, to drive OEE improvements: reducing scrap, minimising changeover times, improving process stability, and leading root cause analysis where engineering depth is needed. Process Technician Support & Capability Building
• First understand in detail our equipment and how it works, then:
• Coach process technicians to identify, diagnose, and resolve process and equipment issues. Default to teaching, not telling.
• Help technicians understand when to adjust, stop, escalate, or continue production.
• Develop and maintain a capability matrix for the process technician team; build individual development plans alongside the CEO and Operations Manager.
• Develop practical troubleshooting guides for common production faults.
• Run regular technical sessions with in-house technical experts to lift the engineering knowledge of the team.
• Turn repeated issues into documented standard work and improvement actions.
• Encourage ownership and accountability at the process technician level. Operational Documentation
• Develop, update, and control operational documentation. Includes work instructions, machine setup procedures, changeover guides, maintenance procedures, inspection instructions, and troubleshooting guides.
• Ensure documentation reflects the real process on the floor.
• Work with process technicians to improve documentation based on practical use.
• Keep documentation easy, current, accessible, and followed.
• Maintain skills matrices linked to operational procedures. Maintenance & Critical Spares
• Process technicians complete maintenance as part of their work. This role supports them in doing it well.
• Develop and maintain the preventative maintenance plan in collaboration with the technicians who execute it.
• Support planning, scheduling, and prioritisation of maintenance work.
• Map and log critical spares with input from technicians; set minimum holding levels and maintain the register.
• Identify recurring equipment issues and drive corrective actions.
• Pick up maintenance work that technicians have identified but cannot complete during shift due to time, capacity, complexity, or scope.
• Track maintenance performance and report against it. Safety & Quality Support
• Conduct safety risk assessments on all plant and equipment; prioritise findings and close out the key items.
• Lead the regular site safety walkthrough; track identified issues to resolution.
• Assess and record the quality impact of every engineering change in conjunction with QA.
• Help define practical in-process checks, first-off checks, and quality escalation points.
• Actively identify quality issues that arise from process, equipment, or engineering causes, and bring them to QA’s attention early.
• Lead engineering-side root cause analysis and resolution on process-driven quality problems, working with QA. QA owns the quality system and the CAPA process; this role brings the engineering depth needed to investigate and fix process-driven issues.
• Ensure safety controls are documented, understood, and followed. Engineering Change Control
• Scope, oversee, and implement small non-project engineering changes (too large for a technician to handle, too small to become a capital project).
• Ensure every change is risk-assessed for safety and quality before implementation.
• Document changes and feed learnings back into operational documentation and training. Issue Handover & Escalation
• Technicians identify and resolve most production and equipment issues. Some issues need to be handed over to the Plant Engineer because the tech has run out of shift time, capacity, or because the work is beyond shift scope. This is normal and is not failure.
• Ensure technicians follow documented troubleshooting steps before handing over routine issues. Ensure documentation exists if it’s a routine issue.
• Accept handover where issues are outside technician capability, authority, tooling, safety limits, or where shift time has genuinely run out.
• Review handed-over issues and convert recurring ones into improved standards, training, or system improvements.
• Actively reduce repeated dependency on engineering support through better process control and technician capability. Cross-functional Collaboration
• Work closely with the Operations Lead on project handovers, system development, and shared process improvements.
• Collaborate with QA on engineering input into deviations, non-conformances, and corrective actions.
• Coordinate with Purchasing on critical spares, supplier engagement, and lead times.
• Drive continuous improvement in operations, safety, and workflow efficiency. III. Skills & Qualifications
• Engineering degree (chemical, mechanical, mechatronic, or similar).
• Minimum 5 years’ experience in process manufacturing, ideally with FMCG or packaging exposure. If you're exceptional, always say hi and don't wait for the "right job"
• Demonstrated ownership of a maintenance plan and a safety system in a real plant, not just a corporate role.
• Experience in a small or mid-size operation where hands-on involvement was required, not just delegation.
• Track record of building operational documentation and lifting team capability.
• Comfortable on the floor and in a spreadsheet.
• Self-directed; able to operate with minimal supervision.
• Takes pride in making others successful.
• Coaches and supports without taking over.
• Practical bias; gets things done rather than over-documents.
• Willing to constructively challenge leadership when needed.
• Acts with authenticity and integrity. IV. Other Duties
• Follow the Dowson Way – “We value integrity, authenticity, and honesty. We trust and respect each other and hold each other to account.”
• Carry out duties in a professional, reliable and pleasant manner.
• Maintain a professional and neat appearance.
• Maintain the ability to perform the inherent requirements of the role.
• Ensure compliance with Dowson’s policies and procedures.
• Other duties as reasonably directed by Dowson. Apply Apply with your resume and a short cover letter outlining examples of machine problems you’ve solved and improvements you’ve implemented. PDFs only. Direct applicants only. No agencies. Apply on Kit Job: kitjobau.com/job/3psc2q