Engineering maintenance technician

You would look after and fix electrical and mechanical equipment used in industry, from factories and power stations to aircraft and escalators.

You would follow manufacturer's technical manuals and use testing instruments and tools to help locate faults.

You’d need to understand engineering drawings and be aware of health and safety legislation.

You could work on:

• Machinery used on production lines in factories

• Laboratory equipment in hospitals or used to manufacture drugs and medicines

• Machines and equipment used on railways and roads

• Civil or military aircraft

• Equipment and facilities for generating power including hydro-electric, wind turbines, solar and marine energy technology, fossil fuel and nuclear power stations

• Lifts, escalators, walkways and airport skytrains

If you work in preventative (planned) maintenance you would:

• Organise schedules for routine servicing

• Allocate work to a team of fitters

• Check and calibrate instruments to make sure they are accurate

• Fit new parts as required or as part of a regular replacement rota

• Inspect the quality of maintenance work

In emergency maintenance you would respond immediately when equipment breaks down.

You’d fix the problem there and then or, if necessary, arrange for the equipment to be replaced. You’d also explain the problem to production managers and tell them how the repairs are progressing.

You’d organise your team to make sure that they can respond to breakdowns at any time of day or night.

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