Ammonia & Automation Technician

Ammonia Refrigeration & Automation Technician - Food Manufacturing | $36.00-$40.50/hour

This Jobot Job is hosted by: Amanda Ahmad
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Salary: $36 - $40.5 per hour

A bit about us:

Founded as a family-owned food manufacturer and based in Franklin Park, Illinois, we are a medium-sized producer of Greek and ethnic food products serving restaurants, retailers, and national brands. We operate an SQF Level 2-certified facility under both USDA and FDA jurisdiction, with certified Halal production programs and a federal inspector on-site every production day. Our highly automated plant depends on a reliable industrial ammonia refrigeration system to protect the cold chain across its production areas, coolers, freezers, spiral units, and blast cells.

Why join us?

• Direct-Hire Opportunity: Full-time, permanent position paid biweekly
• Comprehensive Benefits: Medical, dental, and vision eligibility after 30 days
• Retirement Benefits: 401(k) eligibility after one year
• Paid Time Off: PTO accrues from day one, with up to 10 days annually at hire and up to 15 days after three years
• Paid Holidays: Eligibility after 30 days
• Performance Growth: Substantial performance-based raises for employees who demonstrate strong results
• High-Impact Role: Serve as the plant's primary ammonia refrigeration technician and working automation expert
• Stable Food Manufacturing Environment: Join an established, family-owned manufacturer with rigorous food-safety and operational standards

Job Details

Key Responsibilities and Duties

• Operate and monitor the plant's industrial ammonia refrigeration system, including compressors, condensers, evaporators, receivers, valve stations, and relief systems.
• Complete and document daily operating rounds, including suction and discharge pressures, temperatures, oil levels, equipment sound, and ammonia detector-panel conditions.
• Perform preventive maintenance and qualified repairs involving compressors, evaporators, condensers, valves, seals, oil systems, fans, motors, and refrigeration equipment.
• Troubleshoot ammonia detection systems, refrigeration alarms, defrost cycles, temperature deviations, leaks, and cold-chain performance issues.
• Follow established ammonia emergency-response, evacuation, respiratory-protection, and alarm-response procedures.
• Maintain proper temperatures across production coolers, holding freezers, spiral units, and blast cells operating down to -10F.
• Diagnose evaporator icing, defrost-performance issues, airflow problems, fan and motor failures, and door or curtain infiltration.
• Safely troubleshoot 480V three-phase, 240V, and 24V control circuits.
• Diagnose motor circuits, contactors, overloads, relays, VFDs, sensors, photo eyes, servos, control panels, and electrical schematics.
• Read PLC logic, HMI fault screens, and system I/O to identify equipment faults, interlock problems, communication issues, and safety-circuit failures.
• Install, maintain, troubleshoot, and replace automation components, including servos, servo drives, encoders, VFDs, sensors, motion sensors, photo eyes, and control devices.
• Verify newly installed automation components, preserve equipment settings, and back up applicable configuration information.
• Perform millwright-level assembly, disassembly, alignment, and repair of heavy industrial machinery.
• Troubleshoot compressed-air and pneumatic systems, conveyors, transfers, pumps, packaging equipment, and dock doors.
• Support preventive maintenance, emergency repairs, root-cause investigations, and corrective-action follow-through.
• Document equipment rounds, repairs, parts usage, work orders, and cause-and-fix information within the same shift.
• Apply lockout/tagout procedures and work within established training, authorization, PPE, and safety boundaries.
• Coordinate contractor-level ammonia, electrical, programming, and controls work with the Plant Engineer when necessary.
• Help protect electrical and mechanical equipment during sanitation and washdown activities.
• Assist the Sanitation Manager with equipment-related washdown procedures and safe access to difficult areas.
• Follow GMP, HACCP, SQF, sanitation, quality, and food-safety requirements.
• Participate in alarm-response arrangements established at the time of hire.
• Work safely in wet production areas, elevated equipment areas, compressor rooms, coolers, and freezers operating as cold as -10F.

Qualifications Needed

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, robotics, or a closely related field preferred; a recognized technical-school program, trade-school program, apprenticeship, OEM training, or military technical training in industrial maintenance, mechatronics, electrical systems, refrigeration, or controls may qualify as an equivalent.
• Formal industrial ammonia refrigeration operator training required, such as RETA CARO/CIRO, Industrial Consultants Level 1/2, a university industrial-refrigeration program, or a verified equivalent.
• Minimum 3 years of directly relevant, hands-on industrial manufacturing maintenance experience, including automation experience in a production environment.
• Hands-on experience operating and maintaining an industrial ammonia refrigeration system.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot 480V three-phase, 240V, and 24V electrical and control circuits.
• Demonstrated ability to read PLC logic and use PLC I/O and HMI information to diagnose equipment faults.
• Experience maintaining and troubleshooting compressors, evaporators, condensers, valve stations, refrigeration controls, and ammonia detection systems.
• Experience installing, maintaining, troubleshooting, and replacing VFDs, servos, sensors, photo eyes, encoders, motor controls, and other industrial automation components.
• Strong mechanical background, including millwright-level machinery teardown, buildup, alignment, and repair.
• Experience with pneumatic and compressed-air systems.
• Strong lockout/tagout and industrial safety knowledge.
• Ability to perform preventive maintenance, root-cause analysis, equipment documentation, and cause-and-fix reporting.
• Ability to distinguish between technician-level work and repairs requiring contractors, engineering support, programming changes, or additional authorization.
• Food manufacturing experience involving GMP, HACCP, SQF, sanitation, or quality systems strongly preferred.
• Ammonia emergency-response, Incident Commander, HAZWOPER, SCBA, or respiratory-protection training strongly preferred.
• EPA Section 608 Universal certification, stationary-engineer licensure, boiler experience, HVAC/R experience, PSM/RMP participation, CMMS experience, or relevant ISA, ETA, MSSC, or OEM certifications are a plus.
• Bilingual English and Spanish strongly preferred.
• Ability to lift 50 pounds unassisted and work for extended periods in wet, cold, elevated, and industrial environments.
• Ability to work in production areas around 40F and periodically enter freezer environments reaching -10F.
• Ability to wear required PPE and qualify for respiratory protection when required.
• Willingness to complete certificate verification, professional references, background check, drug screening, and E-Verify.

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