Maintenance Technician - Electrical Controls - Swing Shift (Fargo)

Red River Commodities is a leading processor of sunflower seeds and specialty grains, specializing in high-quality, nutritious food products. We pride ourselves on our sustainable practices, innovation, and commitment to delivering superior products to our customers. Our team shares core values focused on quality, innovation, responsibility, and community. We work hard, play harder, embrace authenticity, and always support one another to achieve our goals.

Location: 340 40th St N, Fargo, ND 58102

Shift: 4:00pm-2:30am (Monday-Thursday)

Position Summary

The Maintenance Technician - Automation & Electrical Controls supports the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of production and facility equipment through preventive maintenance, troubleshooting, repair, and continuous improvement. In addition to mechanical, pneumatic, and general facility maintenance, this role provides advanced support for industrial electrical systems, programmable logic controllers (PLCs), human-machine interfaces (HMIs), variable-frequency drives (VFDs), instrumentation, sensors, motor controls, and automated production equipment.

This position works closely with Production, Quality, Engineering, equipment vendors, and plant leadership to reduce downtime, improve equipment reliability, and maintain safe, controlled operation of bagging lines, grain-processing equipment, conveyors, and supporting systems. The role is expected to troubleshoot controls issues methodically, protect approved control-system configurations, and escalate programming or design changes that exceed authorized access or technical scope.

Key Responsibilities

Preventive & Predictive Maintenance

• Perform scheduled inspections, lubrication, adjustment, testing, and preventive maintenance on bagging lines, grain-processing equipment, conveyors, motors, gearboxes, pneumatic systems, dust-collection equipment, and facility systems.

• Complete electrical and controls preventive maintenance, including inspection of panels, terminations, motor starters, disconnects, VFDs, sensors, encoders, safety devices, and control enclosures.

• Use available condition information, fault histories, and operator observations to identify developing equipment issues before failure.

• Document completed work, findings, measurements, corrective actions, and follow-up needs in maintenance logs or the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Automation & Controls Troubleshooting

• Troubleshoot PLC-controlled equipment using electrical schematics, I/O status, alarm histories, ladder-logic monitoring, HMI diagnostics, and safe test procedures.

• Diagnose faults involving PLC inputs and outputs, relays, power supplies, communication devices, proximity and photoelectric sensors, limit switches, load cells, encoders, actuators, and solenoid valves.

• Troubleshoot HMI alarms, communication failures, sequence interruptions, interlocks, permissives, timers, counters, and process-control issues.

• Diagnose and reset VFD and soft-starter faults; verify operating parameters, control signals, motor condition, and associated wiring before returning equipment to service.

• Maintain backups and controlled copies of approved PLC, HMI, VFD, and other automation configurations in accordance with plant change-control procedures.

• Make minor, authorized PLC or HMI adjustments when trained and approved; coordinate higher-risk programming, architecture, network, or safety-control changes with qualified engineering resources or approved integrators.

Industrial Electrical Maintenance

• Troubleshoot and repair industrial electrical systems, including motors, motor-control circuits, starters, contactors, overloads, relays, transformers, power supplies, disconnects, and control wiring.

• Safely use multimeters, clamp meters, insulation testers, and other approved diagnostic tools to verify voltage, current, continuity, resistance, and equipment condition.

• Read and interpret electrical schematics, panel drawings, wiring diagrams, P&IDs, equipment manuals, and sequence-of-operation documentation.

• Perform electrical installation and repair work within demonstrated qualifications and company authorization; use licensed electrical contractors when required by code, permit, or scope.

• Support proper labeling, panel housekeeping, enclosure integrity, cable management, and documentation of electrical and controls modifications.

Mechanical, Pneumatic & Equipment Repair

• Diagnose and repair mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic failures on production and material-handling equipment.

• Repair or replace bearings, belts, chains, sprockets, pumps, valves, cylinders, regulators, actuators, and related components.

• Align, adjust, and test repaired equipment to confirm safe operating condition, product quality, and production readiness.

• Coordinate emergency repairs with Production to minimize downtime while maintaining lockout/tagout, guarding, sanitation, and quality requirements.

Equipment Reliability & Continuous Improvement

• Analyze recurring downtime, alarms, component failures, and control-system issues and recommend corrective actions that improve reliability and maintainability.

• Support equipment upgrades, control-panel modifications, sensor improvements, automation projects, commissioning, and startup activities.

• Partner with operators and plant leadership to improve equipment settings, changeover performance, alarm response, and standard work.

• Participate in root-cause analysis and verify that corrective actions address the underlying mechanical, electrical, programming, process, or training issue.

• Recommend critical spare parts for automation, electrical, pneumatic, and mechanical systems and maintain accurate parts usage information.

Safety, Compliance & Documentation

• Follow lockout/tagout and electrical safe-work practices, including verification of zero energy and use of appropriate personal protective equipment.

• Maintain machine guarding, emergency stops, safety interlocks, light curtains, switches, and other safety devices; never bypass or defeat a safety function except through an approved, controlled testing process.

• Support compliance with OSHA requirements, NFPA 70E electrical-safety practices, the National Electrical Code, company policies, food-safety requirements, and applicable plant procedures.

• Document changes to setpoints, wiring, components, control logic, and equipment configuration so drawings and maintenance records remain accurate.

• Maintain organized, clean, and safe maintenance work areas, tools, electrical panels, and parts-storage locations.

Collaboration & Technical Support

• Respond to production equipment calls, communicate equipment status and repair plans, and coordinate testing and return-to-service with affected departments.

• Provide technical guidance to operators and maintenance coworkers on alarms, basic equipment checks, proper startup and shutdown, and recurring failure prevention.

• Coordinate with original equipment manufacturers, controls integrators, electricians, and other vendors for advanced troubleshooting, parts support, remote access, and project work.

• Participate in an on-call rotation and provide off-shift, weekend, or overtime support based on production and maintenance needs.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• Degree, technical diploma, apprenticeship, or equivalent training in industrial maintenance, automation, mechatronics, electrical technology, instrumentation, or a related field preferred.

• 2+ years of industrial maintenance experience in a manufacturing, processing, packaging, grain, or food-production environment.

• Hands-on experience troubleshooting industrial electrical controls, PLC-controlled equipment, HMIs, VFDs, sensors, motor controls, and pneumatic systems.

• Experience with Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Schneider Electric, AutomationDirect, or comparable PLC and HMI platforms preferred.

Company Benefits:

At Red River Commodities, we value our employees and are committed to providing a supportive and rewarding work environment. As a member of our team, you will enjoy a competitive salary, comprehensive health benefits, and opportunities for career growth and development. Below are some additional benefits that we offer.

• On-demand pay available through Tapcheck
• Paid time off
• Paid Holidays
• 401k & company match
• Profit Sharing
• Employee Assistance Program

Is your CV ready If so, and you are confident this is the role for you, make sure to apply asap.

Red River Commodities and its subsidiaries are an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This applies to all employment practices within our organization. Red River Commodities makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.

We are committed to maintaining a legal and compliant workplace. xhyhwjd As part of our hiring process, Red River Commodities participates in the E-Verify program.

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