Automation & Maintenance Engineer

About the Role

Emdad By Elm is seeking an Automation & Maintenance Engineer to ensure the reliable operation and maintenance of automated packaging systems for cards and vehicle license plates. This full-time role is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and involves machine setup, daily operation, troubleshooting, preventive maintenance, and continuous improvement to meet production targets, maintain packaging quality, and ensure accurate matching of items with recipient information.

Key Responsibilities

• Operate, configure, and monitor automated packaging machines, including feeding, identification, envelope insertion, adhesive sealing, label printing and application, and sorting.
• Perform machine setup and changeovers for various card and vehicle plate sizes, packaging materials, and order types.
• Diagnose and resolve mechanical, electrical, pneumatic, and control system faults to minimize downtime.
• Inspect, adjust, and maintain sensors, motors, servo drives, conveyors, feeders, rollers, pneumatic components, and adhesive application systems.
• Troubleshoot PLC-controlled equipment and HMI alarms using electrical diagrams, machine manuals, and diagnostic tools.
• Maintain barcode readers, vision systems, thermal printers, and labeling equipment.
• Maintain, calibrate, and troubleshoot OCR, barcode readers, cameras, lighting, triggers, and related identification components for item recognition and verification.
• Verify accurate matching between cards or plates, recipient data, shipping labels, and assigned sorting outlets.
• Monitor rejected, unreadable, mismatched, and process-failed items, ensuring proper reconciliation between input records, processed items, successfully packaged items, rejected items, and final sorting outputs.
• Monitor and troubleshoot sorting logic, conveyor routing, diverters, sensors, and output lanes to ensure items are directed to the correct destination.
• Coordinate with IT teams and equipment manufacturers to resolve machine communication, data exchange, and software interface issues.
• Control approved machine recipes, parameters, configurations, and software settings, ensuring changes are authorized and documented, and maintaining approved backups in coordination with IT and equipment manufacturers.
• Develop and execute preventive maintenance schedules according to manufacturer recommendations.
• Record breakdowns, maintenance activities, spare parts usage, and corrective actions; conduct root cause analysis for recurring failures.
• Identify critical spare parts and consumables and coordinate minimum stock requirements to reduce maintenance-related downtime.
• Monitor production throughput, downtime, packaging defects, and rejection rates, and implement improvements.
• Monitor machine availability and identification accuracy against approved operational and acceptance targets, in addition to throughput, downtime, defects, and rejection performance.
• Support installation, commissioning, factory and site acceptance testing, and production readiness activities.
• Participate in performance and stress testing, verify reject handling and functional requirements, and support punch-list closure and final production readiness.
• Train operators on machine operation, changeovers, routine checks, and basic troubleshooting.
• Follow machine safety, energy isolation, information security, and item traceability procedures.

Qualifications and Experience

• 5-10 years of direct experience with automated industrial equipment.
• Experience with office printers, photocopiers, or general IT support alone does not meet the requirements for this role.

Required Competencies

• Hands-on troubleshooting skills.
• Strong mechanical and electrical aptitude.
• Attention to detail.
• Safety awareness.
• Ownership of equipment reliability.
• Effective coordination with operations, IT, and suppliers.

Work Location

This position is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Application Process

Salary for this position will be disclosed during the interview process.