Would you consider yourself a jack of all trades? Someone that’s comfortable taking projects full cradle to grave?

If you’re a multifunctional Control Systems Engineer who’s comfortable designing from scratch, programming PLC’s through to the commissioning stages then you probably want to carry on reading.

You’d be working with a tight knit team that work in a variety of industries depending on the customer requirements, so every project is completely bespoke ranging from the food, water, automotive, material handling industries and many more…

In terms of the work itself, you’d be dealing with Electrical designing from scratch using a range of packages such as Eplan, AutoCAD Electrical and sometimes the odd curve ball. When it comes to the programming side of things it really does change again depending on the customer requirements so you could be working with Siemens, Allen Bradley, Mitsubishi or Rockwell.

You'll be commissioning UK and worldwide with the majority of their customers based in Europe.

They’re not just looking for anyone, they’re in search of someone who's genuinely passionate about their work and understands that commitment and effort lead to a rewarding career. If you're looking to coast along, this isn't the role for you. But if you're seeking a stable, long-term opportunity and are determined to excel, they’d love to hear from you.

Due to the role being extremely varied, they are open to someone with experience in any industry working with any packages as as long as you have the skills they reckon it’s easy to pick up and learn with the right guidance.

Salary wise, they’d be willing to pay someone anywhere between £50k-60k depending on experience as they need someone that can come in fully equipped needing minimal training.

Oh yeah, you’d be based in Blackburn with hybrid options available.

Let me know if you’d like to hear more through email at eloisa@optima-cs.com or please feel free to pop me a call on 0161 250 5326.

Are you the type of person that enjoys being left to your own devices to deliver high quality work within tight deadlines?

If so and you’re an experienced Electrical Design Engineer, I have something that could potentially pique your interest…

You’ll be given full autonomy and be expected to look after projects from the initial get go through to client hand over.

You’ll work completely remotely from the comfort of your own home for the earlier stages of the project where you’ll be expected to design control panels, schematics and wiring from scratch using Eplan while liaising with the clients and then go to site for the commissioning stages (UK wide). (Experience programming PLCs using Siemens is preferred but not essential)

Industry wise, a lot of their customers are within logistics and materials handling however everything they do is completely bespoke meaning no two projects will be the same so ideally, they’d be looking for you to have a varied background in a range of industries.

If this sounds like it could be worth a bigger chat, please feel free to pop me a call on 0161 250 5326 or email me on Eloisa@optima-cs.com.

Oh yeah, it’s worth mentioning the company are huge on work life balance so on top of remote working they also offer flexible hours meaning you’ll never have to miss the school run again. Salary wise, it’ll fall anywhere between £45-65k depending on experience.

Are you the kind of person who loves taking projects from concept to completion?

If you are, and you come from an electrical engineering background with a knack for EC&I design (especially if you’re familiar with pharmaceutical processes), this might be the perfect role for you.

Our company is at the forefront of designing and developing advanced control and instrumentation systems for the Pharma and Bio sectors. If you’ve got experience in a similar field, you’ll fit right in.

You’ll be leading the design process from start to finish, providing crucial technical input for tenders and estimates, and ensuring that projects are delivered on time and within budget. Familiarity with AutoCAD Electrical, Eplan or SEE Electrical is essential, as you’ll be creating schematics and process drawings from scratch.

Oh, and it’s worth mentioning that the role is hybrid, you’ll spend a good chunk of your time collaborating with our design and applications teams to create innovative solutions.

If you’ve got around 5+ years of experience in EC&I product and process design and you’re up to date with the latest engineering standards (including ATEX and UL Directives), the salary will likely be in the range of £50,000 to £60,000. Plus, we’re known for our supportive and collaborative company culture that values integrity, collaboration, and excellence.

If this opportunity sounds promising, give me a call at 0161 250 5326 to discuss the role further.

Don’t worry if your CV isn’t up to date—we can handle that later. Eloisa@optima-cs.com

What if your next move let you work across the UK and overseas while helping bring complex machinery to life? If you’re a Commissioning Engineer who enjoys independence, problem solving and variety, this could be a strong fit.

You’ll join a small, ambitious team led by someone who’s spent more than a decade with the business. The company has grown from £2 million to £20 million and the commissioning function is developing quickly, which gives you room to make a real impact.

Your time will be split between the workshop in Nelson and customer sites. You’ll commission machines before they ship, then head out to get them running smoothly on site through fault finding, PLC tweaks and performance tuning. UK visits are usually short and overseas projects tend to last a couple of weeks, with plenty of notice, and you’ll get to work in locations across Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific.

To settle in quickly, you’ll need experience commissioning equipment, confidence working with Siemens, Allen Bradley or Mitsubishi PLCs and a mixed mechanical and electrical background. Experience with pneumatics and production environments like food, pharma or packaging will help.

You’ll need to stay calm, communicate clearly and be comfortable working independently at times, supported by a team that wants you to succeed. With the department growing from two to six engineers, you’ll have clear paths into senior or more PLC-focused roles.

If you’d like to explore it, feel free to get in touch on 0161 250 5326 or eloisa@optima-cs.com.

Maintenance Engineer | £45,000 + monthly uplift (£3,000/yr) | Littleborough

If you enjoy figuring out why things go wrong and then making sure they stay fixed, this role will suit you. Machines here run hard, breakdowns happen, and you will be the go‑to person when something needs attention. The environment is practical and hands‑on. The short‑term focus will be reacting and resolving issues. Over time you will build processes and systems so the site becomes proactive rather than reactive.

You will work solo as the Maintenance Engineer, but closely with a small team of three experienced Setters. They will raise issues early, and you will diagnose and resolve them. A lot of faults look mechanical at first, but many turn out to be electrical, so strong electrical fault finding will be key.

What you will do:

• You will be the site’s core maintenance engineer working alongside setters and reporting to the Production Manager.
• You will maintain and improve injection moulding machines and related plant such as driers, chillers, and heaters.
• Most of the work will involve electrical fault finding, with plenty of mechanical involvement too.
• You will help define and improve the PPM (planned preventive maintenance) schedule, so it becomes more effective over time.
• Technical support from machine suppliers is available when needed.

Why this could be a good move:

• You want responsibility and ownership of your maintenance patch.
• You like working independently but can bring others with you when needed.
• You prefer results over bureaucracy and a straightforward work culture where decisions are practical and changes happen quickly.

Pay and perks:

• £45,000 base salary.
• Monthly uplift worth around £3,000 per year, reflecting occasional out‑of‑hours work or staying late when needed.
• Standard hours are 8am to 4pm, Monday to Friday, but flexible start and finish times are available so you can avoid peak traffic (some start at 7 and leave at 3).
• 23 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Work at a stable, growing SME in plastics manufacturing with a straightforward, supportive culture.

About the company:

AMS Technical Plastics Ltd is a UK‑based specialist in technical injection moulding, producing complex plastic components across industries including automotive, defence and industrial. The business is part of the Accuratio Group and has built a strong reputation for quality moulded parts and engineering expertise.

Interested?

If you’re looking for a role where your experience matters and where you’ll genuinely improve maintenance performance, this could be worth a look.

Don’t worry if you don’t have a full CV ready to go.  Just a short overview of your qualifications, work history and a few key achievements will do the trick.

So you’re aware, your application will be reviewed by the hiring manager directly.

What if your next move let you truly own your projects, build systems from scratch and work somewhere people stay because they enjoy it, not because they’re managed into it?

If you’re a Control Systems Engineer who wants more trust, more variety and more autonomy, this could be exactly what you’ve been looking for.

You’d be joining a close and friendly team, led by someone who’s been there for twenty-five years and still genuinely loves coming in every day. It’s a place where engineers are simply trusted to get on with real engineering in a way that feels natural and uncomplicated.

The company grew for years purely through word of mouth, but demand has now outpaced the team. They work across food and beverage, pharmaceutical and a mix of other sectors, designing and delivering control systems that keep production moving. Robotics is something they’ve never tackled because the internal expertise hasn’t been there, so if that’s something you bring, there’s real room to steer where things go next.

Your work would be proper end to end controls engineering, programming PLCs from scratch and delivering systems you can genuinely take ownership of. If you’ve got around five years of experience and you’re confident with Siemens, Allen Bradley or Mitsubishi, you’ll fit in comfortably.

Flexibility is genuinely part of the culture. Remote work wasn’t something they’d done before, but they hired someone who lived further away and found it worked perfectly well. Salary will fall somewhere between £50,000 to £65,000 depending on your experience, along with a range of additional benefits that reflect the level you join at.

It’s a straightforward place to work. You’ll be trusted to get on with your job, treated like an adult and given the space to do good engineering without unnecessary noise. If you prefer a calm, steady environment where people look out for each other and the work speaks for itself, you’ll fit in well.

If you’d like to find out more, please reach out on 0161 250 5326 or eloisa@optima-cs.com.

Do you love taking projects from concept to completion? If you’re an experienced EC&I design engineer with a background in electrical engineering and a passion for innovation, this could be your next move.

We design and deliver advanced control and instrumentation systems for the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. You’ll lead projects from design to delivery, provide technical input for tenders and estimates, and create detailed schematics and process drawings using AutoCAD Electrical or EPLAN.

You’ll need around five years of EC&I design experience, ideally within pharma or biotech, along with a solid understanding of ATEX and UL standards.

In return, you’ll join a collaborative team that values integrity, teamwork, and excellence. Expect hybrid working, competitive pay, and the chance to work on cutting-edge projects that truly make a difference.

If this sounds like you, call 0161 250 5326 0161 250 5326 to find out more. Don’t worry if your CV isn’t up to date — we can sort that later.

Field Service Engineer
Home-based | UK-wide (mainly between Sheffield, Birmingham and Cambridge)
£60,000 OTE + paid travel + vehicle allowance + pension

You’ll know this kind of job. Field-based, hands-on, plenty of variety. What you won’t find so often is a version of the job that pays properly, lets you get on with things, and gives you a route to grow.

This is a service role supporting automated packaging used by major brands. You’ll be based from home, travelling across a patch that sits roughly between Sheffield, Birmingham and Cambridge. Pay starts the moment you walk out your front door. There’s some international travel if you want it. No office. No pointless commuting.

Why this one stands out:

• OTE between £50k and £70k, with door-to-door overtime paid at 1.3x 
• A manager who’s actively looking to develop all engineers with company growth
• Work that’s complex and rewarding, not routine or repetitive
• A tight-knit UK team with a global backing behind it
• Trusted to work independently, without red tape or hand-holding

What you’ll bring:

• Level 3 qualification in electrical or mechanical engineering (electrical bias preferred)
• Experience in field service or from a military engineering background
• Comfortable working solo, solving problems and dealing with customers
• Able to read control diagrams and get to grips with machinery fault finding quickly
• Full UK driving licence

Package:

• £40–44K base salary
• Regular overtime (c. 10 hours/week standard - usually whilst you're driving to site)
• Vehicle & Mileage allowance
• 5% matched pension
• Seasonal peaks (especially Nov/Dec), but hours otherwise managed sensibly

Interested?

No need for a glossy four-page CV. Just a short overview of your qualifications, work history and a few key achievements will do the trick.  So you're aware, you’ll be speaking directly with the hiring manager rather than an agency.

Are you a Contract Electrical Controls Engineer looking for your next long-term project where you can take ownership of your work from design through to site implementation?

If that sounds like you, this opportunity might be right up your street.

This is a three-year utility project based in Liverpool, starting this August. You’ll be involved in everything from conducting site surveys and designing control panels to installing Ethernet cabling across dock areas. You’ll also be working with Siemens equipment and collaborating on field instrumentation design, so experience in these areas is essential.

You’ll need a solid background in electrical instrumentation with hands on experience in: PLC hardware, Fibre optic and Ethernet communications and Siemens.

Familiarity with Eplan software would be a bonus, and previous utility project experience will stand you in good stead.

You can work flexibly between the Warrington office and the Liverpool site. The contract is temporary for the project duration, and self employed contractors are encouraged to apply. We’re open to engineers at all levels, whether you’re early in your career or have years of experience under your belt – what matters is your ability to deliver quality work efficiently and safely.

If this sounds like the kind of project you want to get stuck into, send your CV and relevant experience to eloisa@optima-cs.com or pop me a call on 0161 250 5326.

Do you want a role where you can take full ownership of PLC programming projects, make key decisions, and see your solutions operating in the real world?

If so, and you have a strong background in PLC programming with Siemens and Allen Bradley FactoryTalk, this could be the ideal next step in your career.

Our client is a leader in designing and developing advanced control and instrumentation systems for the Pharma and Bio sectors. They’re looking for a Control Systems Engineer who can take full ownership of programming projects, from initial concept right through to commissioning.

In this role, you’ll be writing control programmes from the ground up, testing them, and commissioning them on site. It’s a hybrid position, so you’ll split your time between home working, office collaboration, and site visits as needed.

What’s interesting about this opportunity is that while the company works extensively in ATEX and pharmaceutical environments, they’re completely open to candidates without specific sector experience. The priority is finding someone confident in PLC programming who enjoys delivering effective, reliable solutions.

The salary is open at this stage – it’s been over 12 years since this role was last recruited, so they’re keeping an open mind to attract the right expertise. They also pride themselves on their collaborative and supportive company culture, where your ideas and contributions are genuinely valued.

Interested in finding out more? Call me on 0161 250 5326 for an informal chat.

And don’t worry if your CV isn’t updated yet – we can sort that later.