Mechanical Technician I, II, III
9 days ago
Indianapolis
Job Description:\n\nSenior Mechanical Technician / Mechanical Technician (Levels I, II, III) Position Summary Our Senior Mechanical Technician provides hands-on maintenance and technical support for automated material handling equipment at our client's Indianapolis site. The role is responsible for equipment reliability, response to mechanical failures, preventive and corrective maintenance, and mechanical troubleshooting across automated systems. You will work as part of a three-person shift group: our mechanical technician, our automation technician, and a client automation technician. The mechanical technician is the only mechanical resource on that shift, and the site runs continuously. This is a very hands-on role in a highly automated, safety-focused pharmaceutical manufacturing environment. It requires mechanical troubleshooting, safe work around automated systems, accurate documentation, and consistent adherence to established safety and maintenance procedures. 3+ years automated material handling equipment background is necessary. Equipment and Systems: A Day in the Life SystemsSwisslog High Bay Automated Storage and Retrieval Cranes: Including double and triple deep.Inbound and Outbound Conveyance: Including transfer, divert, and merge mechanisms, and the gearmotors, drive motors, and VFDs that run them.Pallet Stretch Film Wrappers: Including film carriage, pre-stretch rollers, clamp mechanisms, and turntable and rotary arm drives.FANUC Pallet Stacking/De-stacking Robots: Mechanical maintenance and fault recovery.AGV Pallet Movers: Including drive wheels, casters, lift mechanisms, fork assemblies, and battery handling and charging hardware.Bin Assembly Systems: And associated material flow equipment.Label Print/Apply & RFID Equipment: Printers, applicators, and RFID readers that register product into the warehouse management system. Components on the Equipment Most corrective work in this role involves components mounted directly to automated equipment.Sensing and Position: Photo eyes, proximity and limit switches, encoders, and position sensors, including mounting, alignment, and verification after replacement.Safety Devices: Light curtains, safety scanners, interlocks, and machine guarding (replaced and aligned to procedure and function tested before the machine goes back into service).Air/Pneumatics: Air curtains and the pneumatic circuit behind them: cylinders, solenoid and manual valves, regulators, filters, fittings, and tubing.Motors, VFDs, and Drives: Conveyance drive motors and gearmotors, brakes, servo/motion drives, and VFDs. Replaced as components, mounted, coupled, and aligned, with the machine proven to run before the job is closed. (Parameter restore and configuration sit with the automation team.)Print, Apply, and RFID: Printhead, ribbon and label path, applicator and tamp/blow assembly, and the mounting/alignment of RFID readers and antennas (verified by a good read and a good label before the job is closed).Connection: Cabling, cordsets, connectors, and energy chains carrying all of the above.Drivetrain and Conveyance: Chains, belts, rollers, bearings, shafts, couplings, gearboxes, guides, and forks. Key Responsibilities and Necessary Skills All LevelsPerform preventive, predictive, and corrective maintenance on automated material handling and supporting equipment to written procedure.Troubleshoot and repair mechanical failures involving conveyors, rollers, bearings, shafts, pulleys, gearboxes, motors, chains, belts, couplings, guides, forks, and pneumatic components.Replace, mount, align, and function test field devices (photo eyes, proximity/limit switches, encoders, light curtains, safety scanners, air curtains, solenoid valves). Prove the machine runs before closing the job.Replace conveyance drive motors, gearmotors, brakes, and VFDs as components (mounting, coupling, alignment, and verifying drive performance). (Parameter restore and configuration sit with the automation team.)Operate equipment through its own HMI: run, jog, index, reset faults, and read alarm/IO status to confirm a repair.Use a FANUC teach pendant to jog and safely reposition a robot for mechanical access and fault recovery under site procedure and within current robot safety qualification.Diagnose alignment, wear, vibration, binding, interference, and abnormal operating conditions; document conditions rather than ticking the box.Identify developing equipment issues and recommend corrective action before failure.Support equipment recovery, testing, and return to service following maintenance or repair.Work with OEM representatives and outside vendors during troubleshooting, repairs, upgrades, and service activities.Maintain tools, spare parts, and work areas in a clean and organized condition.Close work orders with accurate labor, parts, and findings at a standard that supports failure history later. Level II — Additional Responsibilities & SkillsDiagnose mechanical faults on running systems and restore production, rather than executing a repair somebody else identified.Service high bay crane fork mechanisms (double and triple deep): bearings, guides, chains, drive components, and wear items.Perform hoist, travel, and traverse drive maintenance on high bay cranes.Inspect rail and guide, measure wear against tolerance, and make the in-spec or out-of-spec call.Perform robot mechanical fault recovery, safe repositioning, and mechanical PMs to FANUC standards (including grease and battery service intervals).Correct recurring mechanical conditions, such as repeat film breaks, instead of resetting them shift after shift.Own PM execution for the shift and sequence it around available access windows.Raise parts requisitions within configured limits and state in writing when stock will not hold. Level III — Additional Responsibilities & SkillsResolve complex, intermittent, and repeat faults escalated by a Level II, and make the run or stop call on high-loss assets.Perform load and pallet recovery on high bay cranes: retrieving jammed, dropped, or misaligned loads from the rack face and crane, and returning the machine to service. (At-height work on stored energy — this is the core reason the level exists.)Run root cause investigations on significant/recurring failures and write corrective actions.Rebuild preventive maintenance content against actual failure history rather than running OEM intervals unchanged.Scope major mechanical repairs, including crane rail work, and hand off cleanly to Elite specialist resources.Own the critical spares list for the site and escalate stock gaps before they become downtime.Train and sign off Level I technicians; mentor Level II technicians.Represent our company technically in front of customer operations and customer engineering, setting the high standard the rest of the mechanical team is judged by. Experience Requirements by Level Note: Experience at every level must include maintenance on automated material handling equipment. General industrial or manufacturing maintenance without automated equipment exposure does not meet the requirements for this position.Level I (MT1): 3+ years of maintenance experience on automated material handling equipment.Level II (MT2): 5+ years of maintenance experience on automated material handling equipment. Must be able to diagnose running equipment without a procedure and recognize when to stop/lock out. Hands-on time with at least one of the following: high bay or ASRS cranes, AGVs, palletizing robots, stretch wrappers, or high-speed conveyance.Level III (MT3): 7+ years of maintenance experience on automated material handling equipment. High bay or ASRS crane experience required (specifically load recovery at height). Documented root cause work (not only repairs performed). Demonstrated record of training and signing off other technicians. Required & Preferred Qualifications Required Qualifications (All Levels)High school diploma or GED.Demonstrated experience troubleshooting industrial mechanical equipment (conveyors, motors, gearboxes, bearings, pneumatics, automated machinery).Hands-on experience with field devices mounted to automated equipment (sensors, photo eyes, proximity switches, light curtains, solenoid valves) including mounting, alignment, and verification.Hands-on experience replacing conveyance drive motors, gearmotors, and VFDs (mounting, coupling, alignment, and run verification).Safe and competent use of hand tools, power tools, and precision measuring equipment.Ability to read mechanical drawings, equipment manuals, schematics, and technical documentation.Strong computer skills: comfortable working in the customer maintenance system (CMMS) every shift to manage work, record findings/parts, and close work orders to GMP documentation standards.Able to document work accurately and completely in an electronic record without prompting or carrying backlogs into the next shift.Ability to communicate clearly with technicians, management, customer personnel, and vendors; able to work independently and within a multidisciplinary team.Willingness to work a 12-hour shift on a 2-2-3 rotation, including weekends and holidays (and nights if hired to a night post).Availability to work day shift for the first 2 to 4 weeks during initial training, regardless of the post hired for.Able to distinguish a mechanical fault from a controls fault on running equipment and state clearly what has been ruled out during handovers.Comfortable operating automated equipment through an HMI (jogging, indexing, resetting faults, reading alarm and I/O status).Ability to obtain and hold site-required qualifications: Lockout/Tagout (LOTO), Working at Heights, Qualified Electrical Worker, and Robot Safety/Teach Pendant qualification to ANSI/A3 R15.06 standard prior to working inside safeguarded spaces. Preferred QualificationsExperience in pharmaceutical manufacturing, automated distribution, warehousing, or automated material handling environments.Experience with Swisslog equipment or comparable automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS), automated cranes, conveyors, or AGVs.Current or prior FANUC teach pendant experience; experience with label print/apply or RFID equipment.Diagnostic literacy on the controls side: able to read faults, alarms, sensor/light curtain states, and VFD drive fault codes accurately for clean handovers to the automation team.Welding, fabrication, machining, precision alignment, or mechanical assembly experience.Experience working within a CMMS or electronic work order system.Experience working in a regulated GMP environment. Physical Requirements These are essential functions of the job, not occasional tasks. The site is large, the equipment sits at height, and work happens where the machine is. Candidates must be able to perform each function with or without reasonable accommodation.Standing and Movement: Stand and walk for the majority of a 12-hour shift, repeatedly covering a large multi-building site on foot. Move quickly across the site in response to a breakdown, including in the final hour of a shift.Getting to the Equipment: Climb fixed ladders, stairs, and platforms repeatedly to reach elevated crane aisles, mezzanines, and overhead conveyance. Work at height in a full body harness (including on crane structures and at the rack face). Enter/work inside rack aisles, machine frames, and restricted spaces.Working Positions: Bend, kneel, crouch, squat, twist, and reach overhead repeatedly; hold those positions long enough to complete repairs. Lie prone or supine beneath conveyance and machine frames. Work with arms above shoulder height and use tools in awkward positions with sustained grip.Load: Lift and carry at least 50 lbs unassisted repeatedly through a shift; push, pull, and maneuver heavier components using correct equipment. Handle small components/fasteners with fine motor control while wearing gloves, working at height, or working overhead.Sensory & Environment: Read equipment labels, fault displays, and indicator states; distinguish indicator colors. Hear and respond to alarms, horns, moving equipment, and verbal communication in high-noise environments. Wear required PPE for a full shift (including fall protection). Work around operating automated equipment, at height, and on stored energy. Note: Because these physical demands are constant rather than occasional, any offer for the Mechanical Technician position is conditioned on a post-offer physical capability evaluation confirming the candidate can satisfactorily perform the essential functions above. This evaluation is required of every candidate entering this role. Pre-Employment Requirements & Work AuthorizationBackground Check & Drug Screen: Candidates joining our team at this client site must pass a thorough background check and drug test. All employment offers are contingent upon satisfactory clearance.Work Authorization: This position is available only to candidates holding full, present work authorization for any US employer. We cannot consider candidates who require sponsorship now or in the future.
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