Apprentice Multi-Skilled Engineer

SHEPLEY SPRING LTD

WEST YORKSHIRE (HD8 8EA)

Closes in 2 days (Tuesday 28 July 2026 at 11:59pm)

Posted on 24 July 2026

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Contents

Summary

You'll be responsible for ensuring the smooth operation, maintenance and repair of production equipment/ machinery across the site. The role involves troubleshooting, diagnosing faults, carrying out planned and reactive maintenance and improving equipment performance to maximise production efficiency, safety and product quality.

Wage

£16,640 for your first year, then could increase depending on your age

National Minimum Wage rate for apprentices

Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)

Training course
Food and drink maintenance engineer (level 3)
Hours
Monday to Friday, hours between 6.00am - 6.00pm.

40 hours a week

Start date

Tuesday 1 September 2026

Duration

3 years 6 months

Positions available

4

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

 Preventative and Reactive Maintenance:

  • Perform routine preventative maintenance on all production machinery, including mechanical, electrical, and PLC-controlled systems
  • Respond promptly to equipment breakdowns and emergencies, performing diagnosis, repairs, and troubleshooting to restore machinery to optimal function

Equipment Installation and Upgrades:

  • Oversee the installation, commissioning, and upgrading of new equipment and machinery as required
  • Work closely with suppliers and contractors during equipment installation and ensure integration into existing systems

Troubleshooting and Diagnostics:

  • Use diagnostic tools and techniques to troubleshoot electrical, mechanical, and automation issues on machinery
  • Identify, diagnose, and rectify mechanical and electrical faults in production equipment, ensuring minimal downtime

Health and Safety Compliance:

  • Ensure compliance with all relevant health, safety, and food safety regulations during maintenance and repair activities
  • Follow safety protocols while working with machinery, electrical systems, and hazardous materials
  • Assist in conducting risk assessments and hazard analysis related to engineering processes

Continuous Improvement:

  • Work with production teams to identify areas for improvement in equipment efficiency, reliability, and product quality
  • Implement modifications or improvements to machinery and processes to optimise performance and reduce costs

Documentation and Reporting:

  • Maintain detailed maintenance logs, documenting work completed, parts used, and any issues encountered during repairs or maintenance tasks
  • Create and update maintenance schedules to ensure all equipment is regularly serviced and maintained

Team Collaboration:

  • Collaborate with production teams to minimise downtime and improve machine reliability
  • Provide training and guidance to operators and junior engineers on machinery operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting

Parts and Inventory Management:

  • Monitor and manage inventory of spare parts, tools, and supplies needed for routine maintenance and repairs
  • Place orders for replacement parts and ensure stock levels are adequate

Project Support:

  • Assist with project-based engineering tasks, including upgrading facilities or equipment, process improvements, and facility expansions
  • Work with cross-functional teams to implement new production lines or technologies

Where you'll work

EASTFIELD MILLS THE KNOWLE
SHEPLEY
HUDDERSFIELD
WEST YORKSHIRE
HD8 8EA

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

Training provider

KIRKLEES COLLEGE

Training course

Food and drink maintenance engineer (level 3)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents
  • Read and interpret task related information and data. For example, work instructions, SOPs, quality control documentation, Service Level Agreements, specifications, engineering representations, drawings, and graphical information, work instructions, and operation manuals.
  • Plan work. Identify and organise resources to complete tasks.
  • Identify hazards and control measures to mitigate risks.
  • Comply with food safety regulations and procedures.
  • Comply with health and safety regulations and procedures.
  • Comply with environment and sustainability regulations and procedures: safe disposal of waste, re-cycling or re-use of materials and efficient use of resources.
  • Select, check the condition, and safely use maintenance tools and equipment. Store tools and equipment. Complete or arrange maintenance of tools and equipment including calibration where required.
  • Follow standard operating procedures and quality procedures.
  • Follow site isolation and lock off procedures (lockout, tagout) and re-instatement of equipment with system checks and handover.
  • Apply mechanical and fluid power system maintenance practices and techniques. For example, check levels, parts wear, pressure, and sensors, grease and lubricate parts, replace, fit components, and calibrate equipment.
  • Apply electrical and control maintenance practices and techniques including use of electrical testing equipment and instruments. For example, panel risk assessment, fixed wire installation testing, fault finding, thermographic surveys, and checking protection settings.
  • Apply reliability engineering techniques to prevent or reduce the likelihood or frequency of failures. For example, condition monitoring, oil sampling, thermography, vibration analysis, and ultrasound.
  • Install and configure instrumentation or process control systems.
  • Install and configure electrical systems. For example, add distribution boards to circuits, single and three phase motors (AC and DC).
  • Assemble, position and fix equipment or components. Complete commissioning checks.
  • Disconnect and remove equipment or components. Complete storage measures to prevent deterioration.
  • Read and interpret equipment performance data.
  • Fabricate, drill, and join to produce basic parts, spares or components to measurement and tolerance specification.
  • Apply down-hand (flat) TIG welding techniques: butt and tee.
  • Apply mathematical techniques to solve engineering problems.
  • Produce and amend electrical and mechanical engineering representations, drawings, and graphical information. For example, for new component parts or change in circuit diagram or panel.
  • Apply fault-finding and problem-solving techniques for example, using PLC data to diagnose issues and locate faults on industrial network.
  • Apply continuous improvement techniques to understand current performance; collect and record data. Devise suggestions for improvement.
  • Restore the work area on completion of activity.
  • Resolve or escalate issues.
  • Use information technology. For example, for document creation, communication, and information management. Comply with GDPR. Comply with cyber security.
  • Record work activity. For example, asset management records, work sheets, checklists, waste environmental records, and any business or legal reporting requirements.
  • Communicate verbal and written. For example, with colleagues and stakeholders. Use engineering terminology where appropriate.
  • Produce reports for example, equipment performance reports.
  • Provide guidance or training to colleagues or stakeholders.
  • Read and interpret task related information and data. For example, work instructions, SOPs, quality control documentation, Service Level Agreements, specifications, engineering representations, drawings, and graphical information, work instructions, and operation manuals.
  • Plan work. Identify and organise resources to complete tasks.
  • Identify hazards and control measures to mitigate risks.
  • Comply with food safety regulations and procedures.
  • Comply with health and safety regulations and procedures.
  • Comply with environment and sustainability regulations and procedures: safe disposal of waste, re-cycling or re-use of materials and efficient use of resources.
  • Select, check the condition, and safely use maintenance tools and equipment. Store tools and equipment. Complete or arrange maintenance of tools and equipment including calibration where required.
  • Follow standard operating procedures and quality procedures.
  • Follow site isolation and lock off procedures (lockout, tagout) and re-instatement of equipment with system checks and handover.
  • Apply mechanical and fluid power system maintenance practices and techniques. For example, check levels, parts wear, pressure, and sensors, grease and lubricate parts, replace, fit components, and calibrate equipment.
  • Apply electrical and control maintenance practices and techniques including use of electrical testing equipment and instruments. For example, panel risk assessment, fixed wire installation testing, fault finding, thermographic surveys, and checking protection settings.
  • Apply reliability engineering techniques to prevent or reduce the likelihood or frequency of failures. For example, condition monitoring, oil sampling, thermography, vibration analysis, and ultrasound.
  • Install and configure instrumentation or process control systems.
  • Install and configure electrical systems. For example, add distribution boards to circuits, single and three phase motors (AC and DC).
  • Assemble, position and fix equipment or components. Complete commissioning checks.
  • Disconnect and remove equipment or components. Complete storage measures to prevent deterioration.
  • Read and interpret equipment performance data.
  • Fabricate, drill, and join to produce basic parts, spares or components to measurement and tolerance specification.
  • Apply down-hand (flat) TIG welding techniques: butt and tee.
  • Apply mathematical techniques to solve engineering problems.
  • Produce and amend electrical and mechanical engineering representations, drawings, and graphical information. For example, for new component parts or change in circuit diagram or panel.
  • Apply fault-finding and problem-solving techniques for example, using PLC data to diagnose issues and locate faults on industrial network.
  • Apply continuous improvement techniques to understand current performance; collect and record data. Devise suggestions for improvement.
  • Restore the work area on completion of activity.
  • Resolve or escalate issues.
  • Use information technology. For example, for document creation, communication, and information management. Comply with GDPR. Comply with cyber security.
  • Record work activity. For example, asset management records, work sheets, checklists, waste environmental records, and any business or legal reporting requirements.
  • Communicate verbal and written. For example, with colleagues and stakeholders. Use engineering terminology where appropriate.
  • Produce reports for example, equipment performance reports.
  • Provide guidance or training to colleagues or stakeholders.

Training schedule

You will study a Level 3 Food and Drink Maintenance Engineer Apprenticeship Standard at Kirklees College, Huddersfield.

The college element of this Apprenticeship is delivered by “block release”. 

The typical duration of college attendance in previous years is shown below.

Year 1 = 22 weeks, Year 2 = 10 weeks, Year 3 = 10 weeks, Year 4 = 4 weeks.

This is a 4-year programme.

The final year will involve completion of a portfolio and preparation for End Point Assessment (EPA). This measures the skills, knowledge and behaviours outlined in the standard and is carried out by ESFA approved organisations independent from the college.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

Maths and English (grade 4/C or above)

Share if you have other relevant qualifications and industry experience. The apprenticeship can be adjusted to reflect what you already know.

Skills

  • Attention to detail
  • Problem solving skills
  • Logical
  • Team working
  • Initiative

About this employer

Shepley Spring are the UK's leading bottled water manufacturer with over 28 years' experience in production and are proud to remain a family run business to this day.
The company operates in three manufacturing facilities in Yorkshire and owns several high-speed production lines with the capabilities of producing both still and sparkling water servicing leading retailers such as Morrisons, Costco, Booker Tesco and Iceland through private label and produces the brands Ice Valley® and White Rock® exclusively.

After this apprenticeship

Your earnings can increase over time with an apprenticeship. Find out about potential future pay (opens in new tab).

There is a strong possibility that you will gain a permanent position following successful achievement of the full apprenticeship qualification.

There may also be further apprenticeship/other training available following successful employment and achievement of the apprenticeship qualifications.

Ask a question

The contact for this apprenticeship is:

KIRKLEES COLLEGE

Tamara

apprenticeships@kirkleescollege.ac.uk

The reference code for this apprenticeship is VAC2000044597.

Apply now

Closes in 2 days (Tuesday 28 July 2026 at 11:59pm)