Instrument Technician (Temporary)

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. PepsiCo generated more than $79 billion in net revenue in 2021, driven by a complementary beverage and convenient foods portfolio that includes Lay’s, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream. PepsiCo's product portfolio includes a wide range of enjoyable foods and beverages, including many iconic brands that generate more than $1 billion each in estimated annual retail sales. 

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability and human capital at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people.

In South Africa (SA), you will find our products across the region at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. At the gym or on the field. In the office or on the go. We refresh, restore, and rejuvenate our consumers all day, every day with our key brands including Simba, Lay's, Liqui Fruit and Bokomo range of cereals. PepsiCo SA employs more than 13,000 people across our three business divisions: Bakeries, Grains, Foods, Fruit, Snacks, Juice & Beverages. For more information, visit

• The main purpose is primarily to ensure maximum plant uptime is achieved continuously.
• The individual must be a leader in maintenance and troubleshooting of electrical, instrumentation and control systems equipment.
• The individual must ensure that the factory meets its key KPIs which include but are not limited to production volume, safety and quality compliance, cost reduction, equipment reliability improvement and downtime reduction.

Accountabilities: 

• Performs electrical and instrumentation maintenance activities associated with process plant, packaging plant; palletizing plant, waste water plant, utilities and facilities
• Leading all electrical and instrumentation repairs and maintenance activities in designated area of responsibility.
• Monitors daily downtime and institutes corrective action plans to prevent recurrences of breakdowns.
• Calibrates, repairs and maintains instrumentation, control and electrical associated equipment to ensure operation within set standards.
• Perform root cause analysis to address asset performance problems and/or reduce cost.
• Maintains PLCs, SCADA systems and networks (hardware and software) and perform changes/modifications as required.
• Continuously evaluates the equipment control philosophies and initiates improvement actions in order to achieve asset performance targets.
• Implements continuous improvement on all electrical and electronic equipment in the plant.
• Assist in commissioning of modifications/projects.
• Ensures proper documentation of changes/modifications and perform internal audits.
• Fault finding and repair of electrical and electronic systems to the component level.
• Ensure availability of spares for all electrical, electronic and control systems in the plant.
• Accurately and timeously reports equipment deviations to stakeholders to meet/improve equipment availability and reliability targets.
• Ensure proper back-up of all PLC programs and maintain records of all upgrades.
• Ensure that plant adheres to MESS standards and practice safe operations of process control systems.
• Audit of electrical, instrumentation and control system equipment.
• Calibration of all instrumentation and control equipment.
• Complete required testing and safety checks on all instrumentation equipment.
• Conducts all scheduled maintenance within required timeframes.
• Recording all work activities on the SAP computerized maintenance management system
• Working with suppliers and contractors as required to complete assigned work tasks.
• Communicates with production staff during shift to identify possible failures before they occur (Proactive maintenance mindset).
• Continuous shift cover, standby cover and overtime as per business requirement.

• Electrical trade tested with at least N6/S4 diploma qualification in Electrical: Instrumentation and control.
• Minimum 5 years maintenance experience in the Production/FMCG environment.
• Advanced computer literacy skills with knowledge of Microsoft Office 365 and SAP maintenance management system
• Must have extensive knowledge of maintaining electrical, instrumentation and electrical systems. Ability to read and interpret electrical diagram, P&IDs, equipment manuals, with a high quality of work.
• Strong PLC fault finding and troubleshooting skills and thorough knowledge of operator interfaces and HMIs.
• Experience in control systems - PLCs, SCADA, VSDs, Servo systems, HMI systems, standalone controllers, high speed printers and robotics.
• Working experience with industrial communication methodologies (Ethernet, CANBUS, RS-232, ASI, Devicenet)
• Highly maintenance and reliability focused to improve equipment quality and safety results.

“PepsiCo is an Equal Opportunity Employer in line with the Employment Equity Act"