Process Technician

Job Advert Summary

Key Responsibilities

• Monitor and optimise ion exchange, adsorption, activated carbon, and demineralisation processes.
• Analyse plant performance data and drive corrective actions to prevent downtime and quality deviations.
• Manage resin and activated carbon life cycles, regeneration processes, and change-outs.
• Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis of process upsets and equipment failures.
• Ensure compliance with food safety, environmental, quality, and statutory requirements.
• Support operator training, SOP development, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Drive operational excellence through proactive process monitoring and performance optimisation.

Business Process – Plant Performance

Ion exchange units

Review IX performance daily – trend throughput, conductivity/ash, pH, colour and pressure drop; identify problems and act.

Analyse and trend sweeten-on, sweeten-off and rinses; maintain a performance database for problem solving.

Optimise regeneration cycles (chemical strength, dosing, flows, contact time, rinse endpoints) and verify regeneration efficacy after every cycle.

Manage resin loss and vessel top-ups.

Resin life management

Maintain a resin life register per vessel: install date, volume treated, capacity trend, top-ups and analysis results.

Coordinate external resin analysis and run lab-scale activity tests; recommend change-out based on data.

Plan and manage resin change-outs (lead times, contractors, shutdown window) and inspect lining and internals at every change-out.

Adsorption columns DE3 & DE4

Monitor outlet colour and cumulative load on each column; track the exhaustion profile against capacity.

Schedule column changeover or regeneration ahead of exhaustion so colour breakthrough never occurs.

Set early-warning trigger limits with a clear operator response, and verify adherence every shift.

Granular activated carbon (GAC) plant

Monitor reactivation conditions (furnace temperature, residence time, steam/atmosphere) and carbon feed rate.

Measure reactivation efficacy – reactivated carbon activity (e.g. iodine number / decolourisation), apparent density and ash – against virgin carbon benchmarks.

Track carbon losses per cycle, manage make-up carbon additions and keep carbon inventory sufficient for uninterrupted operation.

Demineralisation plant

Ensure demin water quality (conductivity, silica, pH) and volume meet demand.

Manage cation/anion regeneration cycles, efficacy and resin condition.

Instrumentation, downtime & troubleshooting

Ensure calibration of conductivity, pH, colour, flow and level instruments across all purification plants.

Record and analyse downtime; lead root cause analysis (5-Why, fishbone) and close out corrective actions.

Lead troubleshooting on plant upsets.

Minimum Requirements

Minimum Requirements

• National Diploma in Chemical Engineering (Required).
• BTech in Chemical Engineering (Advantageous).
• Minimum 2 years' experience in a manufacturing or FMCG environment.
• Experience in ion exchange, adsorption, activated carbon, water treatment, or demineralisation processes will be advantageous.

Knowledge & Skills

• Strong understanding of chemistry and chemical engineering principles.
• Advanced knowledge of ion exchange, adsorption technology, activated carbon reactivation, and water treatment processes.
• Root cause analysis and process improvement expertise.
• Knowledge of OHS Act requirements, HACCP, GMP, ISO 22000, ISO 14001, and ISO 45001 standards.
• Proficiency in MS Office and industrial reporting systems

Competencies

The ideal candidate will demonstrate:

• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
• Accountability and attention to detail
• Operational excellence mindset
• Team leadership and coaching ability
• Customer focus and relationship management
• Critical thinking and continuous improvement orientation

Duties and Responsibilities