Senior Maintenance Mechanic / PLC Technician

About the role

The Madelaine Chocolate Company in Rockaway Beach, NY is seeking a hands‑on Senior Maintenance Mechanic / PLC Technician for a day shift (2 pm‑10 pm) in a high‑volume chocolate manufacturing facility. The role involves maintaining, troubleshooting, repairing, and improving production equipment such as chocolate molding lines, foil wrappers, packaging machines, conveyors, and both modern and legacy European machinery, with a focus on minimizing downtime and ensuring food‑safety compliance.

Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot, repair, and maintain production equipment including chocolate molding machines, foil wrapping and handling equipment, packaging and cartoning machines, conveyors and material handling systems, pumps, gearboxes, motors, pneumatic and hydraulic systems.
• Diagnose electrical and control system issues on PLC‑controlled machinery.
• Perform preventative and predictive maintenance to maximize equipment uptime.
• Troubleshoot sensors, photo eyes, VFDs, relays, motor starters, and control circuits.
• Read and interpret electrical schematics, wiring diagrams, and mechanical drawings.
• Assist with PLC troubleshooting (Allen‑Bradley, Siemens or similar) to identify faults and support production.
• Support machine changeovers and equipment setup.
• Work on both newer automated equipment and older European production machinery.
• Coordinate with production and engineering teams to minimize downtime.
• Maintain accurate maintenance records and spare parts inventory.
• Ensure all work is performed safely while complying with food safety, GMP, OSHA, and company standards.

Qualifications

Required:

• Industrial maintenance experience in a food, beverage, confectionery, pharmaceutical, or consumer packaged goods manufacturing environment.
• Strong mechanical aptitude with experience repairing complex production equipment.
• Working knowledge of PLC troubleshooting (ability to diagnose faults).
• Experience with electrical systems up to 480 V.
• Ability to troubleshoot motors, VFDs, sensors, solenoids, pneumatics, hydraulics, and servo‑driven equipment (preferred).
• Experience maintaining packaging equipment, wrappers, conveyors, or automated production machinery.
• Comfortable working on legacy European manufacturing equipment where replacement parts may require custom fabrication or creative troubleshooting.
• Food manufacturing experience strongly preferred.
• PLC programming experience is a plus.

Preferred experience:

• Chocolate, candy, bakery, snack food, or other food manufacturing.
• High‑speed equipment.
• Molding, wrapping, and cartoning equipment.
• European OEM equipment.
• Knowledge of GMP, HACCP, and food safety standards.

Schedule

Day shift: 2 pm – 10 pm