Automation & Controls Technician - Cape Town at Catch

Job Description

• Our client is looking for an experienced Automation & Controls Technician to join their Technical / Installations team in Strand, Cape Town, on a permanent, full-time basis.
• The role takes a monitoring or control installation from design through to a fully commissioned, verified system on site — covering panel build in the workshop, field installation at client premises, and final commissioning and data verification. This is deliberately a three-part role spanning workshop build, site installation and commissioning.
• The successful candidate will understand why each input and output exists in a given application, and will be able to identify where a design will not achieve the intended measurement or control outcome before it reaches site.

ROLE OVERVIEW

• Reporting to the Technical Manager / General Manager, the Automation & Controls Technician will build and wire control panels, install field instrumentation and communications infrastructure on client sites, and commission and verify installed systems end to end.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Panel Assembly & Workshop Build

• Assemble control and monitoring panels from approved electrical drawings, general arrangement layouts and bills of materials.
• Mount and wire DIN-rail equipment: PLCs and I/O modules, controllers, gateways, power supplies, relays, contactors, circuit protection, terminals and CT shorting blocks.
• Wire and label panels to a consistent workmanship standard, including correct conductor sizing and colour coding, ferruling, cable management, segregation of power and signal wiring, and earthing/bonding.
• Perform pre-delivery testing: continuity, insulation resistance, polarity, point-to-point verification against schematics, and power-up functional checks of all I/O.
• Flag drawing errors, component substitutions and buildability issues back to the design team, and mark up as-built changes.

Site Installation

• Install and terminate field instrumentation, including current transformers, power and energy meters, pulse meters, pressure and temperature sensors, flow meters and digital status inputs.
• Route, install and terminate field wiring, containment, trunking, conduit and glanding to a professional standard in live commercial and industrial environments.
• Install and terminate data and communications infrastructure, including RS-485/Modbus RTU trunks, Ethernet, antennas and network hardware, with correct topology, screening and termination.
• Carry out isolations and safe working procedures, including compliance with site-specific access, induction, permit-to-work and lock-out/tag-out requirements.
• Work neatly and with minimal disruption in occupied client premises such as retail stores, supermarkets, plant rooms and refrigeration plant areas.

Commissioning & Verification

• Power up, configure and commission installed systems, including addressing devices, setting communication parameters and confirming controller connectivity.
• Verify every input and output end to end, confirming each sensor reads correctly, scaled to the correct engineering units, and that each output actuates the intended device.
• Validate measured values against reference instruments (clamp meters, multimeters, calibration references) and confirm data is reporting correctly to the monitoring platform.
• Diagnose and resolve commissioning faults, including wiring errors, comms failures, addressing conflicts, incorrect CT ratios or scaling, and sensor placement problems.
• Complete commissioning documentation: as-built drawings, point/asset schedules, photographic records, test sheets and site handover packs.

Support, Maintenance & Fault-Finding

• Attend reactive site call-outs and diagnose faults across electrical, instrumentation, controls and communications layers.
• Perform planned maintenance, sensor checks and system health verification.
• Provide clear, timeous feedback to the office and to clients on site status, work completed and outstanding items.
• Maintain vehicle stock, tools and test equipment in good order.

General

• Complete job cards, timesheets and site reports accurately and on time.
• Provide basic on-site guidance to clients and contribute to knowledge transfer within the technical team.
• Comply with the Occupational Health and Safety Act and all company and client site safety requirements.

REQUIREMENTS:

The ideal candidate will possess the following:

Qualifications

• Grade 12 with Mathematics and Physical Science, or N3–N6 in Electrical Engineering, Instrumentation or Mechatronics.
• A relevant trade qualification, National Diploma or equivalent in Electrical Engineering (light or heavy current), Instrumentation, Mechatronics or Industrial Automation.
• Valid Code B driver's licence — essential, as the role involves regular travel between sites.

Experience

• Minimum 3 years' hands-on experience in industrial automation, instrumentation, building management systems, electrical contracting or a closely related field.
• Demonstrable experience of the full delivery cycle: panel build, site installation, commissioning and handover.
• Experience working on live client sites in commercial, retail or industrial environments.

Automation & Control

• Working understanding of PLC and controller architecture and the principles of control logic.
• Solid understanding of I/O types and their application: digital input, digital output, relay output, analogue input (4–20 mA, 0–10 V, RTD, thermistor, thermocouple), analogue output, and pulse/counter inputs.
• Ability to explain and defend why a particular I/O type, sensor, signal range or wiring configuration is appropriate for a specific measurement or control application.
• Understanding of loop powering, sourcing vs sinking, signal scaling and engineering unit conversion.

Electrical & Instrumentation

• Reading and working from electrical schematics, single-line diagrams, panel layouts, loop drawings and cable schedules.
• Sound single- and three-phase electrical fundamentals: distribution boards, protection, isolation and earthing.
• Current transformer selection, ratio, burden, polarity and safe handling.
• Power and energy metering, including voltage reference connection and correct phase association.
• Competent use of test equipment: multimeter, clamp meter, insulation tester, loop calibrator, phase rotation meter.

Electronics & Communications

• Basic electronics competence: DC power distribution, signal conditioning, sensor interfacing, board-level fault-finding.
• Serial and industrial communications: RS-485/Modbus RTU (addressing, baud rate, parity, termination, biasing, cable topology and screening), Modbus TCP and basic IP networking.
• Familiarity with gateways, protocol converters and data loggers.

Advantageous

• Wireman's licence, or registration as an Installation Electrician/Single Phase Tester (SANS 10142-1).
• Red Seal trade certification (Electrician, Instrument Mechanician or Millwright).
• Experience with commercial refrigeration, HVAC or building management systems.
• Experience with solar PV, inverters and battery storage systems.
• Working at heights certification, first aid, and current site safety inductions.
• Experience with monitoring or SCADA/IoT platforms and dashboard configuration.

Behavioural Competencies

• Methodical and disciplined: follows procedure, tests systematically, does not guess.
• Quality-focused: takes visible pride in workmanship.
• Diagnostic mindset: reasons from first principles rather than swapping parts.
• Accountable: owns the job through to a verified, documented handover, and escalates early when something is wrong.
• Client-presentable: professional conduct and appearance on client premises, and communicates clearly with non-technical site staff.
• Self-managing: works unsupervised on site and manages time across multiple jobs.
• Documentation discipline: records what was actually installed, not what was drawn.

Working Conditions

• Split between the Strand workshop/office and client sites.
• Regular travel across the Western Cape, with periodic out-of-town and overnight travel to sites nationally.
• Occasional after-hours, early-morning or weekend work to accommodate client trading hours and shutdown windows.
• Physical work, including ladders, roof spaces, plant rooms, refrigeration areas and confined ceiling voids.
• Standby/call-out rotation may apply.

Key Performance Measures

• Installation quality: rework and snag rate per installation.
• Commissioning: percentage of points verified and reporting correctly at handover.
• Delivery: jobs completed within allocated hours and scheduled date.
• Documentation: as-built and handover packs submitted complete, within 2 days of completion.
• Client experience: site feedback and absence of escalations.
• Safety: zero reportable incidents, and full compliance with site inductions and permits.