At PROPER SNACKS, we’re on a mission to make snacks that are seriously fun and better for people & planet. As part of our production team, our Technical Operators are at the heart of keeping our production lines running smoothly, ensuring every bag of popcorn and chips meets the highest standards of quality, safety, and efficiency.

The Person:

You’re hands-on, mechanically minded, and thrive when solving problems under pressure. You stay calm during breakdowns, think fast, and enjoy fixing things. You’re naturally curious about how machines work, enjoy learning, and want to build your skills. You collaborate well with others, support your teammates to succeed.

The Role:

As a Technical Operator, you’ll be the first responder when production lines stop. You’ll diagnose and repair faults where possible, performing mechanical first-line maintenance and preventative maintenance (PPM) to keep our machinery running smoothly. When faults require deeper expertise whether electrical or mechanical, you’ll work directly with our Engineering team or external specialists to get production back online safely and quickly.

Responsibilities:

-Respond quickly to breakdowns on production lines, working to minimise downtime.

-Diagnose faults and carry out mechanical first-line maintenance such as replacing bearings, belts, sensors, and pneumatic components, plus making machine adjustments where necessary.

-Complete scheduled preventative maintenance (PPM) tasks to reduce unplanned breakdowns.

-Operate and optimise key equipment including TNA baggers, Pace baggers, Yamato weighers, checkweighers, and Markem coders, Endoline tapers.

-Work closely with the Engineering team to plan repairs.

-Respond to breakdowns using Redzone, PPM completion logs, and machine performance data in Redzone and other reporting tools.

-Support Continuous Improvement (CI) projects to reduce downtime, minimise waste, and improve OEE.

-Share knowledge, mentor operators where needed, and support cross-training within the team.

Requirements:

-HND or NVQ Level 2/3 in Mechanical Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, or a similar.

-Hands-on mechanical maintenance experience, confident dismantling and reassembling equipment, repairing, and adjusting production machinery.

-Experience reacting to breakdowns and performing first-line fault finding under pressure.

-Familiarity with planned preventative maintenance (PPM) schedules and processes.

-Knowledge of food safety, HACCP, and health & safety compliance.

-Comfortable working with production KPIs like downtime, OEE, waste, and yield.

-Excellent problem-solving skills with a collaborative approach to working with operators, Engineering, and CI teams.

About PS:

PROPER SNACKS is the home of PROPER and Eat Real. The UK’s fastest-growing major snacks company.

We’re a diverse team of builders, thinkers, creators and makers - based in London and Nuneaton and serving snackers across Europe. Our brilliant team are united by an insatiable curiosity and driven by an entrepreneurial spirit. At PROPER SNACKS, we don’t sit still. We scale fast, dream big and back our people to make stuff happen. Our values keep us grounded: Be builder. Dream bigger. Seriously fun.

Whether you're joining us in London – where the brands are built, and big ideas take flight. Or in Nuneaton where magic happens in our factory and every bag gets made – you’ll be part of a team shaking up the snacking world. Get a flavour of what life is like at PROPER SNACKS here.

LDN – Drummond Street – London –  NW1 3HP

NUN – Townsend Dr – Nuneaton – CV11 6TJ

Our Approach:

PROPER and Eat Real is an equal opportunities employer and we do not discriminate on the grounds of gender, sexual orientation, marital or civil partner status, pregnancy or maternity, gender reassignment, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, disability, or age.

Please let us know if there is anything we can do to accommodate you to participate fully in the recruitment or interview process.