At Real Pet Food Company, we’re on a mission to create better food for pets—and behind every great product is a manufacturing site that performs at its best.
We’re looking for a hands-on Reliability & Automation Specialist to join our Engineering team at our Yatala manufacturing site Reporting to the Engineering and Reliability Manager, this is a high-impact technical role for someone who loves solving complex problems, getting into the detail of automation and controls, and finding smarter ways to keep a fast-paced manufacturing plant running.
You’ll be the person who asks, “Why did it fail?”, finds the real answer, and puts the solution in place so it doesn’t happen again.
Own automation and operational technology reliability – troubleshoot and optimise PLCs, SCADA systems including Ignition and FactoryTalk View, OT networks, MES, OEE and WAGES systems to keep critical manufacturing systems running.
Make equipment more reliable – lead RCM, predictive and condition-based maintenance, root cause analysis and PM optimisation to reduce downtime, improve asset performance and maximise OEE.
Solve complex technical problems – provide expert support to electrical trades and engineering teams on automation, controls, instrumentation and network-related breakdowns.
Drive smarter manufacturing – identify and deliver automation, digitalisation and continuous improvement opportunities, including minor automation capital projects and system upgrades.
Shape the future of the site – contribute to automation strategy, capital planning, obsolescence management and technology upgrades while partnering with Production, Maintenance, Safety, IT and Group Engineering.
You’re a technically curious problem-solver who enjoys being close to the plant and making a genuine difference. You'll bring experience in industrial automation, electrical controls and manufacturing reliability, with the confidence to troubleshoot issues under pressure and influence improvements across the site.
Ideally, you'll have experience with:
PLCs, industrial networks and OT environments
SCADA platforms such as Ignition and/or FactoryTalk View
MES, OEE, production data and manufacturing performance systems
Reliability-centred maintenance, predictive maintenance and condition monitoring
Root Cause Analysis and continuous improvement methodologies
Electrical control systems, instrumentation and industrial automation
CMMS systems, ideally MEX
FMCG, food, beverage, manufacturing or another high-speed production environment
This isn't a role where you'll spend all day behind a desk writing reports.
You'll have the opportunity to get hands-on with complex automation challenges, influence site-wide reliability strategy and help build a smarter, more connected manufacturing environment
At Real Pet Food Company, you'll work alongside passionate engineers, tradespeople and production teams who understand that reliability is about more than fixing breakdowns—it's about creating sustainable improvements in safety, quality, performance, cost and energy efficiency
If you're the kind of engineer who gets a genuine buzz from solving problems, eliminating recurring failures and making machines—and manufacturing systems—perform better, we'd love to hear from you.
What we’re about
Welcome to RPF, where we believe in keeping it Real.
Since 1994, we have been Australia and New Zealand’s pioneers in fresher dog and cat nutrition. Our story is one of passion for a better way to care for pets, a belief in fresher nutrition, and an unwavering commitment to delivering this to pet parents and pets worldwide.
We're dedicated to fostering authentic partnerships, encouraging real ambition, and providing real career opportunities for our employees to make a difference.
Real means fresher ingredients and fresher methods. We'll never stop expanding, innovating, and trying new things. We compete in every pet category and channel, creating favourite brands such as Ivory Coat, Nature’s Gift, V.I.P. Petfoods, and Love ‘Em & Fussy Cat!
Since the establishment of RPF, we have grown to over 900 people across Australia and New Zealand, China, Southeast Asia and Europe.
With the pet industry growing rapidly (a $15 billion industry!) and pets becoming increasingly important in our lives and homes, this is a unique opportunity to be a part of our remarkable growth story and advance your career.
Why join us?
Do work that matters. We’re pioneering in a new area of pet food, always striving for fresher. We’re restless, creating a better life for our pets.
Make an impact and change the game. You won’t be another ‘cog in the wheel’ here. We give full trust and autonomy for you to do your best work – and to make a real difference. Do you have a great idea for a new product or system improvement? We’re all ears!
Growing and global. We’re growing fast! We now have global presence across APAC, and Europe regions and we’re only getting started!
Work with a pack of awesome, genuine people who are passionate about what they do.
Grow your career with us. We’re big believers in lifelong learning. You’ll be given access to LinkedIn Learning, plus opportunities for internal mobility and leadership training to fast-track your career.
Pets our part of our family bring your pet to our Crows Nest office, access our Pawrental leave when you adopt a new cat or dog, pet carer and compassionate leave.
Generous perks including day off for your anniversary, product discounts, volunteering days to help the community, novated leases, a rewards program and parental leave.
What’s next?
If you're ready to unleash your potential and make a real difference in the booming pet industry, then we want to hear from you! Next steps will include:
An initial telephone interview followed by up to 2 face to face interviews and site visit
2 work references
A Pre-Employment Medical
We are proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. Diversity’s not a buzzword here, it’s in our DNA. Diverse perspectives shape our culture and make our work better. That’s why we’re committed to building inclusive teams that represent a variety of backgrounds and skills. If you need any reasonable adjustments, accessibility assistance or would like to note which pronouns you use at any stage of our hiring process, just contact us at accommodations: people&culture@realpetfoodco.com.au. We look forward to hearing from you.
Please note: NO agencies will be considered during this process. We encourage you to refrain from submitting unsolicited profiles
We exist to create a world where every pet, every day eats fresher and lives better.
Our mission drives everything we do – from our nutritional philosophy and healthy delicious dog and cat recipes, to how we source real, fresh ingredients from local famers in Australia and New Zealand, to our kitchens and cooking facilities, our people and their programs, sustainability, sponsorships and more...
RPF is the pioneer in fresher pet nutrition. For 30 years we have championed a better way of caring for the health and wellbeing of our pets. Today, we have new cooking techniques that allow us to make food that is fresher, less processed, and even unprocessed and raw. And as the science emerges in fresher nutrition, it is beginning to show what we all instinctively know, a fresher diet is better for our loved dogs and cats.
It’s why we want everyone to join us on our journey to fresher nutrition.
