If you’re a mechanical tradesperson who loves fixing things, building things and figuring out how industrial equipment actually works, this could be a pretty interesting next move.
WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU - AND WHY THIS ROLE IS DIFFERNT
Let’s be honest.
Plenty of companies talk about culture, development and looking after their people.
We’d rather actually do it.
EAS Waikato is part of the EAS Group - specialist industrial electrical, automation and mechanical teams operating across the Waikato and Bay of Plenty.
We’ve built a strong reputation in industrial electrical, automation, instrumentation and project work. Now we’re continuing to grow our mechanical capability alongside it.
That’s where you come in.
This isn’t a role where you’ll disappear into a massive mechanical department and become another number.
You’ll be working alongside our electrical, automation and project teams, helping us deliver mechanical work for existing industrial customers - while also helping shape what our mechanical offering looks like in the future.
If you like variety, solving problems and seeing the result of your work in the real world, you’ll fit right in.
YOUR MISSION - SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT...
To deliver outstanding mechanical solutions for our industrial customers - and help us grow the mechanical side of the EAS business.
You’ll work alongside our electrical and automation teams on a wide range of industrial maintenance, breakdowns, upgrades and projects across the Waikato and sometimes further afield, including:
Stainless steel fabrication, welding and installation
Pumps, motors, gearboxes and mechanical drives
Pipework, valves and process equipment
Industrial plant maintenance and breakdowns
Machinery installation, modification and upgrades
Conveyors and production equipment
Industrial chillers and associated mechanical systems
Working alongside electrical and automation specialists on integrated projects
Helping shape and grow our mechanical capability
…and whatever interesting industrial challenge comes through the door next
Some jobs will be planned installations or upgrades.
Others will start with a customer standing beside a machine saying, “This bloody thing isn’t working – can you fix it?”
We like both.
THE PERSON WE'RE REALLY LOOKING FOR
Qualifications and experience matter.
But so does how you operate when nobody is standing over your shoulder.
We’re looking for someone who can look at a mechanical problem, work out what’s going on and get stuck in.
Someone who takes pride in their workmanship, communicates with the customer and doesn’t walk past a problem because technically it belongs to someone else.
High standards. Low ego.
Ideally, you’ll bring:
A relevant mechanical trade qualification
Solid experience in an industrial, Fabrication and welding
Strong mechanical fault-finding and problem-solving skills
Experience with pumps, motors, gearboxes and mechanical equipment
Experience with machinery installation, maintenance and breakdowns
The confidence to run your own work
The ability to work with and develop apprentices
Good communication skills with customers and teammates
Pride in delivering quality work
A full, clean NZ driver’s licence
A positive, accountable and growth-focused attitude
Experience with industrial refrigeration, process plant, pipework, stainless fabrication or working alongside electrical and automation teams would be a big advantage.
But here’s the important bit.
DON'T TICK EVERY BOX?
Don’t automatically count yourself out.
We’re more interested in finding a bloody good tradesperson with the right attitude than someone who has every possible skill listed above.
You might be a fitter/turner, maintenance engineer, fabricator/welder or mechanical technician who has built up a broad set of skills over the years.
You might have spent most of your career in one part of the mechanical trade and be ready to broaden your experience.
What we care about is whether you can think, solve problems, learn, take ownership and give a sh!t about doing a good job.
We can build capability around the right person.
WHERE COULD THIS GO?
This is probably the most exciting part of the role.
We’re not just looking for another tradesperson to fill a gap in the roster.
We’re growing the mechanical side of EAS.
We already work with major industrial, manufacturing and infrastructure customers and have established electrical, automation, instrumentation and project capability.
We see mechanical as a natural extension of that.
So there’s a genuine opportunity for the right person to help us decide what comes next.
You might want to stay on the tools and become our go-to mechanical specialist.
You might want to help develop apprentices and other mechanical tradespeople as the team grows.
You might want to lead mechanical projects.
Or you might eventually want to play a bigger role in building and leading the mechanical side of the business.
You don’t need to want management to have a great career here.
But if you do have ambition, there’s plenty of runway.
THE TEAM YOU'RE JOINING
We’re pretty straightforward.
We work hard, have high standards, enjoy a bit of banter and back each other when things get difficult.
No massive egos. No hiding behind job titles. No throwing someone else under the bus when something goes wrong.
Our values describe how we expect people to operate:
DO BETTER, BE BETTER
We’re always looking for a better way. Learn, improve and don’t settle for “that’ll do”.MAHI TAHI – WORK TOGETHER AS ONE
No silos. Share what you know, help your teammates and get the job done together.OWN YOUR SH!T
Take responsibility. If something goes wrong, communicate, sort it and learn from it.GROW TOGETHER
Keep developing your skills and help the people around you develop theirs.PEOPLE MATTER
Technical capability matters, but so does how you treat your teammates, customers and suppliers.
That’s the culture we’re building across EAS Waikato and the wider EAS Group.
THE EAS GROUP
EAS has grown.
Today, the EAS Group brings together EAS Waikato and John Ward Electrical (JWE) in the Bay of Plenty, giving us greater capability, more good people to learn from and a wider range of opportunities across both regions.
Between the two businesses, we’re continuing to build capability across industrial electrical, automation, instrumentation, mechanical, maintenance and project delivery.
For you, that means access to a much wider team and some seriously interesting industrial work.
We’re still local teams with strong customer relationships.
We’ve just got a bigger crew behind us now.
WHAT DO YOU GET?
We want great people, and we’re prepared to invest in them.
You’ll get:
$30–$45 per hour, depending on capability and experience
Company vehicle and phone
A paid day off on your birthday
Paid training and development
A huge variety of industrial work
The opportunity to help develop our mechanical capability
A wider team of electrical, automation and project specialists to work alongside
A packed team calendar planned well in advance so you can actually organise your life around it
Regular team catch-ups, BBQs and social events
$500 per year to contribute to your community - your kids’ school, sports team, fundraiser or another cause that matters to you
The opportunity to have a say in where the business goes next
The option of a four-day work week over summer
We work hard.
We reckon you should enjoy where you work as well.
AND YES, AI IS COOL...
We’re into technology. We’re interested in AI. And if it can save you half an hour doing something boring, we’re probably all for it.
So use it to tidy up your CV if you want.
But please don’t get ChatGPT to tell us you’re a:
“Highly motivated mechanical professional passionate about delivering innovative engineering solutions in a dynamic environment.”
Because that tells us absolutely nothing about you.
We want to know who you actually are.
Tell us about the machine you got running when everyone else had given up.
The fabrication job you stood back from afterwards and thought, that came out well.
The breakdown that nearly beat you.
The type of work you love doing.
Or why the idea of helping us build our mechanical capability sounds interesting.
Perfect grammar isn’t required.
Being a good human is.
SOUND LIKE YOU?
You don’t need to write us an essay.
Apply with:
Your CV or LinkedIn profile
A short introduction about yourself
A bit about the mechanical work you’ve been doing
And tell us about one job, breakdown, fabrication or project you’re particularly proud of - and why
We’ll be reviewing applications as they come in, so if you’re interested, don’t wait.
Life is about moments… is this yours?
And if you’re not looking yourself but you’ve got a mate who’d be bloody good here, we’ll pay a $500 referral fee if we hire them and they stick around for at least three months.
We don’t want any muppets.
Apply now!