Highlights
You'll spend your time working with machinery—not sitting behind a desk—and you'll have the chance to develop your skills across machine assembly, rebuilds, commissioning, and field service. The ideal technician will have a strong mechanical background and be comfortable working with mechanical assemblies, hydraulics, pneumatics, machine components, and industrial equipment.
Numbers & Facts
| Location | Elk Grove Village, IL |
| Industry | Staffing/Employment Agencies |
| Company Size | 500 to 999 employees |
| Year Founded | 1969 |
| Website | http://www.sterling-engineering.com |
Description
Field Service Technician – Custom Automation
Pay: Up to $44/hr
Job Type: Contract-to-Hire
Travel: Up to 50%
Typical Travel: 4–5 days at a time; occasional trips up to 10 days
Overtime: Paid after 8 hours
Travel Pay: Door-to-door
Travel: Primarily domestic; weekend travel is planned in advance
Job Type: Contract-to-Hire
Travel: Up to 50%
Typical Travel: 4–5 days at a time; occasional trips up to 10 days
Overtime: Paid after 8 hours
Travel Pay: Door-to-door
Travel: Primarily domestic; weekend travel is planned in advance
Build It. Install It. Keep It Running.
We are looking for a hands-on Field Service Technician to join a team supporting complex, high-speed packaging and custom automation equipment. This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys working with machinery, traveling to customer sites, and solving mechanical problems in the field.
This is not an electrical troubleshooting position. The ideal technician will have a strong mechanical background and be comfortable working with mechanical assemblies, hydraulics, pneumatics, machine components, and industrial equipment.
You will be involved throughout the equipment lifecycle—from assembly and machine rebuilds to installation, commissioning, troubleshooting, and ongoing service.
What You'll Do
- Assemble, build, install, commission, troubleshoot, overhaul, and service custom packaging and automation equipment.
- Travel to customer facilities to perform equipment installations, repairs, inspections, audits, rebuilds, and service.
- Troubleshoot primarily mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic systems.
- Disassemble equipment and inspect components for wear, damage, replacement, or refurbishment.
- Reassemble machinery while ensuring proper fit, alignment, and functionality.
- Read and interpret mechanical drawings, layouts, hydraulic and pneumatic schematics, and technical specifications.
- Assemble machine components and subassemblies.
- Use precision measurement and gauging equipment to verify components and equipment meet specifications.
- Identify opportunities to improve equipment design, assembly methods, and service processes.
- Work closely with engineering, manufacturing, and service teams to complete projects and customer requirements.
- Safely operate hand tools, power tools, forklifts, overhead cranes, and other equipment as required.
- Follow established safety procedures, quality standards, and work instructions.
The Travel
Travel is an important part of the role, with up to 50% travel, primarily throughout the U.S.
- Most trips average 4–5 days
- Some assignments may require travel for up to 10 days at a time
- Weekend travel is planned in advance
- Travel time is paid door-to-door
- Overtime is paid after 8 hours
What We're Looking For
- High School Diploma or GED required.
- At least 2 years of experience in mechanical assembly, machine building, machining, industrial equipment, or a related manufacturing environment.
- Strong mechanical aptitude and hands-on troubleshooting ability.
- Experience working with mechanical, hydraulic, and pneumatic systems.
- Ability to read and interpret mechanical drawings and hydraulic/pneumatic schematics.
- Comfortable working around industrial machinery and traveling to customer facilities.
- Willingness to travel up to 50%.
- Ability to successfully complete a mechanical aptitude assessment.
- Ability to work overtime and varying shifts when customer or production schedules require.
- Ability to lift up to 75 lbs. and perform physical tasks including standing, bending, kneeling, climbing, reaching, and pulling.
Preferred Experience
- Welding or metal fabrication experience
- Manual lathe or milling machine experience
- Experience with high-speed automation, packaging equipment, or custom machinery
- Forklift and/or overhead crane experience
Why This Opportunity?
This is an opportunity to work on real-world automation equipment from build through field installation and service. You'll spend your time working with machinery—not sitting behind a desk—and you'll have the chance to develop your skills across machine assembly, rebuilds, commissioning, and field service.
If you're the type of technician who can look at a machine, understand how the mechanical systems work, and get your hands dirty finding the problem, this could be a great fit.
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information.
About Company
Sterling Engineering has been a trusted partner for engineering, project management, and staffing solutions for over five decades. We provide exceptional engineering/technical recruitment and engineering project services to clients nationwide:
- Engineering & Technical Recruitment - With our focus on engineering, technical, and IT, Sterling has the in-depth knowledge, industry expertise, and robust employee pipeline it takes to rapidly find talent for even the most difficult to fill positions. Sterling’s extensive recruitment methodology allows us to engage the most talented employees in the marketplace. We offer exciting work and career-building opportunities for our candidates, along with expert support at every step of the process.
- Engineering Project Services – Our experienced, multi-disciplined team of project managers, engineers, and designers, led by licensed Professional Engineers (PE), provide project management, engineering, design, and Commissioning, Qualification, and Validation (CQV) to manufacturing, OEM, and R&D customers. We work on complex, highly technical projects across a number of industry sectors, and our ability to scale and seamlessly integrate at multiple levels of your organization is what differentiates us.
Sterling offers a unique combination of engineering solutions and Best of Staffing level service to help our clients and talent achieve their goals.