Connor Johnson, Electrical Engineering Technician

Electrical Engineering Technician

Connor's job title is Maintenance Engineer at De La Rue

What I do

I maintain the machinery that produces money, whether that’s foil or polymer currency. At De La Rue, we have multiple machines, some can be nearly as large as a football pitch! We also have smaller machines that process the currency at later stages. Each job is different, but your thought processes are the same – inspecting machinery, looking for faults, and fixing them.

Connor Johnson in the workshop with tools hanging on the wall, wearing safety goggles.

Hear more about Connor's role by watching the video below...

How I became a technician

I have always been hands-on, and when I was younger, I enjoyed building Lego or Meccano - so I knew I wanted to be an engineer. I got an apprenticeship straight after school at 16, and I was there for eight years, working my way up from an apprentice to supervisor. I then decided I wanted a change and to learn new skills, so applied for the job at De La Rue.

A typical day in my
working life

We work 12-hour shifts. In the morning, we have a handover from the previous shift and tackle any of the ongoing jobs. We first deal with any urgent breakdowns before moving on to non-urgent tasks in the system - this can be anything from securing floor tiles and changing lights to servicing machines.

Before our shift finishes, we write up the jobs we have done and how we fixed them, so if the problem recurs in the months to come, we can find out what has been done previously.

A large manufacturing work floor, with many large industrial machines and several employees.

A little more about
my everyday role

The best bits about working in a team

There are about 15 skilled engineers and apprentices in my team. Each shift has three to four engineers and an apprentice, and we all bring our own skills - I might be good electrically, and my teammate might be better mechanically - four brains are better than one!

The next steps in my career journey

I'm keen to progress my skills in engineering and slowly climb the ladder. I really enjoy what I do now, but I would like to become a Supervisor, Shift Manager, or Shop Manager within De La Rue.

Find out more about this role

Discover what qualifications you’ll need, how much you can earn, and what the next steps are.

Nine apprentices sitting on sofas socialising

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