Mechanical
£36 to £48/hrSolidWorks Designer
Fixture, guarding and small machine design for busy production sites that need clean drawings, not theatre.
- Stack
- SolidWorks, PDM, fabrication packs
- Travel
- Midlands site visits
Mechanical and controls
Coventry, West Midlands
Contract engineers, properly briefed
Contract Engineers, Not A Database Circus.
Engine Rocks supplies contract mechanical design, controls, PLC, commissioning and maintenance engineers to factories, machine builders and project teams.
We work best for operations managers and owner-run manufacturers who need proven people quickly without taking permanent headcount risk.
Mechanical and controls only. Coventry first. Midlands by habit. National projects when travel and digs are priced properly.
Mechanical shortlist
2 working days
Controls shortlist
3 working days
Minimum booking
4 weeks
Core radius
Coventry, Warks, Brum, Rugby, Leicester
Billing rhythm
Weekly, 14 day terms
Catalogue preview
Six Roles We Are Asked For Most Often.
Rate stamps show typical contractor pay before Engine Rocks margin.
Documentation
£38 to £50/hrEPLAN Draughtsperson
Panel drawings, cable schedules and redline tidy-up when the build has moved faster than the file.
- Stack
- EPLAN P8, AutoCAD Electrical
- Notice
- Usually 1 to 2 weeks
PLC
£45 to £62/hrSiemens TIA PLC Engineer
Automation software support for cells, conveyors, drives and handover lists that cannot wait for perm hiring.
- Stack
- TIA Portal, WinCC, Profinet
- Travel
- UK projects by agreement
Controls
£48 to £62/hrAllen-Bradley Controls Engineer
Plant fault-finding and modification cover for sites running CompactLogix, ControlLogix and old drawings.
- Stack
- Studio 5000, FactoryTalk
- Useful for
- Breakdowns and changeovers
Commissioning
£46 to £60/hrCommissioning Engineer
Practical start-up, snagging, SAT support and calm client-side handover on machinery that has to earn.
- Habit
- Travel and digs priced in
- Notice
- Often 3 to 10 days
Maintenance
£36 to £52/hrMaintenance Project Support
Planned shutdowns, line moves and backlog engineering work where the permanent team is already flat out.
- Sites
- Food, packaging, automotive
- Pattern
- Days or agreed shifts
Owner note
Why Hannah Asks For The Brief First.
I know it can feel quicker to ask for “a controls contractor” and see what lands, but that is usually how everyone loses three days and starts blaming the market. I would rather spend twenty minutes asking awkward questions about the line, the software version, the drawings, the shift pattern, the IR35 view and who can actually sign off the rate. Then I can tell a contractor the truth and you get a shortlist of people who have a reason to say yes. If the job is too vague, unfunded or unsafe, I will say so before CVs move. That is not me being precious. It is how you avoid paying for the wrong person to stand beside a machine with no access, no laptop licence and no one available to walk them through the fault.
Hannah Wilkes, founder, Coventry
- 01Brief
Dates, kit, software, IR35 and rate signed off before CVs.
- 02Check
Availability, travel, site fit and recent comparable work checked directly.
- 03Shortlist
Two or three sensible options, not a pile of maybes.
- 04Start
Terms, timesheets, access and start gate made boring on purpose.
- 05Keep Warm
Regular contact so small snags do not become expensive surprises.
Seasonal closure
“We shut properly from 24 December to 2 January. If one of our contractors is already on your site, I’ll still pick up. If it is a brand new panic, please email it and I’ll look when the kettle’s on. - Hannah”hello@enginerocks.com