Senior Control Engineer
Your Manager: Engineering Manager (North)
Team: Distillation & Maturation
Location: Miltonduff, Elgin - with travel to other sites in Moray, according to business needs.
Contract Type: Permanent
Pernod Ricard is a worldwide leader in the spirits and champagne industry, blending traditional craftsmanship, state-of-the-art brand development, and global distribution technologies. Our prestigious portfolio of premium to luxury brands includes Absolut vodka, Ricard pastis, Ballantine’s, Chivas Regal, Royal Salute, and The Glenlivet Scotch whiskies, Jameson Irish whiskey, Martell cognac, Havana Club rum, Beefeater gin, Malibu liqueur, and Mumm and Perrier-Jouët champagnes. Our mission is to ensure the long-term growth of our brands with full respect for people and the environment, while empowering our employees around the world to be ambassadors of our purposeful, inclusive, and responsible culture of authentic conviviality
Chivas Brothers is the Pernod Ricard business dedicated entirely to Scotch whisky and is part of the Gold Brand Unit, our global division for Aged Spirits & Champagne, which brings together the prestigious portfolios of Irish Distillers, Martell Mumm Perrier-Jouët and North American Distillers, alongside Chivas Brothers. Our award-winning portfolio features some of the world’s most revered single malt and blended Scotch whisky brands, including Chivas, Ballantine’s, Royal Salute, The Glenlivet and Aberlour, which are exported from Scotland to over 100 countries worldwide. As the world’s No.2 Scotch whisky producer with a 1,600-strong team across 26 sites, we are committed to upholding the heritage and pursuing the progress of Scotch and ensuring its sustainable future, as well as opening it up to new audiences across the globe.
About the role
We are currently seeking a Senior Control Engineer to be responsible for managing and developing a team of Control Engineers, providing both technical direction and people leadership across the Northern Operations engineering function. This role is responsible for delivering a high-quality, in-house control and instrumentation service across Chivas Brothers’ distillery and production sites, ensuring the safe, reliable, and efficient operation of all control and instrumentation systems. The role maintains a hands-on technical contribution, acting as the senior escalation point for complex control engineering requirements while driving continuous improvement across the team.
What you will do
People Management & Leadership
- Lead, mentor, and develop a team of Control Engineers, setting clear goals and conducting regular performance reviews.
- Provide day-to-day leadership, effectively allocating resources across sites and projects.
- Support recruitment, onboarding, and training to strengthen team capability.
- Foster a culture of safety, collaboration, continuous learning, and high performance.
Control & Instrumentation – Technical Expertise
- Oversee modifications to distillery HMI and SCADA systems, ensuring high standards of quality and documentation.
- Provide senior technical expertise across PLC systems, covering I/O, programming, fault diagnosis, data capture, and visualisation.
- Act as the senior technical authority for instrumentation, covering setup, fault finding, and calibration.
- Collaborate with Site Management on PLC, control, and instrumentation strategy and operations.
Project & Programme Delivery
- Take responsibility for control engineering input into capital and operational projects, ensuring delivery to time, cost, and quality targets.
- Develop and review technical specifications, Functional Design Specifications (FDS), and method statements for control projects.
- Manage and coordinate external contractors, consultants, and suppliers to ensure delivery to the highest standards.
Compliance & Risk Management
- Ensure team activities comply with H&S legislation, electrical standards, safe systems of work, and company standards and procedures.
- Maintain and promote compliance with functional safety standards and practices, including SIF and SIL requirements.
- Maintain awareness of industrial communication protocols and cybersecurity requirements.
- Contribute to the development and application of engineering standards, procedures, and risk assessments, including HAZOP and LOPA
Your skills and background
- Degree qualified in Electrical, Control, or Automation Engineering (or equivalent experience)
- Experience with PLC, SCADA, instrumentation, and functional safety (including Safety Instrumented Systems – SIS).
- Proven track record in people management & team development
- Strong stakeholder & cross-functional management skills
- Demonstrated experience in HAZOP, LOPA, and the application of SIF and SIL principles.
- Proven experience delivering automation solutions within capital projects.
- Strong awareness of industrial cybersecurity requirements and best practices.
Why join us?
Collective Spirit
You will be part of a connected, international community shaped by iconic brands, a performance mindset, and a proud legacy, where collaboration, fun and ambition coexist.
Craft your path
We empower you to own your career, innovate boldly and grow alongside our business, surrounded by leaders who value curiosity, energy, and impact.
Cultivate the future
You’ll help shape a business with a soul — one that cherishes the land, respects communities, and brings good times from a good place, responsibly and sustainably.
People are at the heart of everything we do at Pernod Ricard and are the foundation of our collective spirit as ‘Créateurs de Convivialité’. We promote inclusion throughout our business and supply chain. In our teams, we proactively foster a diverse work force and an inclusive culture, an environment where we can truly be ourselves.
We will assess your application for this role based on your skills, experiences, and achievements, not your gender, age, ethnic or educational background or any other such factors. Our recruiting team are more than happy to provide reasonable adjustments during our application and interview process, in order for you to participate fully in our recruitment experience.
Our mix of benefits
- Competitive salary, along with performance related bonus
- Defined Contribution Pension
- Private medical insurance, including income protection
- Comprehensive Employee Assistance Programme
- 25 days’ annual holiday (increasing with length of service up to 27) plus public holidays,
- Pernod Ricard share incentive plan and share ownership plan
- Life Assurance
- An allowance each year to spend on our brands
- Our reward & recognition scheme
- Employee discounts from a range of high street retailers.
Learn more about working with Pernod Ricard https://www.pernod-ricard.com/en
Learn more about Chivas Brothers https://www.chivasbrothers.com/
Closing Date for Applications:
12th May 2026
Job Posting End Date:
2026-05-13Target Hire Date:
2026-06-01Target End Date:
What We Do
Pernod Ricard is a convivial, responsible and successful global wine and spirits group and the #1 premium spirits organisation in the world. The Group represents 240 premium brands available in more than 160 countries. We are 18,500 exceptionally talented people worldwide with our own salesforce in 73 countries. Our portfolio is one of the most comprehensive in the market with every major category of wine and spirits, providing Pernod Ricard with a unique competitive advantage. To keep growing our business, transforming our industry and making a positive impact on the world, we believe in the power of human connection. Creating ‘convivialité’ is our business and our raison d’être. As ‘créateurs de convivialité’, our purpose is to turn every social interaction into a genuine, friendly and responsible experience of sharing. We believe there can be no convivialité with excess and strive to be sustainable and responsible at every step, from grain to glass.
