Dewatering / Mine Water Operator

Rio Tinto

Posted on:  4th Jun 2026
  • Be part of a group that is safety driven and values inclusion
  • Permanent employment which includes a huge range of additional benefits
  • The perfect balance, our roster gives you more time for the things that are important in your life and to your family and community – FIFO ex Perth

We’re Finding Better Ways to provide materials the world needs, now and in the future. Our values – care, courage and curiosity – guide how we work and how we treat each other.

About the role  

We are looking for an Operator to join our Mine Water Management / Dewatering team at Hope Downs 1.    

You’ll be part of a friendly and high performing team, supported by your leader to grow and achieve your own personal goals as well as the goals of the team. 

Working 8 days on, 6 off, fly in, fly out roster which will give you more time to spend on the things that are important to you and the people in your life. 

Reporting to the Mine Water Management Supervisor, your duties and accountabilities include:  

  • Adhere to all Rio Tinto standards, policies and procedures.
  • Actively foster and communicate a positive safety culture to promote safety awareness and compliance, encouraging prioritisation of safety in all activities and operations.
  • Foster a culture of continuous improvement by identifying, evaluating and implementing improvement opportunities utilising a range of Rio Tinto best practices.
  • Collaborate closely with other functions and stakeholders in the performance of duties.
  • Plan and facilitate the movement and relocation of bores (pulling, dropping and connecting)
  • Moving and repairing pumps and trailer pumps.
  • Operating and maintaining diggers, loaders, trucks, cranes and refuelling of generators.
  • Movement and maintenance of pipe networks (welding, installing flow metres) and identification of defect failures and leak detection.
  • Maintaining a strong level of control over daily operating tasks, leveraging the relevant work management systems.

What you’ll bring   

  • A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team  
  • Respect for others and an all-inclusive mindset  
  • Experience working in a dewatering role
  • Competent in Polly Welding techniques
  • Experience operating skid steer, diggers loaders, cranes.
  • A Manual C-class Australian driver’s licence (HR desirable)
  • Basic Rigger / Dogman ticket
  • Full unrestricted rights to work in Australia

What we offer  

  • Be recognised for your contribution, your thinking and your hard work, and go home knowing you’ve helped the world progress
  • A work environment where safety is always the number one priority 
  • A permanent position working directly for Rio Tinto 
  • A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive bonus 
  • Comprehensive medical benefits including subsidised private health insurance for employees and immediate family 
  • Attractive share ownership plan 
  • Company provided insurance cover 
  • Extensive salary sacrifice & salary packaging options 
  • Career development & education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions 
  • Ongoing access to family-friendly health and medical wellbeing support 
  • Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave, cultural leave) 
  • To better suit different family needs, our paid parental leave approach gives all parents the option to take 18 weeks of paid leave after a new child arrives – at a time that suits them 
  • Exclusive employee discounts including hotel stays, banking, accommodation, cars, retail and more

Where you’ll be working

Located 100km north-west of Newman, Hope Downs 1 is a joint venture managed and operated by Rio Tinto, working in conjunction with nearby site Hope Downs 4.  Hope Downs 1 provides exceptional career growth and opportunities, and the village provides excellent facilities for its fly-in fly-out workers.

Applications for this role will close on 17/06/2026, however we do reserve the right to close the role earlier.

About Rio TintoRio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive.We have been mining for 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. Our purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs – striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to the right environmental, social and governance standards. But we can’t do it on our own, so we’re focused on creating partnerships to solve problems, create win-win situations and meet opportunities.

Respect and InclusionAt Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, the LGBTI+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.

Get this job