Head of Surface Mining CoE

Head of Surface Mining CoE

• Shape the future of Surface Mining at Rio Tinto!
• Permanent employment in our Development & Technology division
• Perth location preferred or Brisbane or a North America hub for the right candidate

About the role

Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.

Rio Tinto Development & Technology is seeking a Head of Surface Mining Centre of Excellence to join our Group Technical team and lead a team of highly capable and experienced surface mining professionals focussed on translating, shaping and defining complex mining challenges (opportunities and threats) and solving them through research, innovation, leading practices, and technology.

Reporting to the Managing Director Group Technical, your key responsibilities will include:

• Leading the process of collaborating with business and technology focused stakeholders across Rio Tinto to define and articulate the future of Surface Mining
• Work closely with the Safe Production System and asset teams to support Rio Tinto’s Best Operator ambition
• Connecting Surface Mining practitioners throughout the business through communities of practice, working groups, and reference groups
• Setting and evaluating team performance, providing leadership and direction for the management and governance of the Surface Mining CoE work priorities
• Paving career progression pathways for the team and working closely with team Leads to conduct performance reviews, talent assessments and career planning for each team member
• Leading change efforts to embed new ways of working within the team
• Developing and maintaining relationships with Rio Tinto senior leadership to support, challenge and identify key opportunities for collaboration
• Managing the talent pipeline for Surface Mining team to ensure critical skills and talent are attracted, developed and retained
• Ensuring that leading practice standards, procedures, methodologies and tools are applied by the team, with adequate training and development opportunities are in place for team members to become domain experts in their respective areas
• Setting the direction, reviewing and shaping departmental plans, including business and organisational priorities in alignment with the broader Group Technical priorities
• Budget planning and cost control for the division
• Actively collaborating and creating collaboration opportunities with other teams across Group Technical and other Rio Tinto business units and external stakeholders to foster innovation and develop high quality outcomes across the product delivery lifecycle

What you’ll bring

• A commitment to the safety and wellbeing of yourself and your team
• A relevant tertiary qualification in mine technical services disciplines
• Extensive mining engineering experience in surface mining environments
• A track record of leading directly and through influence as a well regarded people leader
• Demonstrated ability working collaboratively in a global, multidisciplinary environment
• Demonstrated success with leading and managing technical personnel
• A high-level of complex problem solving skills, including continuous improvement and providing innovative solutions
• Demonstrated effective stakeholder engagement, influencing and management skills
• A demonstrated growth mindset and focus on collaborative ways of working in multidisciplinary teams, to drive inclusivity, excellence, and build meaningful partnerships

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
• Career development & education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions
• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive program
• Ongoing access to family-friendly health and medical programs, pension and savings plans
• Attractive share ownership plan
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)
• Exclusive employee discounts

About Rio Tinto

Rio 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 almost 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 and meet opportunities.

Every Voice Matters

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.

Applications close on Wednesday 13^th December 2023 (Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date)