Principal Advisor, Contracts & Procurement Strategy & Excellence

Principal Advisor – Contracts & Procurement Strategy & Excellence

• Support the strategic development of contracting practices across our global business

• Have process ownership to drive continued functional improvement and the adoption of best-in-class practices

• Permanent opportunity to be based in either Brisbane, Perth or Montreal

About the role

All progress begins with pioneers. At Rio Tinto, it begins with you.

We are seeking an established and dynamic Principal Advisor to lead the strategic development and continuous improvement of contracting processes and practices across the global organisation.

Reporting to the Chief Adviser – Contracts & Procurement, you will analyse existing practices and engage with stakeholders across the global business, ultimately looking to refine and optimise procurement and contracting processes through strategic, solutions focused thinking and partnership.

Key responsibilities

• Lead the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of end-to-end contracting process to manage risks, support business objectives and enhance commercial and governance outcomes.

• Drive simplification of approval processes across functions, identifying and removing inefficiencies to improve speed and clarity.

• Collaborate with Legal, Procurement, and other key stakeholders to align and streamline processes that enable effective and scalable contracting practices.

• Monitor and apply external best practices and insights from benchmarking organisations and academic institutions to strengthen project contracting approaches.

• Develop and manage global performance metrics for Contracts & Procurement (C&P), using data to identify improvement opportunities and track functional effectiveness.

• Champion a culture of continuous improvement by leading initiatives that enhance process efficiency, stakeholder experience, and functional capability.

• Provide strategic guidance and thought leadership to cross-functional teams, ensuring alignment with broader business goals.

What you’ll bring

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Law, Finance, Engineering, or another related field.

• A minimum of 15+ years’ experience, with recent experience in a similar role, managing outsourced procurement and contract activity, ideally within a large-scale global business.

• Excellent communication skills, with an ability to present efficiently and effectively to large groups, including to senior leadership.

• Excellent engagement skills, and an ability to encourage and incorporate feedback.

• Demonstrated experience of collaborating with internal stakeholders to align procurement and contract management strategies with business needs.

• Advanced commercial, analytical, problem-solving and simplification skills, with a focus on driving process improvement and operational excellence.

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

• 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

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.