Principal Digital Researcher

Principal Digital Researcher, Digital Integrated Mine

• Join us in bringing our Digital Integrated Mine vision to life
• Drive towards the realisation of the next generation of highly integrated and automated digital systems.
• Work with a leading research and development group, collaborating with personnel across the globe on cutting edge technologies

About The RoleAll progress begins with pioneers. At Rio Tinto, it begins with you.Rio Tinto has a long history of being a leader in innovation and the development and deployment of technology within the mining industry. Innovation will continue to play a critical role in improving health and safety outcomes, delivering new mines of the future and decarbonising the industry.The Digital Integrated Mine team has a long heritage within Rio Tinto, and its members have been involved with a large number of industry and world first developments at Rio Tinto over the last decade. Our team pursues the creation of new technologies throughout the mine – from supporting better orebody knowledge, drill and blast process, material movement, fleet optimisation and interfaces with fixed plant. The focus is not only on individual technologies within those domains – it is also how the combination of those technologies achieves more than the sum of the parts.Reporting to the Research Lead, we are seeking a Principal Researcher to research, develop or acquire new digital technologies that:

• Allows us to model and interpret our orebody data, with a particular focus on supporting improving grade control models and block-outs.
• Integrating those new technologies to form an improved capabilities that are more than the sum of the parts, supporting our people in understanding the data and making the best decisions.
• Working with the other R&D groups within the Digital Integrated Mine team to ensure that other parts of the mining value chain benefit from these new technologies.

You will be responsible for conducting well principled research and development into novel technologies for technologies across the mining value chain. Our team’s priority is to ensure the right technology is developed at the right time to support highly integrated digital mines, and that the technology is useful and valuable to our customers and partners across Rio Tinto. 

Activities associated with the role include:

• Identifying where new technologies are required in existing modelling and grade control processes, and how those technologies may benefit.
• Working with the team to develop robust proof of concepts and prototypes of candidate technologies.
• Identifying novel technologies from external companies that could be of benefit to Rio Tinto.
• Conducting well designed experiments on new technologies to critically assess them.
• Understanding how the technologies will impact the users and workflows currently used in the business, so that these can be adapted to both realise the benefits of the technologies and be accepted by the users in the business.

About YouSuccess in this role is dependent on the application of a growth mindset, your research and technology development skills, and collaborating with a broad range of stakeholders with varying expertise - both within the Digital Integrated Mine team, and the broader business. 

Specifically, you will have:

• Commitment to the safety of yourself and your team
• A degree in a relevant STEM discipline (mathematics, physics, computer science). A PhD will be highly regarded.
• Previous experience in the development of new technologies for orebody modelling, interpretation orebody data, and/or grade control.
• A background in conducting high quality industrial research.
• Examples of working on projects with external partners, critically assessing the technologies that have been produced.
• A track record of transforming low maturity technologies to productive, well used and mature operational capabilities.

 The team have a current focus on new technologies that utilise:

• Modern machine learning techniques,
• Evolutionary optimisation
• Bayesian approaches to inferencing and prediction

About Rio Tinto 

Every idea, every innovation, every little thing the world calls ‘progress’ begins with a first step, and someone willing to take it: explorers, inventors, entrepreneurs. Pioneers.

For nearly 150 years, Rio Tinto has been a company of pioneers – generations of people spanning the globe, all with the grit and vision to produce materials essential to human progress.

Our iron ore has shaped skylines from Shanghai to Sydney. Our aluminium – the world’s first to be certified “responsible” – helps planes fly and makes cars lighter. Our copper helps wind turbines power cities and our boron helps feed the world, and explore the universe. 

Our diamonds help us celebrate the best parts of life. 

Where you will be working

This role is based in Perth, Western Australia, out of our Central Park office, working Monday – Friday. We support and encourage flexible working arrangements. Remote working from other parts of Australia can be considered.The Digital Integrated Mine team is highly collaborative and work in close partnership with Rio Tinto’s global R&D community, and external bodies such as research institutes, suppliers and industry partners.What We Offer

• 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 programme
• 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)
• Exclusive employee discounts (banking, accommodation, cars, retail and more)
• Possible domestic relocation assistance

Every Voice MattersAt 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.