Principal Mechanical Engineer – RTSD Development and Engineering

• Join our global leading business offering outstanding personal development & global career opportunities

• Drive our mechanical engineering insights

• Permanent employment which includes a huge range of additional benefits

• Real meaningful and impactful work in a mining giant

• Based in Perth, Australia

About the role

Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.

The decarbonisation of the steel industry between now and future is likely to change the iron ore supply chain as we know it. The next 20 years will see the largest and fastest change in iron and steelmaking technology the industry has seen in decades. Positioning Rio Tinto as sustainability leaders is key in realising our ambitions, strategy and growth agenda. The Steel Decarbonisation team is at the forefront of this and will shape pathways for Rio Tinto’s iron ores in a decarbonised iron and steelmaking future.

The purpose of the Rio Tinto Steel Decarbonisation (RTSD) team is to:​

• Protect the long-term value of Rio Tinto’s iron ore by developing and scaling up cost-effective technologies for the future low-carbon steel industry.

• Position Rio Tinto to participate in the emerging green iron market.

• Provide steel decarbonisation analysis and intelligence to support decisions on Rio Tinto’s future iron ore resource portfolio, product strategy, and renewable energy development.

We are now actively looking for a professional who will be responsible for the engineering components of the technology development for RTSD Pacific Projects, supporting application of Pilbara Iron ore in low carbon ironmaking technologies.

As a Principal Mechanical Engineer, you will play a crucial role in advancing our mission to decarbonize the steel industry. You will capture mechanical engineering insights from RTSD’s low-carbon ironmaking developments and scale-ups, transferring this knowledge to future customers, OEMs, and engineering providers. Your expertise will be essential in evaluating and improving the design of pilot, development, and commercial plants, as well as assessing study proposals.

Accountabilities

• Review and enhance mechanical design elements of RTSD’s low-carbon ironmaking projects from pilot to commercial scale.

• Collaborate with OEMs to extract mechanical engineering insights in plant designs.

• Document best practices, lessons learned, and innovative solutions in equipment design, installation, and plant commissioning.

• Coordinate equipment IP strategy and engineering partnership programs for mechanical design and construction.

• Ensure compliance with RT Project Engineering standards, including design audits, HAZOP, and other safety requirements.

• Support project IC and EC evaluations as the engineering lead.

• Monitor project budgets and schedules, ensuring proper reporting, deviation management, and document management.

• Engage with customers to understand their unique challenges and requirements.

• Facilitate workshops, training sessions, and knowledge-sharing events.

• Monitor project progress, identify risks, and implement mitigation strategies.

What you’ll bring

To be successfully considered for this role, you will have:

• Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering or related field.

• Commercial acumen.

• Passion for sustainability and environmental impact reduction.

• Collaborative mindset and ability to work across interdisciplinary teams.

• Detail-oriented and proactive problem solver.

• Project management skills with a focus on results.

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to synthesize complex information.

• Excellent communication skills to convey technical concepts effectively.

• Ability to translate complex technical information into practical guidance for our customers.

It will also be beneficial if you have:

• Industrial engineering, preferably in steel or metallurgy.

• Leading Audit, HAZOP, and investment decisions.

• Engineering project management.

• Project development from pilot to commercial scale.

What we offer

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority

• Flexible working from home arrangements as per operational requirements

• 18 weeks of gender-neutral and equal paid parental leave, with continued superannuation contributions whilst employees are on unpaid or half paid parental leave

• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive program

• 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); and

• Local relocation packages offered for Australian residents only

About Rio Tinto Commercial

Rio Tinto Commercial puts the company’s value over volume approach into practice, with the goal of maximizing the value of our physical flows to improve both our business and that of our customers.  Headquartered in Singapore, and integrated with Rio Tinto’s assets, hubs, and offices globally, our Commercial group works hand-in-hand with our product groups to ensure both the amount and types of products we produce meet our customer’s needs, and manage the trade-off between volumes, quality, cost and capital expenditure.

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Where you’ll be working

Centrally located in beautifully appointed offices in Central Park - Perth, CBD.  Everything at your doorstep and just a short walk to all transport.

Our world class Pilbara assets comprise of an integrated network of 16 mines, four independent port terminals, a 1,700 kilometre rail network and related infrastructure – all designed to respond rapidly to changes in demand.

Application Deadline: 31st Jan 2025

(Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date)

Please note, in order to be successfully considered for this role you must complete all pre-screening questions.

Rio Tinto does not accept unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles from recruiters or employment agencies. Rio Tinto will not consider or agree to payment of any referral compensation or recruiter fee relating to unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles. Rio Tinto reserves the right to hire those candidate(s) without any financial obligation to the recruiter or agency. Any unsolicited CVs or candidate profiles, including those submitted to hiring managers, are deemed to be the property of Rio Tinto.

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.

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.