Senior Researcher

Senior 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.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 across 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 Principal Research Lead, and working in a highly collaborative and supportive team, we are seeking a Senior Researcher to research, develop or assess new digital technologies that:

• Provide unique and operationally beneficial capabilities across the mining value chain – mine geology, drill & blast, fleet operations and material tracking.
• Can be integrated to form improved capabilities that are more than the sum of the parts, supporting our people in understanding the data and making the best decisions.

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:

• Researching and developing 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 conclusively establish the utility of them if applied in Rio Tinto.
• Working with the product development teams in Rio Tinto to translate successful prototypes into deployable and supportable production implementations.
• Working with the product development teams in Rio Tinto to support the integration and benefits of new technologies across the mining value chain.

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
• Qualifications and/ or high levels of experience in a relevant STEM discipline (mathematics, physics, computer science).
• Previous experience in the development of new technologies for mining end users as part of a research and development team.
• A background in conducting high quality industrial research.
• Experience in industrial application of machine learning technologies and platforms.
• Previous experience in software engineering, and/or working with software engineering teams to enable the transition of research prototypes into deployable and supportable products.

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

• Modern machine learning techniques.
• Various optimisation techniques, with a particular focus on evolutionary optimisation techniques.
• Python based software development in a Linux development environment.
• Atlassian toolset (JIRA, Confluence, Bitbucket) for supporting both research and software development.
• Cloud based services for supporting research, including MLFlow / AzureML.

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 workingThis role is based in Perth, Western Australia, out of our Central Park office, working Monday – Friday. We support and encourage flexible working arrangements.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.