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Rio Tinto

✓ Verified Sponsor

Principal Engineer Surface Mining

🗓️ Posted 2026-09-01 Perth, Western Australia, Australia Full-time Hybrid Mining Resources Energy

Company shared salary

NA

Market rate

A$16,667–A$25,000/mo (A$200,004–A$300,000/yr)

Based on similar roles (title + domain + location).

About the Company

Make an impact and contribute to the development of a world-class copper gold project Work in a supportive and flexible environment, with hybrid working options designed to help you thrive both professionally and personally Full-time permanent opportunity based in Perth We're Finding Better Ways to provide materials the world needs, now and in the future. Our values - care, courage and curiosity - guide how we work and how we treat each other.

About the Role

We are looking for a Principal Engineer Surface Mining to apply leadership and technical experience to Surface Mining activities for our Winu project. This is a great opportunity for an experienced mining professional to lead the mine planning function for Winu and influence key business decisions across the full mining lifecycle. You will bring a strong strategic mindset and proven experience developing and managing mine schedules, studies, and planning deliverables that support both operational and strategic decision-making. Reporting to the Manager, Technical - Winu Project and working in a collaborative, fast-paced and commercially complex project environment within the Winu Technical team, you will

Responsibilities

  • Lead and collaborate on mine planning and technical projects, including studies, life of mine plans, pit designs, production schedules, economic evaluations, closure plans and JORC/SEC compliant Reserve reporting.
  • Partner with multidisciplinary teams to deliver project scope, timelines, risks, deliverables, and outcomes to ensure successful execution.
  • Prepare, review, and communicate technical reports, models, presentations, and recommendations.
  • Foster technical excellence by ensuring compliance with standards, processes, systems, and governance requirements
  • Build trusted partnerships across the business, influencing and engaging stakeholders to ensure projects are successfully embedded, respected, and valued in the organisation
  • Provide mentor, coaching, and development support to the team members.
  • Support team development through goal setting, performance, set objectives, and identify capability-building opportunities.
  • Identify and implement opportunities to improve processes, systems, and value creation across mining operations.
  • A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team
  • Degree qualifications in Mining Engineering or a related discipline
  • Open pit copper/gold mining experience, with expertise in mine design and scheduling, drilling and blast, fleet optimisation, equipment selection, and cut-off grade optimisation.
  • Surface mine design and scheduling capabilities, including the ability to design, assess the impact, and optimize the design and mining sequences. Vulcan, Deswik, and Alastri experience beneficial.
  • Strong communication, stakeholder management, coordination, collaboration and project leadership capabilities, with the ability to influence outcomes and drive alignment.
  • Experience in pit and schedule optimization. Experience in Whittle, Comet, or similar applications beneficial.

Benefits

  • A work environment where safety is always the number one priority
  • A permanent position working directly for Rio Tinto
  • Flexible work arrangements
  • 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
  • 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)
  • Free on-site car parking