Manager, Application Optimisation & Operations

Manager, Application Optimisation & Operations

We encourage women and Indigenous Peoples to apply, as we advance our business to more accurately reflect the world around us.

• Join an encouraging leadership group, committed to your growth and development

• This role is based in our Perth Offices in Central Park and offers the opportunity for flexible hybrid working

• Permanent employment which includes a huge range of additional benefits

About the role

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.

The Manager, Application Optimisation & Operations is accountable for the safe, reliable and cost-effective operation of Rio Tinto Iron Ore’s (RTIO) production technology landscape. The role leads through operational complexity and safety critical decision making, continuously balancing stability, risk and change to ensure production systems remain resilient, compliant and fit for purpose. 

This is a senior operational leadership role with accountability for steady state performance, incident management, operational risk and lifecycle management across IT and OT systems that directly support RTIO operations. 

In this role, you will, across both internal teams and relevant supplier partners: 

• Own operational performance across production systems, including uptime, incident response, problem management and service quality. 

• Set and enforce run standards, operational discipline and safety critical change controls. 

• Own the delivery to run transition model, including operational readiness gates and assurance prior to systems entering production. 

• Govern system lifecycle activities, including patching, obsolescence, compliance and risk remediation. 

• Own operational vendor performance, contracts and cost optimisation, including support, licensing and maintenance arrangements. 

• Provide senior leaders with clear, fact based insight into operational risk, system health and resilience. 

• Build strong operational leaders and embed a high accountability, safety focused run culture. 

• Maintain clear SLAs with operational teams, ensuring transparent service reporting and effective communication. 

• Manage application and system lifecycle execution, including upgrades, decommissioning and lifecycle currency. 

• Partner with Digital Products, Platforms and Major Project Delivery teams to ensure seamless handover into run, including documentation, training and operational readiness. 

• Hold build teams accountable to stage gate requirements for transition into production, regularly auditing outcomes. 

• Coordinate operational risk assessments, controls, Management of Change (MOC) processes and safety reviews for changes to production systems. 

• Develop and maintain a roadmap for technical debt reduction and system enhancements, including total cost of ownership (TCO) benchmarking and optimisation in partnership with Product Managers. 

• Engage directly with frontline operations to understand pain points and prioritise improvements based on operational impact. 

• Drive continuous improvement and simplification across the production systems landscape. 

• Build operational capability in support teams, coaching strong operational discipline and safety critical behaviours. 

• Role model a growth mindset, challenging the status quo and improving existing processes rather than replicating legacy approaches. 

What you will bring

• A commitment to uphold and promote our values of Care, Courage, and Curiosity

• Deep understanding of operational/production systems, OT/IT support environments and safety‑critical change processes. 

• Strong experience in service operations, application support, ITIL processes, and incident/problem/change management. 

• Systems thinking, risk management, prioritisation and cross‑team coordination. 

• Clear communication, stakeholder management and vendor liaison skills. 

• Ability to make pragmatic decisions under time pressure while maintaining safety and compliance. 

• Ability to work in complex, fast‑changing operational contexts. 

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

• Full relocation provided to Western Australia from elsewhere in Australia

• 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

• 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, 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

Where you will be working

This role offers a Monday to Friday roster based at Rio Tinto’s Perth head office at the Central Park building. There is also opportunity for flexible hybrid working.

Applications close on Thursday 16th April, 2026 (Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date).

About Rio Tinto

Rio 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 Inclusion

At 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.

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