Superintendent: Furnace & Services

• Opportunity to work for global company

• Our culture is inclusive, exciting and performance-driven 

• Role based in Richards Bay

• Band: I

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. 

We are looking for a Superintendent: Furnaces & Services to manage RBM Furnaces and Smelter Services (water treatment plant, gas plant, air compressor house, electrodes, oxygen, nitrogen gas distribution and CO gas) to ensure that safety, production, operational efficiency, maintenance, HR and budget requirements are met.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and maintain safe operational and engineering standards and continuously review specifications and schedules.

• Maintain NOSA, MBO system, RT safety standards, Occupational health, safety and environment registers, ISO 14000; 9000 and 18001 systems and manage and control quality of all raw materials and products.

• Conduct timeous investigation of incidents and ensure adequate remedial action is implemented and ensure equipment integrity is maintained according to safety standards.

• Ensure effective risk management by identifying hazardous activities and mitigation measures on a continuous basis.

• Maintain and improve safety, health and environmental standards and practices, also as custodian of CO gas to ensure safe procedures are implemented.

• Optimize plant performance and resource utilization.

• Focus on advancements in production, metallurgical and treatment techniques and equipment development to assess the production unit-cost reduction potential.

• Supervise and control the activities, standards of performance and behaviour of designated staff and ensure training, development and succession of designated subordinate staff within section.

• Ensure effective support from Process Metallurgy and all other service departments toward enhancing business processes

• Ensure equipment integrity is maintained to prevent unplanned events and loss and achieve optimal availability by ensuring effective planned maintenance and attending to breakdowns.

*  For more detailed tasks please refer to a job description as shared by the HR

What you’ll bring

• Degree in Chemical / Metallurgy Engineering would be advantageous

• A valid South African Driver’s License (Please attach)

• 5 years of production / process / engineering experience, of which 3 years must be within a senior supervisory capacity within a large industrial environment.

What we offer

• A safety-focused and inclusive working environment

• Access top tier family-friendly health and medical programs, pension and savings plans

• Wellbeing benefits

Where you’ll be working

Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) is a world leader in heavy mineral sands extraction and refining and is South Africa’s largest mineral sands producer. RBM produces predominantly ilmenite, rutile and zircon – materials used in everything from paint to smartphones to sunscreen.

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

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 and/ or anything else that makes us different. 

At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Women, the LGBTQ+ communities, people with disabilities (PWD) and people from different cultural backgrounds.  

We acknowledge that all people are different and believe that our differences are our strength.  The diversity of skills, life experiences and perspectives within our teams enhance our way of working and our ability to achieve success together

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