Principal Engineer Surface Mining

• 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:

• 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.

What you will bring

You will have:

• 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.

It would also be desirable if you have:

• Experience in pit and schedule optimization. Experience in Whittle, Comet, or similar applications beneficial.

We’re looking for someone whose experience aligns with the key requirements above. You do not need to meet every requirement to apply — if you bring relevant experience and are excited by the opportunity, we would still like to hear from you.

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

• 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

Where you’ll be working

Winu is a copper-gold project located in Western Australia’s northern Pilbara region, on the Traditional lands of the Nyangumarta People. The Karlkayn airstrip which supports the project is located on the Traditional lands of the Martu People.

Discovered in 2017, Winu is a greenfield development with a focus on delivering a safe, efficient and future‑ready operation. Winu is being planned in close consultation with both Traditional Owner groups to support responsible development and minimise impacts on Country through development and future operation.

Winu is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Sumitomo Metal Mining Co (SMM). As managing partner, Rio Tinto is leading the development and operations, continuing to work in close partnership with SMM.

At Winu, you will join a collaborative team helping to shape one of our key growth opportunities through its next stage of development.

Applications close on 15th September 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 LGBTQ+ 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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