Principal Business Improvement – Residential
-
Our lifestyle rosters give you more time for what matters, family, community, and the freedom to explore our incredible outback.
-
Living close to our operations means embracing an adventurous lifestyle – red earth landscapes, ancient gorges, and coastal escapes.
-
Paraburdoo Residential opportunities only – Housing & Relocation support provided for you and your family
About the role
Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.
We are looking for a Principal Business Improvement to Lead the respective Operational Excellence – Business Improvement team at our Paraburdoo mining operation, providing improvement expertise to the operations to deliver business priorities, including the execution of best practices to enable RTSPS sustainability.
The Operational Excellence team works across a diverse portfolio including Improvement Projects, Continuous Improvement, Change Management, Capital, Risk and the Management Operating System.
You’ll be a part of a friendly team, supported by your Manager to grow and achieve your own personal goals as well as the goals of the team. You will be located and working locally in Paraburdoo, giving you more time to spend on the things that are important to you and the people in your life.
Reporting to the Manager Operational Excellence, you will:
-
Actively monitor direct reports to ensure activities meet all health, safety and environmental requirements, and assist in risk mitigation
-
Lead the Business Improvement team, providing coaching and guidance
-
Support the delivery of annual and strategic planning for site
-
Manage the deployment and embedment of the RTSPS
-
Identify and lead improvement projects using project management and improvement methodologies, such as facilitating workshops with leaders
-
Provide expert technical direction, coaching and support to operational leaders on business improvement best practice and support the development of capability, mindsets and behaviours
-
Actively engage with operational leaders to identify bottlenecks and opportunities to increase operational effectiveness and establish a pipeline of future improvement
-
Develop strong interfaces and relationships across the site to ensure optimisation of improvements and efficiencies
-
Embed and champion continuous improvement processes and solutions across the site, bringing transparency, simplification, supportive leadership and continuous improvement culture to life
What you’ll bring
-
Leadership experience in continuous improvement where you have demonstrated improvement delivery and sustainability of projects
-
Previous Commercial experience in the Business Improvement lean six sigma space
-
Ability to communicate new ideas and influence others
-
Solid performance coaching capability and ability to develop and build credibility among peers
-
Strong teamwork, communication and interpersonal skills
-
A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team
-
Commitment to Rio Tinto value drivers of Care, Courage and Curiosity
-
Current C Class driver’s license
-
Although not essential, you may also bring:
-
Engineering background, particularly Process or Reliability
-
Operational experience
If you are excited about the role and think you have what it takes but your experience doesn't align 100%, we still want to hear from you.
We are committed to promoting diversity within Rio Tinto and as a special measure to we strongly encourage women to apply.
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
-
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)
-
Work on Country with a residential role which offers company housing and financial support with living expenses including rent and utilities (power and water).
-
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.
We are committed to elevating Indigenous voices and increasing cultural knowledge in our business. Diversity of skills, life experiences and perspectives within our team enhances our way of working and our ability to achieve success together. To help you on your journey with us, you’ll also have access to:
-
Specialist Indigenous Support Advisors are always there for our Indigenous employees and available to support through any aspect of your employment
-
Dedicated Indigenous Talent Programme for our Operators and Tradespersons and entry level operational roles. This programme is designed to create long term sustainable careers for our Indigenous Employees to grow into leadership or technical pathways to ensure you have every opportunity to grow your career.
-
Indigenous leadership programmes across some professional and operational roles to ensure that we are developing Indigenous Leaders
Where you’ll be working
Located 80 kilometres southwest of Tom Price, Paraburdoo rests on the traditional lands of the Yinhawangka people. The town is surrounded by some of Western Australia’s most stunning landscapes and is renowned for its natural beauty, diverse wildlife, and close proximity to Karijini National Park.
Paraburdoo is a gateway to adventure and exploration, and the town is proud of its reputation as a safe, welcoming community and an ideal place for young families to live and thrive.
Paraburdoo offers a wide range of local amenities and leisure facilities, including a domestic airport, hospital, community centre, childcare centre, primary school, parks, and various sporting venues.
The Paraburdoo Sports, Fitness and Community Complex features state-of-the-art facilities such as an Olympic-size swimming pool, indoor basketball court, and a fully equipped gym. Recent upgrades have expanded the camp facilities to 762 rooms.
With the opening of the Western Range at Paraburdoo Operations, the site now has the capacity to produce up to 25 million tonnes of iron ore annually supporting the longevity of the Paraburdoo mining hub for up to 20 years.
Applications close on the 26th of November 2025 (Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date).
#gts
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.
R44050
Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminum, 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 and meet opportunities.
At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, women, the LGBTQIA+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities, and people from different cultural backgrounds.
We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable being 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 who we are.
Start your application
Take your leadership career to the next level.
Where can Rio Tinto take you?
You’re passionate and ambitious with tremendous career aspirations. The breadth and growth of our organisation empowers you to define your ideal career path.
Take a look at Katie’s career journey

- 2022 - PresentManager Projects - Energy DevelopmentBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
- 2021Superintendent Operations CentreBrisbane, Queensland, Australia
- 2020Development / Drill and Blast SuperintendentPilbara, Western Australia
- 2019Deputy Quarry ManagerPilbara, Western Australia
- 2018Development SupervisorPilbara, Western Australia
- 2017Senior Engineer of Drill, Blast and SurveyPilbara, Western Australia
- 2016Production EngineerPilbara, Western Australia
- 2015Mine scheduler - 2 week plannerPilbara, Western Australia
- 2014Drill and Blast EngineerPilbara, Western Australia
- 2012Graduate Mining EngineerPilbara, Western Australia
Working at Rio Tinto
Help us deliver the materials that make human progress possible.
The plane you’re flying in just landed. You fire up your phone and get your laptop out of the overhead bin. Immediately, you’re in work mode – thousands of miles from your office. Do you ever stop to think about all the materials that make life in the 21st century possible? At Rio Tinto, we discover, develop and deliver the materials that drive human progress. When you work with us, you’ll experience advantages you won’t find anywhere else.
Our application process
01
Apply
The first thing you’ll need to do is apply to the role. You can do this with your LinkedIn profile or you can upload your resume. We’ll also ask you to complete a few questions before you submit your application.
02
Undergo assessments
Our assessments are designed to help us work out whether you are suitable for the role. We will let you know which ones you’ll need to complete.
03
Interview(s)
Our interviews could be in person or online. It’s a great opportunity for us to get to know you a bit better, answer any of your questions and talk about the exciting career opportunity you have applied for.
04
Offers and checks
At this stage, we will let you know if you have been successful. If you have been, we’ll need to conduct a couple of checks, such as a background or security check. You may also need to do a medical assessment depending on the role you have applied for.
05
Join the Rio Tinto team
Once the checks have been completed, we’ll be in touch to talk with you about your start date and answer any questions you may have before you start with us.



















