Senior Engineer, Functional Safety

Functional Safety Senior Engineer

• Be part of a safety-first organization where your work directly protects people and critical operations
• Grow your expertise in functional safety within a global mining leader known for technical excellence
• Enjoy a permanent, Salt Lake City-based role with access to world-class outdoor recreation and a strong local community

At Rio Tinto, we are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace where everyone feels safe, respected, and able to succeed. We actively encourage applications from women and from people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives. We know that great technical capability comes in many forms, and we’re focused on building teams that reflect the communities we operate in and support each other to do their best work.

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 Functional Safety Senior Engineer to lead and continuously improve safety instrumented systems that protect people, assets, and operations.

This is a great opportunity for a collaborative and technically strong professional to contribute to critical risk management and system performance in a complex industrial environment.

Reporting to the Process Safety Management Superintendent and working in a multidisciplinary team within the Process Safety function, you will:

• Champion a strong safety culture by ensuring all functional safety activities align with Rio Tinto safety standards and proactively identifying and addressing risks

• Facilitate and contribute to LOPA studies to support accurate Safety Integrity Level determination
• Lead development of Safety Requirement Specifications in collaboration with process and technical engineering teams
• Guide conceptual design of safety instrumented functions in alignment with IEC 61511 requirements
• Develop clear and effective cause and effect diagrams for safety systems
• Create and validate functional testing procedures, including pass and fail criteria for SIS components
• Perform SIL verification using ExSILentia or equivalent tools to ensure system reliability and compliance
• Lead functional safety assessments across the lifecycle and partner with stakeholders to implement improvement plans
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting expertise to maintenance teams for SIS-related issues
• Support projects through design, verification, commissioning, and continuous improvement of safety systems

• Perform SIL verification using ExSILentia or equivalent tools to ensure system reliability and compliance
• Lead functional safety assessments across the lifecycle and partner with stakeholders to implement improvement plans
• Provide technical support and troubleshooting expertise to maintenance teams for SIS-related issues
• Support projects through design, verification, commissioning, and continuous improvement of safety systems

About you

• A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team
• Bachelor’s degree in electrical, mechanical, or chemical engineering
• Five years of experience working in fixed plants or heavy industrial environments
• Proven ability to collaborate effectively across teams while also working independently when needed
• Hands-on experience implementing functional safety programs aligned with IEC 61508 and IEC 61511
• Experience participating in or facilitating HAZOP and LOPA studies
• Strong background in developing safety requirement specifications and participating in safety assessments
• Solid understanding of asset lifecycle management, cost drivers, and risk-based decision making
• Proficiency with ExSILentia or similar functional safety modeling tools

Preferred

• Certified Functional Safety Expert certification

If you’re interested in this role and believe you can contribute, we would be delighted to receive your application, even if your profile does not match 100% of the qualifications.

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. 

• Competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with an annual incentive bonus. 

• Access to top-tier family-friendly health programs including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life insurance coverage, and various voluntary benefits.   

• Excellent retirement plan including up to 6% defined company contribution; Generous 401k matching program. 

• Attractive share ownership plan. 

• Comprehensive leave policies which cover all the moments that matter in life: PTO (paid time off), paid holidays, and paid bereavement leave. 

• A generous parental leave policy, which ensures you’re able to spend quality time with your new family.  

• Discount programs for leisure purposes and access to Virgin Pulse with incentives supporting your wellbeing.  

• Access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which provides confidential counselling or expert guidance for you and your family to help get through life’s challenges. 

Where you’ll be working

Our Kennecott mine is a world-class, fully integrated copper mining operation, including a concentrator, smelter, and refinery, located just outside Salt Lake City, Utah, in the United States. We produce copper, precious metals including gold and silver, molybdenum, and sulfuric acid. Kennecott has been mining and processing minerals from the rich ore body of the Bingham Canyon Mine since 1903 and is one of the top producing mines in the world, comprising approximately 11 percent of U.S. annual copper production.

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

Rio Tinto is committed to equal employment opportunity. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel safe, respected and valued. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome but are essential to our success. We treat all our people fairly and with dignity.

Rio Tinto participates in E- Verify to confirm work authorization. Please visit http://www.ucis.gov/ for more information.

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