Principal Engineer – Mine Development

Oyu Tolgoi’s workforce today is more than 97 per cent Mongolian, and a major strategic focus for the company is to develop a skilled workforce that is continuously learning. We aim to attract the best talent, so that we can together deliver a safe and globally competitive copper business that contributes to the prosperity of Mongolia. 

Oyu Tolgoi LLC is operating a copper-gold mine in southern territory of Mongolia. The company aspires a vision ‘Natural wealth to enduring value, knowledge, and skill’, and pursues a mission, 'Together deliver a safe and globally competitive copper business that contributes to the prosperity of Mongolia' to build one of the largest copper-gold mines worldwide.
 

Principal Engineer – Mine Development

A significant leadership and career progression opportunity

This role represents a key career milestone for experienced mining professionals, positioned one level above Superintendent within the technical and operational leadership structure. It is ideally suited to seasoned mining professionals who are ready to transition from operational leadership into a broader technical leadership and management pathway.

As a Principal Engineer, you will act as a recognized subject matter expert and trusted advisor to both operational and project teams. You will provide strategic technical direction, influence major business decisions, mentor future leaders, and play a critical role in developing the capabilities of Oyu Tolgoi's national workforce.

For many professionals, this role serves as an important steppingstone toward senior management and executive leadership positions within Rio Tinto's global mining business.

Why Join Us?

• Be part of one of the most significant underground mining projects globally.
• Influence the future development of a world-class block cave operation.
• Lead and develop the next generation of Mongolian mining professionals.
• Work within a highly capable Owner's Team environment.
• Gain exposure to Rio Tinto's global technical and operational networks.
• Make a lasting impact through technical excellence, coaching, and knowledge transfer.

About the role

Reporting to the Manager Mine Development, the Principal Engineer – Mine Development will provide senior technical leadership and oversight across underground mine development activities, including lateral development, infrastructure development, mass excavation, contractor management, and project delivery.

A key focus of the role is the development of engineering capability within the Mongolian workforce. Beyond delivering technical outcomes, you will actively mentor, coach, and train local engineers, supervisors, and emerging leaders to build sustainable in-country expertise and succession capability.

Working within a complex underground mining environment, you will partner closely with operations, projects, contractors, and technical services teams to ensure development activities are delivered safely, efficiently, and in alignment with long-term business objectives.

Depending on location, the role may be offered as:

• Ulaanbaatar-based with regular site travel, or
• International FIFO roster (4 weeks on / 2 weeks off)

Key Responsibilities

Technical Leadership:

• Provide expert engineering guidance for underground mine development, excavation, and infrastructure projects.
• Support mine design, planning, execution, and optimization of development activities.
• Ensure engineering standards, governance requirements, and industry best practices are consistently applied.
• Conduct technical reviews and provide recommendations to improve safety, productivity, and project outcomes.
• Support risk identification, mitigation planning, and operational readiness initiatives.

Workforce Development and Mentorship:

• Act as the senior technical mentor for Mine Development engineers and project engineers.
• Develop and implement structured coaching, training, and competency development programs.
• Facilitate knowledge transfer and capability building within the Mongolian workforce.
• Support succession planning by developing future technical leaders and supervisors.
• Share international best practices and lessons learned to strengthen local engineering capability.
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, professional growth, and technical excellence.

Contractor and Project Management:

• Provide engineering oversight of major development and construction contractors.
• Establish clear performance expectations, governance frameworks, and accountability measures.
• Monitor contractor performance against safety, schedule, cost, and quality objectives.
• Support contract administration, claims management, and commercial decision-making.
• Ensure alignment between contractor activities and strategic operational priorities.

Operational Excellence:

• Champion a proactive and visible safety culture.
• Lead root cause investigations and implementation of corrective actions where required.
• Identify and implement continuous improvement initiatives to enhance productivity and reduce costs.
• Work collaboratively across Operations, Projects, Technical Services, and Business Improvement teams.
• Act as delegate for the Manager Mine Development when required.

What You'll Bring

Essential:

• Bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering or equivalent engineering discipline.
• Professional Engineer (PE) registration, Chartered Engineer status, or Government Certification in Mining Engineering preferred.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in underground mining engineering, with significant exposure to mine development environments.
• Strong technical knowledge of underground mine development, mine planning, excavation, and production systems.
• Proven experience in contractor management, contract administration, and project delivery.
• Demonstrated leadership experience in complex underground mining operations.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, communication, and influencing skills.
• Ability to mentor, coach, and develop engineering professionals.
• Experience working within multidisciplinary teams and owner-contractor environments.

Highly Regarded:

• 15+ years of underground mining experience.
• Experience in large-scale block cave or caving operations.
• High-speed lateral development and mass excavation experience.
• Experience managing major underground development contracts.
• Exposure to project execution and capital development programs.
• Experience delivering capability-building programs for national workforces

What we offer

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority
• International relocation and visa assistance
• Competitive package including annual incentive and living allowance
• Career development to further your ambitions
• Access top tier family-friendly health and medical programs
• Generous Rio Tinto employee share program
• Employee Assistance Program
• Ongoing individual wellbeing support for you and your family for personal and professional matter
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/ annual, paid parental, sick leave)

About us

Joining the Rio Tinto Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project team is a great opportunity to be part of one of the most exciting developments in copper and gold mining for several decades. The mine contains reserves and resources that make it one of the world’s largest copper-gold deposits.

This mega project is expected to be a major contributor to Mongolia’s development. As part of the Rio Tinto Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project team, you have the ability to contribute to something significant and learn and develop both personally and professionally. We offer a collaborative, high performing environment where success is achieved by working together.

Discover more about Mongolia and Oyu Tolgoi

Mongolia is increasingly becoming a destination for tourism and expatriate residents. As a rapidly developing city, Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar is seen as a comfortable, yet exciting place to live. With an array of cultural and social activities available and a growing network of international schools, housing options, and leisure facilities, its home to a growing community of international expatriates.

Located in the South Gobi Desert, just 80 kilometres from the Chinese border, the Oyu Tolgoi open pit mine and camp is a large, well-run and comfortable site with multiple amenities including recreational and sports facilities, a cinema, shops, restaurants and bars catered to a growing community. For more information about OT site, please check out this video.

Where you’ll be working

Oyu Tolgoi is an operating Copper / Gold open pit mine with a brownfields underground mining project. The site is located in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. The reserves case for the underground project is in the order of 0.5 billion tonnes of ore to be mined from the 95,000 tonnes per day Hugo North Lift 1 (HNL1) panel cave mine with a 20-year operations life. There is also the potential for 3 further block cave districts to increase mine life beyond 100 years. 

Every Voice Matters

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 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.

Job application closes on August 03, 2026

# GTS

Respect and Inclusion

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 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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