Manager, Business Improvement

• Join our global leading business offering outstanding personal development
• Key member of the site’s senior leadership team, shaping strategy and driving business performance.
• This permanent, full-time, role is based in Kitimat, BC. The perfect place to live and work, combining the tranquility of a small community with an unrivaled love for the great outdoors.

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 Business Improvement Manager to shape and lead improvement and transformation across our operations and support functions. As a member of the senior leadership team, you’ll build internal capability, lead a team of improvement professionals, and embed Lean and continuous improvement ways of working that strengthen discipline, problem-solving, and accountability.

This is a great opportunity for a strategic and hands-on leader to bring structure and alignment to a complex aluminum smelter and hydro power operation, owning the site’s operating rhythm, strengthening how we plan and execute, and ensuring consistency across systems, processes, and performance management.

While we don’t offer fly-in-fly-out arrangements, we do offer relocation assistance, to help you settle in and thrive. Join us and become an integral part of our vibrant community. Located on British Columbia, Canada's northwest coast, Kitimat is a welcoming, family‑friendly community set between the mountains and the sea. Known for its strong local economy, modern amenities, short commutes, and endless opportunities for outdoor adventure, it’s an ideal place to build both a career and a life.

Reporting to the General Manager and working in a collaborative community within the Senior Leadership Team, you will be working Monday to Friday and:

• Leading by example in safety and compliance, ensuring adherence to all Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) regulations, standards, and Rio Tinto’s safety culture.
• Leading, coaching, and developing a high-performing Business Improvement team, building capability and strengthening problem-solving across the site.
• Owning the site’s operating rhythm, including business planning, performance reviews, and integrated cadence, ensuring alignment across teams and priorities.
• Defining and managing the site’s improvement portfolio, supporting leaders to identify, prioritise, and deliver initiatives that improve performance.
• Maintaining and strengthening consistent systems, standards, and governance for how work gets done, including performance tracking, planning tools, and change control processes.
• Partnering with operational and functional leaders to solve complex, cross-functional challenges, supporting structured problem-solving and translating priorities into practical action.
• Designing and embedding Lean and continuous improvement practices that improve safety, reliability, cost, and overall site performance.
• Coaching and supporting leaders and teams in applying improvement practices, building capability and strengthening day-to-day ways of working.

About you

• A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, Finance, Human Resources, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience).
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, with the ability to break down complex challenges, facilitate discussions with others, and contribute to delivery.
• Experience coaching, guiding, or supporting teams in the use of business improvement tools, with a focus on building capability and strengthening problem-solving across teams.
• At least 10 years of practical experience applying Lean principles within continuous or process-based operations (e.g., manufacturing, mining, metals, energy, chemicals) or similar complex industrial environments.

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. 

Applications close on Sunday the 24th of May 2026 (Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date).

What we offer

Be recognized for your contribution, your thinking and your hard work, and go home knowing you’ve helped the world progress.

The base salary range for this role is $151,760 – $227,640 CAD in addition to allowances, bonus, equity, health or retirement benefits, and any other discretionary benefits offered at Rio Tinto. Our base salary ranges are based on role, level, and location. Within the range, individual pay is determined by the skills, experience, and impact you bring to the role. Our talent acquisition partners can share more during the hiring process.

At Rio Tinto, we offer a competitive reward package that reflects the value that each person brings to our business. As part of our pay philosophy, we believe equity represents fairness, and is rooted in our values and aligns with what we stand for.

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority
• Career development & education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)
• Exclusive employee discounts
• Relocation program

Where you’ll be working

Rio Tinto’s BC Works is a part of the Atlantic Operations of the Aluminium product group and has been operating in British Columbia for over 70 years. With industry leading new technology and four generations of employee expertise, as well as our hydropower facility at Kemano and the Nechako Reservoir, the Kitimat smelter is one of the world’s most competitive aluminium smelters, producing aluminium with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the industry.

Rio Tinto is proud to operate in BC alongside our 1,000 employees, partners, community stakeholders and First Nations, and we look forward to the next 70 years.

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 Indigenous Peoples, women, the LGBTQIA2 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.

À propos de Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto est un chef de file mondial du secteur des sociétés minières et des matériaux. Nous sommes établis dans 35 pays où nous produisons du minerai de fer, du cuivre, de l’aluminium, des minéraux critiques et d’autres matériaux nécessaires à la transition énergétique mondiale et à la prospérité des personnes, des communautés et des nations. 

Nous exerçons nos activités depuis 150 ans, en nous appuyant sur les connaissances accumulées au fil des générations et sur les différents continents. Notre mission – trouver de meilleures façons de fournir les matériaux dont le monde a besoin – nous guide dans notre quête d’innovation et d’amélioration continue, dans le but de fabriquer des produits à faibles émissions et répondant aux bonnes normes environnementales, sociales et de gouvernance. Mais comme nous ne pouvons pas y arriver seuls, nous nous attachons à créer des partenariats nous permettant de résoudre des problèmes, de créer des situations mutuellement avantageuses et de saisir des occasions.

Respect and Inclusion
Chez Rio Tinto, nous accueillons favorablement et encourageons les candidatures d’Autochtones, de femmes, de membres de la communauté LGBTQ2S+, de travailleurs âgés, de personnes handicapées et de représentants d’origines diverses.

Nous sommes déterminés à créer un milieu inclusif où les employés se sentent à l’aise d’être eux-mêmes. Nous souhaitons de plus que chacun ait l’impression que sa voix compte, que toutes les cultures sont respectées et que les points de vue, aussi variés soient-ils, sont non seulement bienvenus, mais également essentiels à notre succès. Nous nous traitons mutuellement avec équité et dignité, sans égard à la race, au genre, à la nationalité, à l’origine ethnique, à la religion, à l’âge, à l’orientation sexuelle ou à tout autre aspect distinctif.

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