Principal Engineer Surface Mining

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.

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.