Principal Geotechnical Engineer:

• Be part of a group that is safety driven, values inclusion and is renowned for technical excellence
• Join our global leading business offering outstanding personal development & global career opportunities
• Permanent role based in the beautiful outdoor and family-oriented community of Salt Lake City or Santiago

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 Principal Geotechnical Engineer to provide support for slope design and geotechnical risk management for Rio Tinto’s surface copper mine operations and projects. In this role you will be regarded as a subject matter expert in major aspects of geotechnical engineering across the full mining life cycle (conceptual to closure) for both open pit and heap leach operations. Reporting to the Principal Engineer Geotechnical, you will be:

• Providing technical support and advice to operations, projects and studies in areas of slope design, operational slope management process, and the identification of potential risks that may lead to catastrophic or reputational risks.
• Supporting site geotechnical teams and projects with their Line 1 assurance processes and that these are appropriately focused on the key risk areas at each operation or project.
• A geotechnical SME supporting business development and the evaluation of any merger and acquisition opportunities, including Rio Tinto’s unique Nuton heap leach technology
• Developing innovative solutions through connection and engagement with leading external practitioners including consultants and educational/research institutions.
• Coaching and mentoring junior engineers across Rio Tinto’s surface mining portfolio.
• Contributing to developing best practice standards and guidelines in geotechnical engineering.

About you:

• A commitment to the safety of yourself, your team and the operations and projects you support
• Bachelor’s degree in Geotechnical engineering or other relevant discipline.
• 10-15 years of geotechnical experience in large open pits.
• Strong experience with slope investigation, characterization & slope design and able to define appropriate scopes of work / geotechnical requirements for all levels of study.
• Experience in advanced stability modelling, incl numerical models, and the appropriate inclusion of pore pressure in stability analyses.
• Strong site based geotechnical operations and hazard management experience
• Professional working proficiency in English is required with strong written (technical reports and memos) and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to work with multi-disciplinary and diverse teams and to communicate effectively to all levels of the organization.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Spanish fluency (or desire/ability to learn very quickly)
• Multi-site experience across both geotechnical operations and slope design focused roles
• Familiarity & credibility with geotechnical review boards