Graduate Program 2027 - Process Engineer

Bell Bay Aluminium; Gladstone Regional; On-site; AUD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Safety first

Permanent role

Competitive salary

Health benefits

Share ownership plan

Relocation assistance

Job summary

Rio Tinto in Australia is seeking a Graduate Process Engineer to join our Gladstone, Weipa (QLD) and Gove (NT) sites. The program targets graduates with a bachelor’s degree in Chemical, Process or Metallurgical Engineering for hands-on experience in a large-scale operating environment.

The two-year Graduate Program develops foundational and future-focused skills, with exposure to bauxite operations, transition work, and complex processing.

Qualifications

• Final year of study or recently graduated with less than 2 years of relevant work experience.
• Right to work in Australia or New Zealand.
• Current C Class Manual Driver’s License at commencement.

Education

Bachelor's degree in Chemical, Process or Metallurgical Engineering

Job description

Graduate Program 2027 - Process Engineer - Gladstone & Weipa, QLD and Gove, NT

Ready to drive meaningful change? We’re on the lookout for passionate individuals who are eager to join our team and help us tackle the challenges shaping our future. At Rio Tinto, we believe innovation thrives when diverse minds collaborate toward a common purpose – creating a better tomorrow. Let’s shape the future together.

Finding better ways to move our people forward.

Start your career as a Graduate Process Engineer across one of our operations in Gove, Weipa or Gladstone. We’re looking for graduates with a bachelors degree in Chemical, Process or Metallurgical Engineering who want hands‑on experience and the opportunity to build their technical capability in a large‑scale operating environment. Whether you’re working within our bauxite operations in Weipa, supporting the transition through closure and long‑term rehabilitation at Gove, or gaining exposure to complex processing at our Gladstone operations, you’ll work alongside experienced professionals, contribute to real challenges and build strong foundations at the very start of your engineering career.

About the program

Our Graduate Program offers you the chance to help shape Rio Tinto from within. The Graduate Program extends over two years, focusing on developing both foundational and future‑focused skills.

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


• A permanent position working directly for Rio Tinto


• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive program


• Comprehensive medical benefits including subsidised private health insurance for employees and immediate family


• Attractive share ownership plan


• Company provided insurance cover


• Extensive salary sacrifice & salary packaging options


• Career development & education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions


• Ongoing access to family‑friendly health and medical wellbeing support


• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)


• Exclusive employee discounts (banking, accommodation, cars, retail and more)


• Domestic relocation assistance

Where you will be working

Gove, Northern Territory

Our Gove site in Australia’s Northern Territory has been supplying the global aluminium industry with world‑class bauxite for more than 40 years. Gove bauxite is shipped internationally as well as domestically to supply Queensland Alumina Limited and Yarwun refineries in Gladstone, Queensland. These refineries produce alumina as feedstock for our Australian aluminium smelting operations and for sale on the international market. We expect our bauxite mining operations in the Gove Peninsula will cease later this decade and we are doing significant work to support closure of the operation.

Weipa, Queensland

Our Weipa operations in Far North Queensland includes three bauxite mines, processing facilities, shiploaders, an export wharf, two ports, power stations, a rail network and ferry terminals. Amrun, our newest mine, was completed in 2018 and will extend our Weipa bauxite operations by decades, significantly building on our 55-year history on the Western Cape, and providing jobs and supporting business growth in the region. The mine is located on traditional land. We work closely with the Traditional Owners to implement our agreements, ensuring that the benefits generated from mining support future generations and that important cultural heritage sites are identified and preserved.

Gladstone, Queensland

Boyne Smelters Limited is Australia’s second largest aluminium smelter with a 1,000‑person strong workforce. Located approximately 20km south east of Gladstone at Boyne Island on the Central Queensland coast, BSL produces around 500,000 tonnes of aluminium per annum.

Activities at BSL include manufacturing carbon anodes in the carbon plant, aluminium production (smelting) in reduction lines, and casting of molten material into aluminium products ready to ship. The smelter is connected via a conveyor belt to the Queensland Alumina Limited refinery for the supply of alumina.

BSL is committed to protecting the environment and ensuring safe work practices where people feel safe at work and care for each other.

Eligibility

• Graduate Program – final year of study/have recently graduated with less than 2 years of relevant work experience


• Have the right to work in Australia or New Zealand (citizens, permanent residents, student or postgraduate work visa holders)


• A current \"C Class\" Manual Driver’s License at the time of your Graduate Program commencement

Next steps

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.

Please note, to be considered for this role, you must complete all pre‑screening questions.

#Graduate

#gts

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.