Senior Adviser Mine Closure

Rio Tinto; Darwin; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Unique project impact

Safety-focused environment

Annual incentive awards

Health programs

Family-friendly leave

Employee share plan

Salary packaging options

Job summary

Rio Tinto seeks an experienced Senior Adviser Mine Closure to join the Ranger Rehabilitation Project in Jabiru. You will lead planning, optimisation and reconciliation of material movement during mine closure, ensuring decisions are underpinned by spatial analysis and comply with regulatory requirements.

You will translate closure requirements into clear, executable plans for material classification, haulage and placement while coordinating with models, survey, operations and compliance teams.

Qualifications

• Commitment to safety of yourself and your team.
• Strong mine planning experience with material movement planning, sequencing and scheduling in complex operating or closure environments.
• Deep understanding of block models, grade control, reconciliation, and stockpile modelling, including uncertainties in historical datasets.
• Experience developing and applying reconciliation, traceability and audit frameworks linking source material to final placement.
• Strong analytical problem-solving capability and ability to convert constraints into planning logic/rules.
• Tertiary qualification in Mining Engineering or relevant disciplines

Responsibilities

• Lead the planning, optimisation and sequencing of material movement activities, ensuring safe, efficient and compliant closure outcomes.
• Develop and maintain life-of-project, annual and short-term material movement plans, translating closure requirements into practical, executable strategies.
• Drive material placement validation and reconciliation processes using spatial, survey and operational data to ensure closure criteria compliance.
• Integrate block models, stockpile data, survey information and geospatial datasets to support robust planning and decision-making.
• Own and continuously improve the material movement planning environment, including governance, data integrity, reporting and workflow development.
• Partner closely with operational, technical and closure teams to deliver practical, risk-informed plans that align with field capabilities and project objectives.
• Provide technical leadership and assurance across material movement strategies, compliance reporting and regulatory obligations, supporting successful closure execution.

Skills

Mine planning

Material movement planning

Block models

Stockpile modelling

Reconciliation

Data analysis

Analytical problem solving

Audit frameworks

Decision frameworks

Risk-informed planning

Education

Mining Engineering degree

Tools

GIS

Survey data systems

Job description

• Join a global team that includes some of the industry’s best and brightest minds
• Enjoy the perks of Darwin’s outdoor lifestyle, working a 14/7 shift roster (BIBO to Jabiru)
• One of the world’s most unique sites, with the focus now shifting to comprehensive world-class rehabilitation whilst maintaining successful operation of a critical path asset

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 seeking an experienced Senior Adviser Mine Closure to join the Ranger Rehabilitation Project in Jabiru. In this role, you will play a key part in leading the planning, optimisation and reconciliation of material movement during mine closure, ensuring decisions are underpinned by sound spatial analysis, aligned with closure and regulatory requirements, and practical for execution in the field. The role provides the critical link between models, planning systems, survey, operations and compliance reporting so that every tonne moved can be understood, tracked and validated.

This will be a great opportunity to be the voice of the closure material movement plan, translating closure requirements into clear, executable and defensible plans for material classification, haulage, placement and verification.

Living in Darwin, you’ll be able to take full advantage of the Outdoors Lifestyle on offer, as you’ll commute to Jabiru on a Bus In; Bus Out arrangement on a 14 Days on; 7 days off roster (10-hours days).

What you’ll be doing

Reporting to the Manager Engineering and working in a challenging and exciting environment within our Ranger Project team, you will:

• Lead the planning, optimisation and sequencing of material movement activities, ensuring safe, efficient and compliant closure outcomes.
• Develop and maintain life-of-project, annual and short-term material movement plans, translating closure requirements into practical, executable strategies.
• Drive material placement validation and reconciliation processes, using spatial, survey and operational data to ensure compliance with closure criteria.
• Integrate block models, stockpile data, survey information and geospatial datasets to support robust planning and decision-making.
• Own and continuously improve the material movement planning environment, including governance, data integrity, reporting and workflow development.
• Partner closely with operational, technical and closure teams to deliver practical, risk-informed plans that align with field capabilities and project objectives.
• Provide technical leadership and assurance across material movement strategies, compliance reporting and regulatory obligations, supporting successful closure execution.

About you

We’re looking for someone whose experience aligns with the key requirements below. You do not need to meet every helpful for success item to apply. If your experience is relevant and you are excited by the opportunity, we encourage you to submit an application.

Required for Success

• A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team.
• Strong mine planning experience with demonstrated capability in material movement planning, sequencing and scheduling in complex operating or closure environments.
• Deep understanding of block models, grade control, reconciliation, and stockpile modelling, including the limitations and uncertainties inherent in historical datasets.
• Experience developing and applying reconciliation, traceability and audit frameworks that link source material to final placement.
• Strong analytical problem-solving capability, including the ability to convert real operational constraints into structured planning logic, rules or decision frameworks.
• Tertiary qualification in Mining Engineering or relevant disciplines

Helpful for Success

• Demonstrated experience supporting mine closure or project development activities.
• Understanding of geotechnical, geochemical, radiological and/or environmental constraints relevant to waste placement and closure landform construction.

What we offer

• Unique opportunity to contribute to a world-class project to return uranium mining to natural conditions surrounded by a pristine National Park environment
• A safety-focused and inclusive working environment
• A competitive salary package with annual cash incentive awards (STIP)
• Access to top tier family-friendly health and medical programs
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave, cultural leave)
• Ongoing individual wellbeing support for you and your family for personal and professional matters
• Generous Rio Tinto employee share program
• Extensive salary sacrifice & salary packaging options

Where you will be working

Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) operated the Ranger Uranium Mine near the town of Jabiru in the Northern Territory, Australia, previously mining and producing uranium oxide. In January 2021, ERA ceased all mining and processing activities at Ranger after 40 years of operation with the focus now shifting to rehabilitation.

The Ranger Rehabilitation Project is committed to the rehabilitation of the Ranger Project Area to a standard that will establish an environment similar to the adjacent Kakadu National Park. In 2024, ERA entered into a Management Services Agreement (MSA) with Rio Tinto to manage the Ranger Rehabilitation Project, which will build on ERA’s existing rehabilitation work with Rio Tinto’s technical expertise in designing, scoping and executing closure projects. We remain committed to working with all key stakeholders, including the Mirarr People to complete this important rehabilitation work.

Applications close 11th November 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.