Senior Adviser Strategic Communications & Issues Management

Rio Tinto; Brisbane; On-site; AUD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Safety‑conscious culture

Annual incentive awards

Career development & education

Health, medical & pension programs

Wellbeing benefits

Employee share program

Employee Assistance Program

Parental leave & life leave

Flexible leave options

Job summary

Rio Tinto in Brisbane is seeking an experienced communications professional to join the Strategic Communications team. You will monitor external environments, identify reputation risks and opportunities, and translate insights into proactive narratives and responses.

This hands-on role blends judgement, analytics and strong writing, collaborating with Media Relations, Content and Social teams to move intelligence into concrete communications actions across enterprise priorities.

Qualifications

• Degree in communications or related field.
• 7+ years experience in corporate communications, reputation or media relations.
• Strong analytical judgment with concise reporting and recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Identify emerging signals with AI-enabled tools to flag reputation risks or opportunities.
• Monitor Rio Tinto’s reputation across traditional and new media.
• Translate insights into actionable communications strategies and narratives.
• Produce concise reputation intelligence reports for leadership.
• Support senior leaders with scenarios, stakeholder perspectives and recommendations.
• Collaborate with Media Relations, Content and Social media to turn insights into narratives.
• Own defined workstreams from research to measurement.
• Build strong relationships across Rio Tinto's global communications network.

Skills

7+ years experience in corporate comms

Analytical thinking

Media monitoring & social listening

Excellent writing & editing

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Bachelor's degree in communications

Job description

• Shape and protect Rio Tinto’s external reputation by turning emerging intelligence into practical communications action.
• Build experience at the intersection of strategic communications, reputation intelligence, social listening and AI-enabled horizon scanning.
• Role based in either London, Perth or Brisbane

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’re looking for an experienced and highly capable communications professional to join our Strategic Communications team.

Reporting to the Senior Manager, Strategic Communications, you will monitor and analyse the external environment, identify emerging reputation risks and opportunities and help translate insights into proactive communications strategies, narratives and issues responses.

This is a hands‑on role for someone who combines strong judgement and analytical thinking with excellent communications skills.

You will play an important role in Rio Tinto’s evolving reputation intelligence capability, using research, media and social intelligence, AI-enabled horizon scanning and emerging tools to understand shifts in stakeholder perceptions and the information environment.

Working closely with the broader communications team, you will help connect intelligence with action – supporting integrated communications around enterprise priorities, proactive reputation opportunities and emerging issues.

What you’ll be doing

• Using AI-enabled horizon scanning and intelligence tools to identify and analyse emerging societal, geopolitical, regulatory, industry and stakeholder signals that could create reputation risks or opportunities for Rio Tinto.
• Monitoring Rio Tinto’s reputation across traditional and emerging information environments, bringing together reputation research, media intelligence, social listening and other sources to identify meaningful changes in how the company is understood and perceived.
• Supporting analysis of Rio Tinto’s visibility and representation within LLMs, identifying recurring themes, information gaps or inaccuracies and helping translate findings into recommendations for communications and content.
• Producing concise reputation intelligence and foresight reporting, distinguishing meaningful signals from noise and translating complex external developments into clear implications and recommended actions for communications leaders.
• Supporting the Principal Advisors and senior communications leaders on significant reputation matters, contributing analysis, scenarios, stakeholder perspectives, key positions and communications recommendations.
• Working with Media Relations, Content and Social Media to turn reputation insights into action, including proactive stories, narratives, executive communications, content opportunities and issues responses.
• Supporting integrated strategic communications programs around significant enterprise priorities, taking ownership of defined workstreams from research and planning through to execution and measurement.
• Building strong relationships across Rio Tinto’s global communications network, working collaboratively with Media Relations, Content and Social Media, product group and functional communications teams and other stakeholders.

About you

• Degree in communications or a related field.
• Relevant experience (ideally 7+ years) across corporate communications, corporate affairs, reputation, issues management or media relations.
• Experience independently delivering communications strategies or intelligence workstreams in a complex organisation, with minimal guidance.
• Strong analytical curiosity and professional judgement; ability to solve complex problems and recommend practical solutions.
• Experience with media monitoring, social listening, research and preferably AI-enabled intelligence or LLM analysis.
• Excellent writing and editing skills, including concise reporting, narratives, briefings and recommendations.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, collaboration and prioritisation skills. You’re someone who is proactive, adaptable and comfortable moving between analysis and delivery.

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 competitive salary package with annual cash incentive awards for eligible employees
• Career development & education assistance to further your ambitions
• Access top tier family-friendly health and medical programs and pension plan
• Wellbeing benefits
• Generous Rio Tinto employee share program
• Employee Assistance Program
• Ongoing individual wellbeing support for you and your family for personal and professional matters
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)

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 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.