Specialist Pastoral Engagement

Rio Tinto; Perth; On-site; AUD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation assistance

Comprehensive medical benefits

Annual incentive bonus

Extensive salary packaging options

Career development & education support

Job summary

Rio Tinto is seeking a Specialist Pastoral Engagement to support its Iron Ore operations across the Pilbara from Perth. The role focuses on building and maintaining productive relationships with third-party pastoral station owners and managers, ensuring open communication and mutual understanding across activities.

You will collaborate with pastoralists and internal teams to align operational needs with pastoral interests, travel as required, and contribute to proactive engagement initiatives

Qualifications

• Excellent stakeholder engagement and relationship management.
• Sound understanding of pastoral industry challenges in regional WA.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, pastoral operations, land access, or community relations.
• Strong negotiation and problem-solving skills for sensitive issues.
• Independent work style with collaborative approach.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strong relationships with pastoral station owners and managers in the Pilbara.
• Act as primary liaison between pastoralists and Rio Tinto, ensuring open communication.
• Coordinate consultation on operations, exploration, infrastructure and projects.
• Work with internal teams and pastoralists to identify impacts and practical solutions.
• Support access arrangements in line with agreements and processes.
• Respond to stakeholder inquiries and drive timely resolutions.
• Provide local knowledge to support business planning and decision-making.
• Contribute to proactive stakeholder engagement initiatives.
• Maintain accurate stakeholder engagement records and reporting.
• Identify opportunities for collaboration and continuous improvement.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Relationship management

Communication

Pastoral industry knowledge

Negotiation

Independent worker

Travel readiness

ArcGIS Pro

Tools

ArcGIS Pro

Job description

Specialist Pastoral Engagement

• Global mining organisation with an exceptional safety culture
• Opportunity to build and maintain strong relationships with pastoral communities across the Pilbara
• Perth-based position with some ad hoc travel to the Pilbara
• Join a collaborative team supporting Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore operations

About the role

We are looking for a Specialist Pastoral Engagement to join our Pastoral Stations team, supporting Rio Tinto’s Iron Ore operations across the Pilbara.

This is a relationship-focused role responsible for developing and maintaining positive, productive relationships with third-party pastoral station owners and managers throughout the region.

Working collaboratively with pastoralists and internal stakeholders, you will play an important role in fostering positive relationships, supporting open communication and ensuring pastoral interests and operational considerations are understood and respected throughout Rio Tinto’s activities.

This is an excellent opportunity for someone who understands the pastoral industry, enjoys working with people and brings a practical, collaborative approach to achieving positive outcomes.

Reporting to the Manager Pastoral Stations, you will be responsible for:

• Building and maintaining strong, respectful and productive relationships with pastoral station owners, managers and other relevant stakeholders across the Pilbara.
• Acting as a key point of contact between pastoralists and Rio Tinto, promoting open communication, transparency and mutual understanding.
• Coordinating consultation and engagement with pastoralists regarding Rio Tinto’s operational, exploration, infrastructure and project activities.
• Working collaboratively with internal teams and pastoralists to understand operational requirements, identify potential impacts and develop practical solutions that consider the needs of all parties.
• Supporting the coordination of pastoral station access arrangements in accordance with relevant agreements, approvals and established processes.
• Responding to stakeholder enquiries, concerns and issues, working with relevant teams to achieve timely and constructive resolutions.
• Providing advice and local knowledge on pastoral operations, regional considerations and stakeholder matters to support business planning and decision-making.
• Supporting the development and implementation of proactive stakeholder engagement initiatives that strengthen relationships and improve outcomes.
• Maintaining accurate stakeholder engagement records, commitments and reporting.
• Identifying opportunities for collaboration and continuous improvement in how Rio Tinto engages and works alongside the pastoral community.

What you'll bring

To succeed in this role, you will have:

• Excellent stakeholder engagement, relationship management and communication skills, with the ability to build trust and maintain effective working relationships.
• A sound understanding of the pastoral industry, including the practical challenges of operating cattle stations in regional and remote Western Australia.
• Experience in stakeholder engagement, pastoral operations, land access, community relations or a similar field.
• Strong negotiation, problem solving and conflict resolution skills, with the ability to manage sensitive issues and competing interests constructively.
• A practical, solutions focused approach, with sound judgement and the ability to work independently while collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders.
• Ability to handle sensitive, confidential and privileged information with discretion.
• Strong organisational, written communication and reporting skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Ability to undertake ad hoc travel throughout the Pilbara as required.
• Proficiency in ArcGIS Pro will be advantageous.

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
• Full relocation provided to Western Australia from elsewhere in Australia
• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive bonus
• 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, cultural leave)
• To better suit different family needs, our paid parental leave approach gives all parents the option to take 18 weeks of paid leave after a new child arrives – at a time that suits them
• Exclusive employee discounts including hotel stays, banking, accommodation, cars, retail and more

Where you'll be working

This position is based in Perth, Western Australia, with ad hoc travel throughout the Pilbara to support stakeholder engagement and operational requirements.

Rio Tinto owns and operates an integrated portfolio of iron ore assets that include a world-class network of mines, port terminals, rail infrastructure and associated operations across the Pilbara.

Our activities extend across numerous pastoral stations throughout the region, where pastoral businesses operate alongside mining, exploration and infrastructure activities.

The Pastoral Stations team plays an important role in maintaining positive relationships with the pastoral community, supporting responsible land management and ensuring pastoral interests are understood and considered in the planning and delivery of Rio Tinto’s activities.

As part of this team, you will work with a broad range of internal stakeholders and pastoral businesses, contributing to respectful, collaborative and long-term relationships across the Pilbara.

Applications close on Friday 13 th 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.