Senior Advisor Operational Excellence

Rio Tinto; Labrador City; On-site; CAD 100,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Safety-first culture

Career development & education support

Competitive base salary with annual/in

Health and medical programs, pension

Share ownership plan

Paid vacation and parental leave

Employee discounts

Job summary

Rio Tinto IOC seeks a Senior Advisor, Operational Excellence in Labrador City to strengthen continuous improvement, operational efficiency and sustainable cultural change. You will partner with Superintendents and leadership teams to prioritise improvements, build problem-solving capability and align initiatives with business priorities.

You will coach leaders in Lean, Six Sigma and MOS, drive maturity checks, and influence stakeholders to embed best practices across the organisation while

Qualifications

• Commitment to safety for yourself and your team.
• Qualification in Engineering, Business or related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated experience applying Operational Excellence, continuous improvement or business improvement methods in mining, processing, manufacturing, metals or another safety-critical industrial environment.
• Practical capability in Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, PDCA and structured problem-solving, with evidence of delivering measurable improvement outcomes.
• Experience coaching operational leaders, influencing stakeholders without direct authority and supporting change across multiple organisational levels.
• Experience managing multiple improvement projects or an initiative portfolio, including prioritisation, governance, risk escalation and benefits tracking.

Responsibilities

• Facilitate high-value business improvement projects using Lean, DMAIC, Kaizen and practical problem-solving methods.
• Guide Superintendents and Supervisors through problem definition, initiative prioritisation, project delivery and benefits tracking.
• Oversee the health of the assigned improvement initiative pipeline, raise risks and support timely portfolio updates.
• Develop project mandates and implementation roadmaps that support Safe Production System deployment, MOS (Management Operating System) and business plans.
• Coach leaders and Green Belt practitioners in Lean, Six Sigma and Operational Excellence methods to build lasting capability.
• Conduct scheduled maturity health checks, translate findings into action plans and support effective follow-through.
• Influence stakeholders across multiple levels to embed best practices, strengthen mindsets and support sustainable behavioural change.
• Manage multiple improvement priorities while tracking outcomes related to safety, efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability.

Skills

Lean

Six Sigma

DMAIC

Kaizen

PDCA

Structured problem-solving

Coaching leaders

Portfolio management

Influencing stakeholders

Safety-critical environment

Education

Engineering, Business or related discipline

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Office tools

Job description

• Shape high-value operational improvements that strengthen safety, efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability.
• Coach operational leaders and expand your influence across Lean, Six Sigma, Safe Production System deployment and MOS (Management Operating System) .
• Permanent role based in Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador, a vibrant northern community known for its strong sense of community and unparalleled access to nature and outdoor activities.

At Rio Tinto IOC, we are committed to creating an inclusive and welcoming workplace where everyone feels safe, respectful, and able to succeed. We actively encourage applications from women, Indigenous Peoples, and people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.

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 Senior Advisor, Operational Excellence to help our operations strengthen continuous improvement, operational efficiency and sustainable cultural change. In this role, you will partner with Superintendents, Supervisors, leadership teams and the Operational Excellence Business Partner to prioritise improvement opportunities, build problem-solving capability and align initiatives with business priorities. This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys turning complex operational challenges into practical improvements and wants to influence how Operational Excellence is embedded across the business.

What you’ll be doing

Reporting to the Superintendant Operational Excellence and working with operational leaders and the Operational Excellence team, you will be:

• Facilitate high-value business improvement projects using Lean, DMAIC, Kaizen and practical problem-solving methods.
• Guide Superintendents and Supervisors through problem definition, initiative prioritisation, project delivery and benefits tracking.
• Oversee the health of the assigned improvement initiative pipeline, raise risks and support timely portfolio updates.
• Develop project mandates and implementation roadmaps that support Safe Production System deployment, MOS (Management Operating System) and business plans.
• Coach leaders and Green Belt practitioners in Lean, Six Sigma and Operational Excellence methods to build lasting capability.
• Conduct scheduled maturity health checks, translate findings into action plans and support effective follow-through.
• Influence stakeholders across multiple levels to embed best practices, strengthen mindsets and support sustainable behavioural change.
• Manage multiple improvement priorities while tracking outcomes related to safety, efficiency, cost effectiveness and sustainability.

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 you bring relevant experience and 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.
• A qualification in Engineering, Business or a related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.
• Demonstrated experience applying Operational Excellence, continuous improvement or business improvement methods in mining, processing, manufacturing, metals or another safety-critical industrial environment.
• Practical capability in Lean, Kaizen, Six Sigma, PDCA and structured problem-solving, with evidence of delivering measurable improvement outcomes.
• Experience coaching operational leaders, influencing stakeholders without direct authority and supporting change across multiple organisational levels.
• Experience managing multiple improvement projects or an initiative portfolio, including prioritisation, governance, risk escalation and benefits tracking.

Helpful for Success

• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt certification.
• PMI certification, portfolio management exposure or financial and business acumen.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel capability, including pivot tables, and confidence using Microsoft Office tools.
• French language capability.

What we offer

Be recognized 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
• Career development & education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions
• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience with annual incentive program
• Ongoing access to family-friendly health and medical programs, pension and savings plans
• Attractive share ownership plan
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)
• Exclusive employee discounts

Where you’ll be working

We are a leading North American producer and exporter of premium iron ore pellets and high-grade concentrate with average iron grades greater than 66%. With a team of over 2,700 employees, IOC is committed to providing value and continuity for our customers, employees, communities and shareholders through our unique mine to port approach, taking advantage of our full integration and wholly owned infrastructure to deliver our high-quality concentrate and pellets to our customers across the globe.

IOC’s operations include a mine with five operational pits, a concentrator and a pelletizing plant located near Labrador City in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. We also operate a wholly-owned 418 km railway, the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway (QNS&L), that links our Labrador operations to Company-owned port facilities in Sept-Iles.

Working at Rio Tinto also means choosing to be part of a company recognized one of Canada’s Top 100 Employers in 2026 and one of Canada’s Top Employers for Young People in 2025.

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.

À propos de Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto est un chef de file mondial du secteur des sociétés minières et des matériaux. Nous sommes établis dans 35 pays où nous produisons du minerai de fer, du cuivre, de l’aluminium, des minéraux critiques et d’autres matériaux nécessaires à la transition énergétique mondiale et à la prospérité des personnes, des communautés et des nations.

Nous exerçons nos activités depuis 150 ans, en nous appuyant sur les connaissances accumulées au fil des générations et sur les différents continents. Notre mission – trouver de meilleures façons de fournir les matériaux dont le monde a besoin – nous guide dans notre quête d’innovation et d’amélioration continue, dans le but de fabriquer des produits à faibles émissions et répondant aux bonnes normes environnementales, sociales et de gouvernance. Mais comme nous ne pouvons pas y arriver seuls, nous nous attachons à créer des partenariats nous permettant de résoudre des problèmes, de créer des situations mutuellement avantageuses et de saisir des occasions.

Respect and Inclusion

Chez Rio Tinto, nous accueillons favorablement et encourageons les candidatures d’Autochtones, de femmes, de membres de la communauté LGBTQ+, de travailleurs âgés, de personnes handicapées et de représentants d’origines diverses.

Nous sommes déterminés à créer un milieu inclusif où les employés se sentent à l’aise d’être eux-mêmes. Nous souhaitons de plus que chacun ait l’impression que sa voix compte, que toutes les cultures sont respectées et que les points de vue, aussi variés soient-ils, sont non seulement bienvenus, mais également essentiels à notre succès. Nous nous traitons mutuellement avec équité et dignité, sans égard à la race, au genre, à la nationalité, à l’origine ethnique, à la religion, à l’âge, à l’orientation sexuelle ou à tout autre aspect distinctif.