Underground Geotech Engineer — Impact & Innovation

Rio Tinto; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary and annual/inz

Comprehensive health programs

Excellent retirement plan including 6%

Share ownership plan

Parental leave and generous paid time‑

Job summary

Rio Tinto seeks an Underground Geotechnical Engineer for the Kennecott Underground team near Salt Lake City, Utah. You will support safe, efficient, and sustainable operation of a premier underground copper mine.

You will work with rock mechanics, geotechnical risk management, and ground support design, gaining exposure to instrumentation, monitoring, and stope performance assessments to influence operational decisions.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in geotechnical-related field and related discipline.
• Underground hard rock geotechnical engineering experience.
• Experience with underground mining methods and hazard management.
• Geotechnical inspections, data collection, stability assessments, and analysis.
• Strong communication and problem-solving skills.
• Proficiency with RocScience tools and Deswik suite.

Responsibilities

• Complete routine geotechnical tasks including development and production inspections, damage mapping, data collection, analysis, and excavation stability assessments.
• Conduct stope stability assessments and prepare geotechnical stope notes for safe production.
• Design, implement, and manage geotechnical instrumentation and monitoring programs.
• Develop and maintain geotechnical databases for analysis, risk management and reporting.
• Review ground, intersection, and stope support designs.
• Conduct seismic hazard assessments and back analyses, assist in seismic risk management.
• Communicate geotechnical risks and recommendations to technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Collaborate with operations, mine planning, geology, and other teams to manage geotechnical risks.

Skills

Underground geotechnical engineering

Ground support design

Seismic risk management

Data collection and analysis

Stope performance assessment

Education

Bachelor's degree in Geotechnical Engineering, Geological Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geology, Mining Engineering

Tools

RocData (RocScience)

Dips (RocScience)

Unwedge (RocScience)

Leapfrog

IMS

mXrap

Deswik

Job description

Rio Tinto seeks an Underground Geotechnical Engineer for the Kennecott Underground team near Salt Lake City, Utah. You will support safe, efficient, and sustainable operation of a premier underground copper mine.

You will work with rock mechanics, geotechnical risk management, and ground support design, gaining exposure to instrumentation, monitoring, and stope performance assessments to influence operational decisions.