Principal Project Lead – Operational Integration

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At Rio Tinto, we welcome and encourage applications from women, older workers, persons with disabilities and representatives from diverse backgrounds.
Everyone is different, and we believe that these differences are our strength. The diversity of skills, life experiences, and perspectives within our team enhances the way we work and our ability to succeed together.

About the role:

Simandou is transitioning from major project delivery into a large-scale operating environment. As we make that transition, Operations is establishing a portfolio of initiatives to safely ramp up the operation, strengthen our operating capability and build the systems required for sustainable performance.

We are looking for a Principal Project Lead – Operational Integration to work alongside the General Manager Operations and Operations leadership team to bring these initiatives together and turn our priorities into execution.

This is not a traditional project management role.

The role is about seeing across the whole operating system, understanding where initiatives and functions intersect, identifying what could prevent delivery, and helping leaders maintain focus on the things that matter most.

You will act as a central point of integration across Mining, Fixed Plant, Maintenance, Technical and supporting functions including Safety, HR, Supply Chain and Finance.

You will help us translate operational strategy into an integrated portfolio of work with clear priorities, ownership, milestones and outcomes.

Key accountabilities will include:

• Coordinate and integrate the portfolio of strategic and operational initiatives across the whole of Simfer value chain.

• Translate business strategy and priorities into practical execution roadmaps.

• Establish clear governance, ownership, milestones and reporting across the initiative portfolio.

• Identify dependencies, resource conflicts, risks and opportunities across different workstreams and facilitate their resolution.

• Work with operational and functional leaders to ensure initiatives remain aligned to the highest-value business priorities.

• Develop simple and effective portfolio dashboards that provide visibility of progress, risks, decisions and required interventions.

• Facilitate structured portfolio and project reviews with the Senior leadership team.

• Track actions and commitments through to completion and strengthen execution discipline across Simfer.

• Support leaders to prioritise initiatives where resources or organisational capacity are constrained.

• Coordinate cross-functional initiatives requiring input from Operations, Technical, Maintenance, Safety, HR, Supply Chain, Finance and other functions.

• Track whether initiatives are delivering their intended operational outcomes and benefits.

• Support change and implementation of new processes, systems and ways of working as the operation matures.

What you will bring:

We are looking for someone who can bring structure to complexity and turn strategy into execution.

You may come from engineering, transformation, business improvement, strategy, analytics or management consulting.

Direct mining and operational experience will be highly regarded, but equally important is your ability to understand a complex operating environment, work across organisational boundaries and influence senior leaders without relying on formal authority.

You will ideally bring:

• Experience coordinating complex, cross-functional projects, transformation programs or operational initiatives.

• Strong structured problem-solving and analytical capability.

• Experience with Rio Tinto operating systems.

• Experience establishing governance, performance reporting, dashboards and execution routines.

• Strong understanding of how operational, technical and functional teams need to work together to deliver outcomes.

• The ability to identify interdependencies and see problems across the whole system rather than through a single functional lens.

• Strong stakeholder management and the confidence to work directly with senior operational and functional leaders.

• A bias toward execution and an ability to follow commitments through to completion.

• Experience in mining, resources, heavy industry or another complex operational environment would be highly regarded.

• A relevant engineering, business, or related tertiary qualification.

• Fluency in French and English

This role provides an opportunity to work at the centre of one of the world's most significant new mining operations as it transitions from project development into operations and ramps toward full production.

You will have visibility across the entire Operations portfolio and work directly with senior leaders to help shape priorities, resolve constraints and turn strategy into practical execution.

We are looking for someone who is curious, analytical and comfortable with ambiguity, but who also understands that good strategy only creates value when it is executed.

For the right person, this is an opportunity to develop a broad understanding of how a complex mining operation works while making a tangible contribution to how Simandou builds its operating capability for the future.

What we offer

Get recognition for your contributions, your ability to think, your hard work, and the satisfaction of knowing that you have helped the world move forward.

• Work environment where safety is always the top priority
• Competitive base salary based on your skills and experience
• Annual cash incentives for eligible employees
• Career development opportunities and training assistance to achieve your aspirations • Access to family-friendly health programs, top-notch retirement and savings plans
• Wellness benefits
• Rio Tinto's generous employee stock ownership plan
• Employee Assistance Program
• One-on-one wellness support (personal and professional matters) for you and your family
• Comprehensive leave policy covering all important life moments (vacation/annual, paid parental leave, etc.)  
   

About the Simandou Project
The Simandou Iron Ore Project is located in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. It is Africa’s largest infrastructure and mining project and represents one of the largest known reserves of high-grade iron ore in the world.

Rio Tinto holds rights to Simandou Blocks 3 and 4 through SimFer, a joint venture between the Government of the Republic of Guinea, Rio Tinto and Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH). Construction of the mine, together with the associated rail and port infrastructure, is well underway with first production from the SimFer mine expected in 2025.
About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a global leader in the mining and materials companies. We are established in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminum, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and the prosperity of people, communities, and nations. We have been in business for 150 years, drawing on knowledge accumulated over generations and on different continents. Our mission – to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs – guides us in our quest for innovation and continuous improvement, with the goal of making products that are low in emissions and meet the right environmental, social and governance standards. But because we can't do it alone, we focus on creating partnerships that allow us to solve problems, create mutually beneficial situations and seize opportunities.