Senior Long Range Ventilation Engineer

South32 Group Operations Pty. Ltd. • Town of Patagonia, AZ

1d • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Long Range Ventilation Engineer provides technical leadership in planning, designing, optimizing, and sustaining underground ventilation systems at the Hermosa Project near Patagonia, Arizona. This senior-level, site-based role develops and implements ventilation strategies that support safe, compliant, and productive mining across short-term, mid-term, and Life-of-Mine planning horizons. As the site's technical authority for underground ventilation, the engineer leads system design, airflow modeling, air quality management, monitoring technologies, and Ventilation on Demand initiatives while driving innovation and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or a related discipline, or equivalent industry experience.
• 7+ years of underground mining experience, ideally with expertise in underground ventilation systems.
• Proficiency with Ventsim and mine planning/design software.
• Strong knowledge of airflow modeling, auxiliary ventilation design, and Ventilation on Demand systems.
• Experience with electrical systems, including power distribution, instrumentation, control systems, and automation.
• Ability to interpret and develop technical drawings, electrical schematics, and engineering documentation.
• Strong project management, QA/QC, contractor management, and vendor coordination skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead projects, influence stakeholders, and collaborate across multiple disciplines.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead development of zone ventilation plans and support 12-month and Life-of-Mine ventilation strategies.
• Maintain and optimize the site ventilation model using underground survey data and Ventsim software.
• Design, evaluate, and improve primary and auxiliary ventilation systems, including fan selection, ducting, regulators, and ventilation control devices.
• Assess future mining sequences and determine ventilation requirements for strategic mine planning.
• Identify opportunities to improve ventilation efficiency, system reliability, and operating costs.
• Serve as technical lead for ventilation monitoring systems, including airflow, pressure, gas, and air quality monitoring technologies.
• Lead planning, deployment, and optimization of Air Quality Sensor networks and associated data systems.
• Support implementation and ongoing enhancement of Ventilation on Demand systems.
• Ensure ventilation instrumentation is calibrated, maintained, and providing reliable operational and regulatory data.
• Analyze ventilation and environmental monitoring data to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Coordinate ventilation surveys, airflow measurement programs, and PQ surveys.
• Provide expert technical guidance to operations, engineering, and site leadership teams.
• Develop and maintain ventilation standards, procedures, and engineering documentation.
• Support regulatory inspections and serve as a technical resource during interactions with MSHA and other regulatory agencies.
• Ensure compliance with applicable regulations, company standards, and industry best practices.
• Lead ventilation-related studies, investigations, and continuous improvement projects.
• Mentor and develop ventilation engineers, technicians, and other technical personnel.
• Manage consultants, contractors, and vendors to ensure work is completed safely and to required technical standards.

Benefits

• Annual short-term incentive bonus recognizing individual performance and overall business success.
• South32 matches employee contributions to retirement savings up to a certain percentage.
• Four weeks of paid time off.
• 12 weeks of fully paid parental leave for primary carers and 2 weeks of fully paid parental leave for secondary carers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior