Sr Engineer

Rio Tinto • Boron, CA

1d • $125,440 - $172,480 • Onsite

About The Position

The Senior Strategic Planning Engineer provides technical and strategic leadership in developing long-range mine plans and business strategies to maximize the economic value of mining assets while supporting safe, sustainable, and efficient operations. The position connects technical planning with business execution and helps inform decisions that support long-term operational success.

The role develops, maintains, and optimizes long-range mine plans in support of strategic, operational, and financial objectives. It provides technical leadership in life-of-mine planning, resource utilization, reserve optimization, capital planning, and strategic project evaluation. The engineer works with geology, operations, process engineering, finance, environmental, and commercial teams to support sustainable, economically optimized mineral extraction, and serves as a technical advisor to management through mine plans, economic analyses, and strategic recommendations.

The position is located in Boron, California, at Rio Tinto Borates, a global supplier of industrial minerals and a provider of approximately 30 percent of the world's refined borates.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in mining engineering or a related engineering discipline.
• Minimum 8–10 years of progressive mining engineering experience.
• Extensive experience in strategic mine planning and life-of-mine planning.
• Demonstrated expertise in mine optimization and economic evaluation.
• Proven experience leading technical studies and cross-functional projects.
• Advanced proficiency with mine planning software such as Deswik, Vulcan, Whittle, or RPM Mine Planner.
• Strong knowledge of resource and reserve estimation, mine design and scheduling, economic evaluation, risk analysis, and production planning.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and data analytics tools.
• Strategic thinking and business acumen.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent communication and presentation abilities.
• Ability to influence decisions at multiple organizational levels.
• Project leadership and stakeholder management.

Nice To Haves

• Experience in open-pit mining operations is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Comply with safety standards; complete weekly safety observations and CRM activities; attend safety meetings; proactively address safety issues; and conduct housekeeping inspections.
• Develop and maintain Life-of-Mine plans aligned with business strategy and objectives.
• Optimize pit designs, production schedules, haulage requirements, and mining sequences to maximize asset value.
• Evaluate and recommend strategic opportunities to improve resource recovery, operational efficiency, and project economics.
• Support development of mine expansions, pushbacks, and capital investment strategies.
• Conduct scenario analyses, trade-off studies, and sensitivity evaluations for strategic decision-making.
• Develop and maintain strategic planning models using industry-standard mine planning software.
• Evaluate mining alternatives considering technical, operational, environmental, and economic constraints.
• Identify opportunities to enhance productivity, reduce costs, and improve mine value.
• Perform economic analyses, including NPV, IRR, cash flow forecasting, and project valuation.
• Develop business cases for capital projects and major operational initiatives.
• Support budgeting, forecasting, and long-range business planning.
• Provide recommendations based on financial and operational impacts.
• Collaborate with Mine Operations, Geology, Processing, Environmental, Finance, and Commercial teams.
• Present planning results and strategic recommendations to senior leadership.
• Support regulatory and permitting requirements through technical planning.
• Coordinate with consultants and external stakeholders as required.
• Provide technical leadership to mine planning engineers and other technical personnel; mentor junior engineers and support workforce development.
• Establish and promote planning standards, best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional teams on strategic projects and studies.
• Prepare technical reports, presentations, and executive summaries.
• Maintain planning assumptions, documentation, and planning databases.
• Ensure compliance with company standards, safety requirements, and regulatory obligations.
• Support reserve reporting and technical audits.

Benefits

• Competitive salary package with annual cash incentive awards (STIP) for eligible employees.
• Career development and education assistance.
• Family-friendly health and medical programs.
• Retirement plan.
• Leave policy covering vacation/annual leave, paid parental leave, short-term sick leave, and paid holidays.
• Ongoing individual wellbeing support for employees and their families.
• Rio Tinto employee share program.
• Safety-focused and inclusive working environment.

What This Job Offers

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