Sr Engineer

Senior Strategic Planning Engineer

• Opportunity to develop your career and work for a global company
• Contribute to the success of Rio Tinto by applying your technical and professional expertise.
• Join a company with a world class reputation for safety and a culture that supports inclusion and diversity –Boron, CA
• For California based roles the expected salary is $125,440-$172,480

About the role

We are looking for a Senior Strategic Planning Engineer This position will provide technical and strategic leadership in the development of long-range mine plans and business strategies that maximize the economic value of mining assets while ensuring safe, sustainable, and efficient operations. The role serves as a critical link between technical planning and business execution, supporting informed decision-making and long-term operational success.

The Senior Strategic Planning Engineer is responsible for developing, maintaining, and optimizing long-range mine plans that support the organization's strategic, operational, and financial objectives. This role provides technical leadership in life-of-mine (LOM) planning, resource utilization, reserve optimization, capital planning, and strategic project evaluation. The position works closely with geology, operations, process engineering, finance, environmental, and commercial teams to ensure sustainable and economically optimized extraction of mineral resources.

The Senior Strategic Planning Engineer serves as a key technical advisor to management by delivering robust mine plans, economic analyses, and strategic recommendations that support business growth, operational excellence, and long-term value creation.

Key Responsibilities

Safety Environment

• Compliance with safety standards, complete weekly safety observations, CRM activities, attend safety meetings, be proactive in all safety issues, and carry out housekeeping inspections

Strategic Mine Planning

• Develop and maintain Life-of-Mine (LOM) plans aligned with business strategy and business 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 expansion, pushbacks, and capital investment strategies.

Technical Analysis and Optimization

• Conduct scenario analysis, trade-off studies, and sensitivity evaluations to support 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.

Economic Evaluation

• Perform economic analysis 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 processes.
• Provide recommendations based on financial and operational impacts.

Stakeholder Collaboration

• 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 support.
• Coordinate with consultants and external stakeholders as required.

Leadership and Mentoring

• Provide technical leadership to mine planning engineers and other technical personnel.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to workforce development.
• Establish and promote planning standards, best practices, and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Lead cross-functional teams on strategic projects and studies.

Reporting and Governance

• 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.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in mining engineering or related engineering discipline required.

Experience

• Minimum 8–10 years of progressive mining engineering experience.
• Extensive experience in strategic mine planning and life-of-mine planning.
• Experience in open-pit mining operations is