Senior Advisor R&D Mine and Industrial Residues Upcycling

• Be at the forefront of circular technologies for mine and industrial residues by facing technology development and upscaling challenges and realising commercial opportunities
• Opportunity to gain exposure and develop your career in the Rio Tinto Closure team
• Role based in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region in France

About the role

Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.

We are looking for a Senior Advisor R&D Mine and Industrial Residues Upcycling to plan, direct and oversee the execution of a global R&D program encompassing the development, scale-up and adoption of emerging technology solutions for the valorisation and remediation of our stored mine and industrial residues.

This role is a great opportunity for an innovative thinker who enjoys ownership in the way they work and wants to provide step-changes in how we repurpose our mines and industrial plants residues.

Our open, connected global team includes some of the industry’s best and brightest minds. We offer competitive, performance-focused remuneration and a wide range of benefits to reward your contribution. With a global reach, the opportunities to develop and grow your career are broad and exciting.

Reporting to the Manager – Closure Research & Development, and working in a rewarding environment within the global Closure Strategy and Optimisation team, you will:

• Lead, plan and coordinate the upscaling of circular technologies for mine and industrial waste valorisation, including hands-on scoping, development and management of pilot and demonstration-scale test programs and feasibility studies in accordance with the business and regulatory guidelines
• Contribute to building a pipeline of R&D projects (technology development stages), shaping their business cases with due consideration of our IP position, technical and commercial risks and financial and non-financial (ESG) value metrics
• Build partnerships and negotiate agreements with other industry and technology players and/or research organisations to advance the upcycling technologies’ readiness level
• Maintain a working knowledge of the advancements and emerging technologies within your program’s domain

What you’ll bring

• A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team
• Proven experience scoping, planning and leading R&D and technology upscaling projects for minerals and/or materials processing, including laboratory-based and capital-intensive projects for technology and market validation at pilot and demonstration scale.
• Knowledge of potential partners through networks of relevance to industrial and mine waste upcycling/reprocessing
• Tertiary qualifications in engineering/science, preferably chemical and processing, metallurgical or materials
• Demonstrated experience influencing key decision-makers and senior executives in a large, cross-functional environment
• Robust commercial and contractual acumen for the establishment of R&D and intellectual property/technology commercialisation partnerships
• Capacity for divergent thinking combined with an entrepreneurial and venture investment mindset

It will also be beneficial if you have:

• Applied experience in scoping and leading multi-disciplinary front-end loading/feasibility studies for the construction of minerals and/or materials processing facilities. Preferably, such experience would have been acquired in minerals, metals or construction materials producing organisations or with consultants providing engineering and design services for those industries
• Subject matter expertise in materials/minerals processes acquired through PhD studies and/or job exposure (e.g. in thermal, mechanical, electrochemical, hydro/pyro or ionometallurgy processes)

Advanced (full professional) proficiency in French and English is required.

What we offer

Be recognised for your contribution, your thinking and your hard work, and go home knowing you’ve helped the world progress.

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority
• A competitive salary package with annual cash incentive awards for eligible employees
• Career development & education assistance to further your ambitions
• Access top tier family-friendly health and medical programs and pension plan
• Wellbeing benefits
• Generous Rio Tinto employee share program
• Employee Assistance Program
• Ongoing individual wellbeing support for you and your family for personal and professional matter
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave)

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive. We have been mining for almost 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. Our purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs – striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to the right environmental, social and governance standards. But we can’t do it on our own, so we’re focused on creating partnerships to solve problems, create win-win and meet opportunities.

Where you’ll be working

Rio Tinto’s Development and Technology group engages and partner with Rio Tinto businesses across 73 operating sites, 35 countries and 6 continents to help create value, manage risk and innovate for the future, whilst providing range of support and services functions, to ensure technical optimisation, establish and transfer best practices, develop strategies to drive performance improvements, and ensure that technical innovation provides a source of long-term competitive advantage.

Rio Tinto Closure safely transforms Rio Tinto’s end of life mining, processing and infrastructure assets by developing innovative and sustainable solutions to leave a positive closure legacy. We collaborate with all parts of Rio Tinto to focus on maximizing post operational opportunities, de-risking and reducing the scale of closure liabilities and executing existing and near-term closures at optimal cost.

Every Voice Matters

At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, the LGBTI+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.

Applications close on April 20th, 2023 (Rio Tinto reserves the right to remove advertised roles prior to this date).

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