About Rio Tinto: Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminum, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive.
We have been mining for 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.
About Rio Tinto Lithium: On 5 March 2025, Rio Tinto completed the acquisition of Arcadium Lithium and combined it with its Rincon asset to form Rio Tinto Lithium, establishing Rio Tinto as a global leader in the supply of energy transition materials and one of the world’s top lithium producers.
Position Summary: The Operational Readiness Regional Manager will ensure smooth project handovers, timely input of operations requirements, adherence to standards, and compliance with HSE policies. The candidate will coordinate tasks across sites, manage relationships with contractors, monitor budgets, and lead readiness programs for facility expansions. Collaboration with various stakeholders and conducting assessments to identify gaps and mitigate risks are essential. The role also includes establishing KPIs, overseeing protocols, promoting best practices, and ensuring regulatory compliance.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
- Guarantee smooth handover between projects and operations in the region
- Ensure proper input and engagement from operations functional experts into project scoping and execution.
- Ensure following of standards and best practices across the region and corporation.
- Coordinate tasks for OR personnel across project sites
- Manage relationships with contractors and vendors
- Monitor expenses and control the budget assigned
- Ensure HSE (health, safety, and environmental) policies are followed by the whole team
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Develop and lead regional operational readiness programs for expansions consisting of new and operating facilities.
- Collaborate with site-level and corporate stakeholders, including Project, Engineering, HR, HSE, IT, Production, Quality, Maintenance, and Supply Chain, to align readiness initiatives.
- Conduct readiness assessments, gap analyses, and risk mitigation planning at each site to ensure consistent standards and practices.
- Establish and track regional readiness KPIs, success criteria, and project milestones across all active initiatives.
- Oversee readiness checklists, operational, and commissioning/startup protocols across sites.
- Lead knowledge-sharing and best practice deployment between facilities to drive consistency and continuous improvement.
- Ensure regional compliance with process safety, environmental, and regulatory requirements.
- Coordinate site-specific and regional training, onboarding, and competency programs to support operational handovers.
- Represent the readiness function in regional leadership meetings and project portfolio review meetings.
- Other job duties as may be assigned from time to time.
Education and Experience:
- Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate Engineering discipline or related scientific field and ten (10) years related experience and familiarity with processes, systems, and terminology in operational readiness, project management, engineering, operations, maintenance, and construction
Knowledge and Skill Requirements:
- Strong analytical and communication skills (both written and verbal).
- Ability to identify, analyze, and solve problems.
- Good understanding of HSE Management System and procedures.
- Good understanding of project execution and operations management.
- Hands-on experience of managing operations
- Strong interpersonal and leadership skills.
- Must be able to lead and coordinate multiple initiatives, understand resource requirements and effectively utilize available resources in order to achieve best possible results within the limitations of the organization and budgets.
- Must possess excellent English and Spanish communications skills, oral and written, which are essential to deal with a variety of internal and external stakeholders.
- Collaborative team-work approach.
- Willingness to travel to remote project sites (~25% travel).
- 10 or more years of project management, operations, or commissioning experience of chemical, power or oil and gas facilities. Operations and commissioning experience is preferable.
- Demonstrate personal HSE and team HSE behaviors at all times and ensure that safety expectations are communicated and maintained.
- Competent/good written and verbal communication skills for interfacing with the project Team.
Safety Requirements: (position and location specific) All employees are expected to carry out their work functions in a healthy and safe manner, to encourage and support safe work practices at all times, and to report and/or rectify any unsafe conditions that may come to their attention immediately.
Physical Demands: (position and location specific) The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is regularly required to sit and talk or hear. The employee is frequently required to walk and use hands to finger, handle, or feel. The employee is occasionally required to stand; climb or balance and taste or smell. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and color vision.
Work Environment: (position and location specific) The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is frequently exposed to toxic or caustic chemicals. The employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions; moving mechanical parts; fumes or airborne particles and outside weather conditions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
Personal Protective Equipment – (position specific) Must wear PPE as required based on job duties or when traveling to locations where PPE is essential.
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
RIO TINTO LITHIUM employs people across a broad range of occupations in locations across the world. We are looking for people to join us in creating, developing, and improving our products, our processes, and our markets. Employees enjoy competitive compensation, a menu of work/life benefits and opportunities to continue developing their skills and building their career.
RIO TINTO LITHIUM is an Equal Opportunity Employer, EEO, AAE, MFDV and supports a drug free workplace.
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