Employees walking at Dampier Ports

Why work at Rio Tinto

Come grow your career with us

From underground miners to data scientists, we want you to bring your hard work, dedication and outside-the-box thinking here. At Rio Tinto, you can have a challenging, flexible and rewarding career that takes you exactly where you want to go.

Harry and Brad, Weipa

Born to be wild

Harry, Weipa Environment Team

I’ve always been interested in wildlife and the outdoors. I grew up on a nature reserve in far north Queensland and we used to care for injured wildlife and release them back into the wild once they were healthy.

More

"I knew I wanted to get into wildlife research and management when one time, mum found me down at the back of the garden throwing all my soft animal toys over the fence. When she asked what I was doing I said ‘I’ve rehabilitated them, mum – so I’m releasing them back into the wild’.

"I’ve worked for a few different organisations so far, but the thing that drew me to Rio Tinto was the fact that we’re the ones who get to come up with the programs. I’m the one who thinks up the ways to protect the wildlife in the area, without compromising our site’s profitability, while still maintaining community function, and still meeting Traditional Owners’ values. And that’s always been something I find really interesting. Being able to do the land management and rehabilitation and make a difference not only from a conservation point of view, but also from a community point of view – that’s just massive.”

Harry (left) is part of our Environment team at our Weipa operations in Queensland, Australia.

RioExcel

A career pathway for technical experts

RioExcel is for technical specialists who want to progress their career as an expert in their field.

In many organisations, career progression means taking on responsibility for leading teams. But through our RioExcel programme, we offer our technical specialists an alternative career path – one where they can focus on building and sharing their expertise.

RioExcel is open to all technical experts in our business, and guides career development planning, recognition, and a challenging and rewarding path to progress within our company.

I'm a techie at heart. The opportunity to have a career which allows me to work on interesting technical challenges is what keeps me going.”

- Ralph, RioExpert and Principal Adviser, Process Development, Safety, Technical & Projects

It was motivating for me to reflect on what I have accomplished and to acknowledge the growth and strength in my abilities. Now I'm looking forward to using my role as a RioExpert as another way to mentor others.”

Saskia, RioExpert and Chief Adviser, Research & Development, Copper

Are you a techie at heart?

RioExperts are leaders in their chosen field. An independent panel of experts and senior leaders from across our business assess applications against five strict criteria:

  • Technical expertise
    Do they demonstrate deep technical knowledge and expertise?
  • Commercial and strategic outcomes
    How have their skills contributed to quantifiable commercial or strategic business success?
  • Contributes to community knowledge
    Do they proactively share knowledge across Rio Tinto through participation in forums, communities of practice and active use of knowledge management systems?
  • Professional recognition as a thought leader
    Are they externally recognised experts at the forefront of technical thought leadership in their chosen field?
  • Live our values
    Do they live the Rio Tinto behaviours, values and The way we work?
Joanna

Joanna

I've been with Rio since I was a graduate. I've lived all over the world. And the projects I've worked on have been incredible. But then I was looking for my next challenge - something that would allow me to stay in a technical role though. That's when I read about the RioExcel program - Rio's program for people who are experts in their various fields. 

More

It immediately seemed right up my alley, exactly what I was looking for. But then I started to doubt myself – was I really an expert? I talked to my boss and I asked people involved in the program and they encouraged me to go for it and now here I am. It’s been such an amazing opportunity. The push to think outside of the box, the knowledge sharing, the networking has all been fantastic. Rio is such a huge company, to be able to get to know more people, and to be known as well. It’s such a unique way to connect. I love that sort of thing.”


Joanna is one of our senior geologists, specialising in modelling and resource estimation of copper. She’s also one of our RioExperts, part of RioExcel program for technical specialists who want to build a career as an expert in their field. And as if that wasn’t enough, Joanna was also one of the founders of our North American Geoforums – now in its third year.

I am excited and my achievements in this technical career path have now been formally recognised – it's exciting for my future prospects and for those of my peers."

- Rosalind, RioExpert and Principal Environmental Geochemist, Copper

Every voice matters

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.

We also aim for a diverse workplace – not just because it is good for our business, but because it is the right thing to do. We are not where we want to be on gender diversity, so we have established clear targets to improve the number of women in our organisation, at all levels. We have gender-neutral parental leave in all countries in which we operate and our policy on inclusion and diversity reinforces our expectations around behaviours and personal accountability. We set ambitious goals to increase our diversity year on year.

We are also a Founding Member of the Australian Male Champions of Change, a group established to elevate gender equality.

Meet Nicole, Divisional Secretary & Admin Supervisor, Tom Price
Employees at Richards Bay Minerals

Talent, diversity and inclusion

Creating an environment where everyone feels comfortable being themselves, has the courage to speak up and listens to each other with care and curiosity
Careers at Rio Tinto

Careers

Discover more about life at Rio Tinto