Oyu Tolgoi’s workforce today is more than 97 per cent Mongolian, and a major strategic focus for the company is to develop a skilled workforce that is continuously learning. We aim to attract the best talent, so that we can together deliver a safe and globally competitive copper business that contributes to the prosperity of Mongolia.
Oyu Tolgoi LLC is operating a copper-gold mine in southern territory of Mongolia. The company aspires a vision ‘Natural wealth to enduring value, knowledge, and skill’, and pursues a mission, 'Together deliver a safe and globally competitive copper business that contributes to the prosperity of Mongolia' to build one of the largest copper-gold mines worldwide.
Principal Advisor Mine Development
- Excellent opportunity to be part of a world-class underground mining project
- Great exposure and development opportunities within the Owner’s team
- Collaborative and high performing environment at an exciting location
About the role
We are looking for a Principal Advisor Mine Development (Manager level role) to join our diverse team. This is a key role within the Owner’s team with the responsibility for growing a diverse and capable team to continue the lateral and mass excavation development ramp up activities.
A great opportunity to use your skills and experience in UG mine production activities to deliver the systems of work and resources required to meet the required cave production outputs. The role is responsible for both steady state production draw, secondary breaking activities and haulage level operations of existing production panels, as well as the expansion of the cave footprint with the construction of future production panels.
Working 5 days on/ 2 days off based in Ulaanbaatar and FIFO to site roster, or with the option of 4 weeks on/ 2 weeks off international FIFO arrangement and reporting to Manager Production, you will:
- Provide coaching, training, and mentoring to mining engineers and project engineers, ensuring capability development, knowledge transfer, and succession planning for future leadership roles.
- Conduct talent assessments and performance appraisals to foster a pipeline of skilled mining engineers ready to take ownership of technical and operational responsibilities.
- Serve as the designated alternate manager for Mine Development, ensuring continuity of leadership and strategic oversight.
- Establish clear frameworks for contractor accountability, ensuring compliance with safety, quality, and performance standards.
- Champion a proactive safety culture by enforcing rigorous incident investigation, corrective action management, and risk mitigation strategies.
- Align contractor activities with organizational objectives, ensuring productivity, cost efficiency, and schedule adherence are achieved collaboratively.
- Partner with the Business Improvement team to identify, evaluate, and implement initiatives that enhance productivity, accelerate schedules, reduce costs, and improve safety outcomes.
What you’ll bring
- 15+ years’ experience in underground mines managing development, production, and rehabilitation activities.
- Strong background in Mine Engineering with proven technical expertise in underground mine design, planning, and operations.
- Extensive experience in Contractor Management, including oversight of contractor workforce, governance, compliance, and performance accountability.
- High-speed lateral and mass excavation development experience highly regarded.
- Demonstrated ability to work as part of an integrated delivery team.
- Quality assurance and continuous improvement skills.
- Ability to work autonomously within a highly complex project delivery environment.
- Strong communication skills with proven ability to engage and build relationships across multiple layers of the organization, from management to front-line leaders and shop floor.
- Strong organizational skills with the ability to effectively prioritize tasks and work both independently and as part of a team.
- Commitment to being part of a high-performance team dedicated to continuous improvement.
- Experience in the facilitation and implementation of improvement programs.
It will also be beneficial if you have:
- Experience working and living in developing countries with strong cultural awareness and familiarity with capability development of a National workforce
About us
- Joining the Rio Tinto Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project team is a great opportunity to be part of one of the most exciting developments in copper and gold mining for several decades. The mine contains reserves and resources that make it one of the world’s largest copper-gold deposits.
- This mega project is expected to be a major contributor to Mongolia’s development. As part of the Rio Tinto Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project team, you have the ability to contribute to something significant and learn and develop both personally and professionally. We offer a collaborative, high performing environment where success is achieved by working together.
Discover more about Mongolia and Oyu Tolgoi
- Mongolia is increasingly becoming a destination for tourism and expatriate residents. As a rapidly developing city, Mongolia's capital Ulaanbaatar is seen as a comfortable, yet exciting place to live. With an array of cultural and social activities available and a growing network of international schools, housing options, and leisure facilities, its home to a growing community of international expatriates.
- Located in the South Gobi Desert, just 80 kilometres from the Chinese border, the Oyu Tolgoi open pit mine and camp is a large, well-run and comfortable site with multiple amenities including recreational and sports facilities, a cinema, shops, restaurants and bars catered to a growing community. For more information about OT site, please check out this video.
- Where you’ll be working
- Oyu Tolgoi is an operating Copper / Gold open pit mine with a brownfields underground mining project. The site is located in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia. The reserves case for the underground project is in the order of 0.5 billion tonnes of ore to be mined from the 95,000 tonnes per day Hugo North Lift 1 (HNL1) panel cave mine with a 20-year operations life. There is also the potential for 3 further block cave districts to increase mine life beyond 100 years.
Every Voice Matters
- At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, women, the LGBTQIA+ 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.
Job application closes on Jun 22, 2026
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Respect and Inclusion
At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Indigenous Peoples, women, the LGBTQIA+ 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.
