Chief Mining Engineer

Position Overview:

The Chief Engineer is responsible for leading mine engineering, planning, and technical governance for a large-scale open-pit operation. This role oversees the development and execution of short-, medium-, and long-range mine plans aligned with the Life of Mine (LoM) strategy, annual budgets, production targets, and ore-delivery requirements. The position provides technical leadership to the mine engineering team and supports the advancement of a digitally enabled, autonomous mining environment through integrated planning, data-driven decision-making, and cross-functional collaboration.

Job Responsibilities:

·       Mine Planning

o   Lead the development and execution of mid- and short-term mine plans.

o   Oversee sequencing, haulage, equipment requirements, stockpiles, waste placement, and drill-and-blast planning.

o   Review forecasts and mine-to-plan performance, identifying risks and corrective actions.

o   Ensure plans are practical, aligned with production requirements, and clearly communicated.

·       Team Leadership

o   Lead and develop five direct reports within a broader technical team of eleven.

o   Direct Senior Mine Engineers and Mine Engineers responsible for short-range planning.

o   Set priorities and performance expectations while supporting employee development and succession planning.

·       Survey and Drill-and-Blast

o   Oversee survey and drill-and-blast functions, ensuring accurate and timely planning inputs.

o   Coordinate activities with operations, geology, and other technical teams.

o   Monitor performance and improve safety, productivity, fragmentation, and cost.

·       Cross-Functional Collaboration

o   Partner with operations, geology, processing, maintenance, hydrogeology, and other site teams.

o   Incorporate dewatering and other technical requirements into mine plans.

o   Communicate plans, risks, and changes to support coordinated operational execution.

·       Systems, Improvement, and Compliance

o   Maintain effective planning standards, data, documentation, and approval processes.

o   Optimize the use of Vulcan, MinePlan, operational data, and related planning systems.

o   Support autonomous and digitally enabled mining initiatives.

o   Ensure engineering, survey, and drill-and-blast activities comply with MSHA, regulatory, and company requirements.

Qualifications:

·       Bachelor’s degree in Mining Engineering or a related discipline.

·       8+ years of progressive experience in an open-pit hard-rock mining environment; gold or copper experience is applicable.

·       Minimum 3-5 years of experience leading mine engineer or technical services teams.

·       Strong experience developing and executing mid- and short-term mine plans.

·       Demonstrated leadership and people-management experience.

·       Experience overseeing or coordinating survey and drill-and-blast functions.

·       Proficiency with Vulcan and MinePlan is required.

·       Strong cross-department relationship-building and communication skills.

·       Experience with dewatering programs is preferred.

·       Experience in an autonomous or digitally enabled mining environment is preferred.

·       Strong analytical, problem-solving, organizational, and decision-making skills.

·       Professional Engineer registration or eligibility for registration is preferred.