Technical Services Manager

The Opportunity

A well established underground mining operation is seeking an experienced Technical Services Manager to lead and integrate all technical functions across the mine. This is a critical leadership role responsible for ensuring the safe, efficient and sustainable delivery of production through strong technical governance, effective planning and the successful integration of backfill systems.

Reporting as part of the site leadership team, the successful candidate will provide oversight across Mine Planning, Geology, Survey, Geotechnical and Backfill functions, ensuring all technical disciplines are aligned with operational objectives and long term mine strategy.

This role is suited to an individual who combines strong underground technical expertise with excellent leadership capability. The organisation is seeking someone who can build high performing teams, drive accountability, strengthen collaboration between departments and improve the overall effectiveness of the technical services function.

A major focus of the position will be ensuring technical planning translates into practical operational outcomes, while maintaining high standards of safety, ground control, production performance and resource recovery.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and coordinate all technical services functions, including Mine Planning, Geology, Survey, Geotechnical and Backfill.
• Develop and maintain integrated short, medium and long term mine plans aligned with operational and strategic objectives.
• Provide technical leadership, guidance and mentoring to multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Oversee the design, scheduling and performance of underground backfill systems.
• Ensure backfill strategies are effectively integrated into production schedules and stope sequencing.
• Drive improvements in backfill quality control, material handling and system reliability.
• Support daily and weekly production reviews through clear technical analysis and recommendations.
• Optimise ore extraction, dilution control and stope recovery performance.
• Identify and implement productivity, efficiency and cost improvement initiatives.
• Work closely with Operations, Maintenance and Processing teams to ensure alignment between technical plans and operational execution.
• Ensure compliance with mine design standards, ground control requirements and statutory obligations.
• Oversee preparation of technical reports, mine plans, reconciliations and regulatory submissions.
• Maintain strong safety, environmental and geotechnical standards across all technical activities.

What Success Looks Like

• During the first 12 months, the successful candidate will be expected to:
• Strengthen integration across all technical service disciplines.
• Improve the quality, accuracy and execution of mine planning processes.
• Enhance collaboration between technical and operational teams.
• Deliver measurable improvements in production performance, dilution control and ore recovery.
• Improve the reliability and effectiveness of the underground backfill system.
• Strengthen technical governance and compliance across the operation.
• Develop capability within the technical services team through mentoring and coaching.
• Drive a culture of accountability, ownership and technical excellence.
• Support the operation's long term planning objectives while ensuring day to day production requirements are consistently achieved.

Leadership Profile

• The ideal candidate will demonstrate:
• Strong underground mining technical expertise combined with effective people leadership.
• A collaborative management style capable of bringing multiple technical disciplines together.
• Excellent coaching and mentoring capability.
• Strong problem solving and decision making skills in a production focused environment.
• The ability to influence operational outcomes through practical technical solutions.
• A visible leadership style that encourages accountability and continuous improvement.
• The capability to build strong working relationships across technical and operational teams.

Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Mining Engineering or a related discipline.
• Postgraduate qualifications would be advantageous.
• Minimum 10 years of underground mining experience.
• At least 5 years in a senior technical or production leadership position.
• Strong experience in underground backfill system design, operation and integration.
• Proven expertise in production engineering, stope design and mine scheduling.
• Experience working within mechanised underground mining environments.
• Demonstrated success leading multidisciplinary technical teams.
• Strong understanding of mine planning and scheduling software such as Deswik, Vulcan or equivalent platforms.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management and leadership skills.
• A strong commitment to safety, continuous improvement and operational excellence.

Why This Opportunity?

This role offers the opportunity to lead the complete technical services function within an established underground mining operation. The successful candidate will have significant influence over mine planning, technical performance, operational integration and future mine development.

Success will be measured through improvements in technical performance, production outcomes, backfill effectiveness, team capability and operational alignment. The position provides substantial scope for leadership impact, technical influence and long term career progression.