Operations Manager

The Opportunity

A major long life copper and gold mining operation is seeking an experienced Operations Manager / Head of Operations to join its senior leadership team.

This role represents a significant leadership opportunity for an individual who thrives in complex operating environments and enjoys building high performing teams. The successful candidate will be responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership across Mining, Processing and Maintenance while helping drive the next phase of operational improvement, cultural development and long term growth.

Reporting directly to the General Manager, this individual will play a critical role in ensuring the safe, efficient and cost effective delivery of site objectives. They will also act as the senior site leader when required, providing continuity of leadership and decision making across the operation.

The position is particularly suited to a leader who places people before technical expertise. While strong operational capability is essential, the organisation is seeking someone who can build trust, create accountability, develop future leaders and establish a culture of ownership across the workforce.

A key focus of the role will be supporting the operation's continued improvement journey by strengthening collaboration between departments, enhancing operational discipline and delivering measurable improvements in performance, reliability and consistency.

This is not simply a maintenance role. The successful candidate will be expected to lead meaningful change, challenge existing practices where required and help position the operation for its next phase of growth and development.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide leadership across Mining, Processing and Maintenance functions.
• Deliver safe, reliable and cost effective operational performance.
• Drive operational excellence initiatives focused on productivity, reliability and asset utilisation.
• Foster a culture of accountability, ownership, teamwork and continuous improvement.
• Develop and mentor operational leaders while strengthening succession planning initiatives.
• Ensure effective integration between Mining, Processing, Maintenance and Technical Services teams.
• Maintain strong safety and risk management standards across the operation.
• Oversee maintenance and reliability strategies to maximise equipment availability.
• Manage operational budgets, forecasts and cost control initiatives.
• Lead operational and capital projects within approved scope, schedule and budget.
• Support long term planning, optimisation and future growth initiatives.

What Success Looks Like

• During the first 12 months, the successful candidate will be expected to:
• Stabilise and improve operational performance across a large scale open pit mining operation.
• Drive a stronger culture of accountability, ownership and leadership.
• Build workforce trust and engagement while maintaining strong safety performance.
• Improve communication and alignment between operational departments.
• Deliver measurable improvements in reliability, productivity and production consistency.
• Support the General Manager in strengthening overall site performance.
• Provide visible and approachable leadership across the operation.
• Identify and develop future leaders through coaching and mentoring.
• Contribute to long term growth, optimisation and mine life extension initiatives.
• Help position the operation for sustained future success.

Leadership Profile

• The ideal candidate will demonstrate:
• Strong people leadership capability.
• Experience leading operational turnarounds or performance improvement programs.
• A track record of driving accountability and cultural change.
• Excellent coaching and mentoring skills.
• A visible leadership style with strong site presence.
• The ability to influence and align cross functional teams.
• Potential to progress into broader senior operational leadership roles in the future.

Experience & Qualifications

• Degree qualified in Mining Engineering, Mineral Processing or a related discipline.
• Minimum 15 years of mining industry experience.
• At least 10 years of leadership experience within large scale mining operations.
• Demonstrated success managing complex operations with accountability for safety, production and financial performance.
• Strong commercial and financial acumen.
• Proven ability to lead large multidisciplinary teams.
• Experience delivering operational improvement, turnaround or transformation initiatives would be highly regarded.

Why This Opportunity?

This role offers the opportunity to make a genuine impact within a large scale mining operation that has significant remaining mine life and a strong future growth outlook.

Success will be measured through safety performance, operational stability, workforce engagement and sustainable production outcomes. The position provides substantial scope for leadership influence, operational improvement and long term career progression.