Area Manager Hot Metals-24 Month Fixed Term Contract

About BHP

At BHP we support our people to grow, learn, develop their skills and reach their potential. With a global portfolio of operations, we offer a diverse and inclusive environment with extraordinary career opportunities. Our strategy is to focus on creating a safe work environment where our employees feel strongly connected to our values and objectives, and where the capability of our people is key to our success.

Come and be a part of this success.

The Role:

The Hot Metals Area Manager provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for the execution of hot metals-related project scopes, including smelters, furnaces, converters, and casting facilities. The successful candidate will be accountable for delivering outcomes within defined scope, schedule, quality, and budget parameters, while proactively identifying and managing Health, Safety, and Environmental (HSE) risks associated with high-temperature metallurgical processes.

The Hot Metals Area Manager ensures technical excellence, fosters cross-functional collaboration, and drives performance across engineering, construction, and commissioning phases of smelting and refining infrastructure.

This role with involve:

• Accountable to the Project Manager for overall area safety outcomes, scope, strategy, cost, schedule, and plant ramp-up performance.
• Provides single point accountability for Hot Metals execution from engineering, contract formation, through execution and plant ramp-up.
• Cascades a meaningful purpose and vision for SCM27 while connecting project initiatives into near-term targets and priorities for the hot metals team.
• Formation of hot metals contracts, verification of contractor capability and mobilisation to Olympic Dam.
• Leads the safe and efficient execution of hot metals scope and infrastructure within the broader SCM27 project. Integrates with key stakeholders and project partners to ensure critical path progresses without interruption.
• Manages interface between construction, engineering and commissioning during execution for the rapid resolution of discovery scope and other hurdles expected in a brownfield shutdown.
• Oversee delivery of area-specific scope, schedule, cost, and quality targets in alignment with the Project Execution Strategy (PES).
• Integrate engineering, procurement, and construction inputs across hot metals packages to ensure seamless execution and value preservation.
• Proactively identify and resolve technical and execution challenges to maintain momentum and minimise delays.
• Monitor progress and performance of contractors and internal teams, ensuring deviations are addressed and communicated effectively.
• Ensure compliance with internal governance and external regulations, demonstrating alignment to the SCM'27 Project requirements.
• Leads area-specific risk identification and mitigation, particularly related to high-temperature operations and metallurgical processes.
• Maintain strong engagement with stakeholders, ensuring alignment through clear and timely communication.
• Implement and continuously improve execution strategies, systems, and plans for hot metals delivery.
• Own the area delivery strategy and collaborate with the broader project team to manage trade-offs and optimise outcomes.
• Develops and mentors technical talent within the hot metals area, building a strong pipeline for future leadership roles.
• Develops and maintain a healthy, collaborative relationship with Construction Management, Project Services, Operations Integration, and Commercial teams as the end customer of functional services.
• Leadership of metallurgical or hot metals infrastructure in large-scale brownfield shutdowns or major capital projects.
• Experience managing high-temperature process equipment and associated risks.
• Proven success in integrating engineering, construction, and commissioning inputs.
• Strong stakeholder engagement across operations, projects, and delivery partners.
• Familiarity with smelter operations, furnace systems, and metallurgical commissioning.

About you:

• Tertiary qualification in Engineering (Metallurgical, Mechanical, or Process) or related discipline is preferred.
• Certification in Project or Construction Management.
• Accreditation equivalent to RPEQ, PMP, or similar.
• Strategic area leadership, execution planning, setting and cascading meaningful targets and solving problems at root cause.
• Demonstrated leader and champion of safe work practices.
• Clear record of safety focused leadership.
• Demonstrated capability and knowledge of contract management, including cost and schedule monitoring, claims management and contractor selection.
• Technical expertise in hot metals infrastructure and processes.
• Risk and quality management in high-temperature environments.
• Advanced stakeholder engagement, communication and interpersonal skills.
• Experience in engineering, procurement and construction and other project-related activities, their interfaces and interdependence.
• Team development, coaching, and performance management.
• Strong alignment to BHP values and SCM Team Core Principles.
• Ability to lead through ambiguity and drive clarity in high-stakes environments.

About Our Process

At BHP, we are committed to employing individuals who align with the BHP Charter Values and meet the requirements of the role. As part of the recruitment process, there are a number of checks which may be conducted to demonstrate applicants suitability for a role including police / criminal background checks, medical, drug and alcohol testing, due diligence checks, right to work checks, and/or reference checks.

If you are already employed directly by BHP, please log in using your BHP email address or apply via our internal jobs portal.

Supporting a Diverse Workforce

The size, stability and magnitude of our business not only provides significant opportunity for professional development, but also attractive salary packages with performance-based bonuses and a best-in-class employee share program. We know there are many aspects of our employees' lives that are important, and work is only one of these, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits include flexible working options, a generous paid parental leave policy, other extended leave entitlements and parent rooms.

At BHP, we know that we are strengthened by diversity. We are an Equal Opportunity employer that is committed to making BHP a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and be at their best every day. We are focused on creating a workforce that's more diverse and represents the communities where we work and live. providing a work environment in which everyone is included, treated fairly and with respect. We are an Equal Opportunity employer and recognise that true diversity includes gender, age, race, disability status, sexual orientation, religion, neurodiversity, education levels, and many more aspects of your identity.

BHP is committed to providing a recruitment process that is fair, equitable and accessible for all. If you have a disability, we know that it may be helpful for us to adjust our process to make it equitable for your individual situation. If you would like to reach out to someone about your situation and our recruitment process, please email us