Principal Engineer Mechanical | Adelaide Office | Monday

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Principal Engineer Mechanical | Adelaide Office | Monday - Friday Roster

Date: 23 Sept 2026

Job Posting End Date:

Job Country: Australia

Job State/Province: South Australia

About Copper SA Operations at BHP

BHP is a global resources company operating across more than 90 locations worldwide, with a purpose to improve lives and support a more sustainable future. Through Copper South Australia (Copper SA), we are building a leading copper portfolio that supports the global energy transition, supplying materials essential for renewable energy, electric vehicles and digital infrastructure. For you, this is an exciting opportunity to grow your career, make a meaningful impact, and help shape the future of one of Australia's leading copper businesses.

We currently have a vacancy for aPrincipal Engineer Mechanical, reporting to the Superintendent Engineering (Mechanical & Civil/Structural). Based in Adelaide, this role provides technical leadership across Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill, supporting one of Australia's largest and most diverse fixed plant asset portfolios.

The Challenge

As Principal Engineer Mechanical, you will be the highest-level mechanical technical authority within Copper SA Engineering. This is a critical leadership role for an experienced engineering professional who thrives on solving complex challenges, influencing strategic decisions, and ensuring the safe and reliable performance of business-critical assets.

You will help shape the technical direction of mechanical engineering across our operations, providing expert guidance on asset integrity, reliability, engineering governance and risk management. Your expertise will support assets where equipment performance is essential to operational continuity and safety, spanning mining, processing, smelting and infrastructure environments.

Working closely with operational, maintenance, project and engineering teams, you will bring a practical and evidence-based approach to decision-making, ensuring engineering solutions deliver long‑term value while maintaining alignment with BHP's standards and commitment to safe production.

What You'll Bring to the Role

You are an accomplished mechanical engineering professional with extensive experience in complex industrial environments. You are comfortable providing technical leadership, influencing senior stakeholders, and making decisions grounded in engineering principles, standards and data.

To be successful, you will bring:

• A Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Chartered Professional Engineer (CPEng) status with Engineers Australia, or eligibility to obtain it.
• Significant experience across mining, minerals processing, smelting, heavy industry or similar operating environments.
• Deep expertise in fixed plant mechanical systems, including conveyors, crushers, mills, pumps, rotating equipment, slurry systems, pressure equipment and bulk materials handling infrastructure.
• Strong knowledge of relevant Australian and international engineering codes and standards, together with sound engineering judgement.
• Demonstrated experience in asset integrity management, inspection programs, fitness‑for‑service assessments and remaining‑life evaluation.
• Proven capability leading complex failure investigations and implementing sustainable corrective actions.
• Experience developing engineering standards, technical specifications and scopes for maintenance shutdowns and capital projects.
• Exceptional stakeholder engagement skills with the ability to influence leaders, specialists, project teams and operational stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

In this role, you will:

• Provide technical leadership and governance for mechanical engineering across Copper SA operations, including Olympic Dam, Carrapateena and Prominent Hill.
• Approve engineering designs, technical deviations and fitness‑for‑service assessments for critical assets.
• Lead the ongoing development and uplift of mechanical engineering standards, specifications and governance frameworks aligned with BHP and industry requirements.
• Drive mechanical asset integrity programs, including criticality assessments, inspection strategies, condition monitoring and remaining‑life assessments.
• Lead or provide expert support to major incident investigations and root cause analyses, ensuring lessons learned are translated int