Senior Corporate Counsel

Join Resolution Copper at a pivotal moment following the successful completion of a long-awaited federal land exchange and major legal milestone, enabling the project to advance into its next phase of development. Contribute to a critical materials project that supports U.S. domestic supply chains and the global energy transition through copper development. Work in-house in Arizona as part of a team finding better ways to provide materials the world needs, now and in the future.

About the Role

We are looking for a Senior Corporate Counsel to help lead and coordinate the provision of legal support to Resolution Copper, a Rio Tinto-controlled joint venture with BHP that is simultaneously studying, developing, and permitting the Resolution Copper Mine near Superior, Arizona. This role offers a great opportunity for a seasoned, strategic, and commercially minded legal professional to provide legal advice for Resolution Copper, working with direct and substantial interaction with business clients and cross-functional stakeholders.

Reporting to the Chief Counsel, Copper, Americas, you will work in a collaborative, complex, and commercially focused in-house environment within the Rio Tinto Legal function supporting Resolution Copper. Key responsibilities include:

• Providing strategic and commercially pragmatic legal advice and support, including managing legal risks, setting legal parameters for strategic business objectives, and guiding compliance and reputational issues.
• Maintaining awareness of material internal business and external legal developments that may require legal advice.
• Drafting and negotiating various legal documents.
• Assessing the most appropriate means of providing legal advice based on business risk, opportunity, and resource availability.
• Assisting with the development and maintenance of external stakeholder relationships.
• Providing direct support for operational and business matters, including litigation, commercial, environmental compliance and permitting, communities, land use, regulatory issues, and compliance.
• Delivering legal training for executives and relevant Rio Tinto and Resolution Copper employees.
• Liaising, developing, and maintaining close working relationships with operations personnel, Rio Tinto Legal members, and Rio Tinto’s business units and functions to promote collaboration and information sharing.

Requirements

• A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team.
• Networking skills to develop relationships and collaborative approaches with other business functions and subject matter experts.
• Significant experience in either (1) industrial operations or the natural resources sector; or (2) administrative or regulatory counseling and litigation for industrial clients.
• Strong permitting experience, including permitting for large, complex infrastructure or natural resource projects such as mines, pipelines, powerlines, mining operations, oil & gas developments, or similar large-scale developments, with the ability to navigate multi-jurisdictional regulatory frameworks and stakeholder environments.
• Demonstrated leadership of legal or business teams or the potential to lead legal teams.
• A minimum of 10+ years of experience post-qualification with a law firm or in-house, as well as a minimum of 2+ years’ experience in-house.
• A license to practice law in Arizona, or the ability to obtain a license via examination, admission on motion, or as licensed house counsel within one year of commencement of employment.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary reflective of skills and experience, with an annual incentive bonus.
• Top-tier family-friendly health programs, including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life insurance coverage, and various voluntary benefits.
• Excellent retirement plan including up to 6% defined company contribution and a generous 401k matching program.
• Attractive share ownership plan.
• Comprehensive leave policies covering PTO (paid time off), paid holidays, and paid bereavement leave.
• Generous parental leave policy.
• Discount programs for leisure purposes and access to Virgin Pulse with incentives supporting wellbeing.
• Access to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP), providing confidential counseling or expert guidance for you and your family.

About the Project

Once in operation, Resolution Copper has the potential to supply nearly 25% of U.S. copper demand and create several thousand direct and indirect jobs in the Pioneer Mining District of Arizona, with an economic value estimated at several billion dollars over the mine life. The project will rely on a block caving technique to extract the deposit that lies more than 2,000 meters below the surface, using gravity to remove the ore as the most viable method to recover the resource.

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company operating in 35 countries. We produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals, and other materials essential for the global energy transition and for communities and nations to thrive. With 150 years of mining experience, our purpose is finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs, striving for innovation and continuous improvement to produce materials with low emissions and to high environmental, social, and governance standards. We focus on creating partnerships to solve problems and meet opportunities.