Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Shape your career at Alcoa and become an essential part of our purpose: to turn raw potential into real progress. As a Senior Geotechnical Engineer in the Transformation group, you will provide strategic technical leadership for the operation, maintenance, and closure of impoundments, ensuring alignment with the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM) and Alcoa’s Impoundment Management System (IMS). This role also leads geotechnical initiatives for the Integrated Closure Committee, enhancing global site closure planning and cost estimating.

About the role

You will deliver strategic geotechnical support to Transformation sites for impoundment operations, maintenance, closure planning, and program oversight. The role ensures adherence to GISTM and Alcoa’s IMS while serving as the Geotechnical Engineering Lead for the Integrated Closure Committee to improve global closure planning and Asset Retirement Obligation cost estimating.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic technical input into the development of global policies, standards, and guidelines to ensure cost-effective closure solutions that meet regulatory and Alcoa requirements.
• Perform technical gap assessments of site closure plans, cost estimates, and execution readiness; support development of gap closure plans.
• Review geotechnical studies, investigation reports, seepage analyses, closure designs, monitoring data, QA/QC protocols, and related documents.
• Offer technical guidance to sites on geotechnical investigations, stability analyses, closure works, maintenance, monitoring activities, and risk assessments.
• Interpret monitoring data and recommend modifications to optimize operations and maintenance programs.
• Conduct site visits to support closure plan development, optimize O&M programs, and provide technical support during construction projects.
• Oversee GISTM and IMS program maintenance, ensuring conformance with Alcoa requirements while identifying opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce risk.
• Coordinate internal assurance reviews and external audits related to impoundment management.
• Update technical standards, guidelines, and procedures based on lessons learned, site data, and industry best practices.
• Lead risk assessments and readiness reviews for closure execution.
• Coordinate collection of site data to support internal reporting requirements.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Geotechnical Engineering, Geology, Civil Engineering, or a closely related engineering discipline.
• Master’s degree in Geotechnical Engineering, Geological Engineering, or a similar field preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years’ progressive geotechnical engineering experience in an industrial, mining, process, manufacturing, or similar environment.
• Sound knowledge of internationally recognized tailings management standards and guidelines (e.g., ICMM, ANCOLD, MAC/CDA, GISTM).
• Demonstrated experience in geotechnical aspects of tailings dam closure planning, execution, and monitoring.
• Experience performing geotechnical investigations, slope stability analyses, consolidation modeling, and geotechnical risk assessments.
• Strong verbal and written communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills with the ability to challenge effectively and drive outcomes.
• Strong organizational and time management skills to manage multiple initiatives and aggressive implementation schedules.
• Commitment to safe work practices and risk awareness in design reviews, field evaluations, and site visits.

Professional Engineer (PE) or Professional Geologist (PG) license preferred. Travel requirements up to 15%.