Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Shape your world at Alcoa, where you will 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 impoundment operations, maintenance, and closure, ensuring alignment with the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM) and Alcoa’s Impoundment Management System (IMS). This role also serves as the Geotechnical Engineering Lead for the Integrated Closure Committee, driving initiatives to enhance global site closure planning and Asset Retirement Obligation cost estimating.

About the role

You will deliver strategic geotechnical support to Transformation sites for impoundment operations, maintenance, closure planning, and program oversight. Your work will ensure compliance with GISTM and Alcoa’s IMS while leading geotechnical engineering efforts for the Integrated Closure Committee to improve global closure planning and cost estimation.

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 and associated cost estimates, and support the development of gap closure plans.
• Offer recommendations to optimize geotechnical designs, construction, and monitoring of global closure strategies.
• Conduct risk assessments and readiness reviews for closure execution.
• Review geotechnical studies, reports, seepage analyses, closure designs, monitoring data, QA/QC protocols, and related documents.
• Provide technical guidance to sites on geotechnical investigations, stability analyses, closure works, maintenance, monitoring, and risk assessments.
• Interpret monitoring data and recommend modifications to optimize operations and maintenance programs.
• Support program maintenance for GISTM and IMS, coordinate internal assurance reviews and external audits, and identify opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce risk.
• Update technical standards, guidelines, and procedures based on lessons learned, site data, and industry best practices.
• Coordinate the collection of relevant site data to support internal reporting requirements.
• Perform site visits to support closure plan development, optimize O&M programs, and provide technical support during active construction projects.

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.
• Professional Engineer (PE) or Professional Geologist (PG) license 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 industry 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 when evaluating designs, assessing field conditions, and supporting site visits.

Schedule

Travel requirements up to 15% of the time.