Senior Geotechnical Engineer

Shape your world at Alcoa—become an essential part of our purpose: to turn raw potential into real progress. Every Alcoan is a work-shaper, team-shaper, idea-shaper, and world-shaper. The Alcoa Transformation group is charged with managing Alcoa’s global environmental liabilities and assets at closed locations and providing technical assistance for operating locations’ waste management needs to meet financial and risk-avoidance goals.

About the role

As Senior Geotechnical Engineer in the Transformation group, you will provide strategic geotechnical support for impoundment operations, maintenance, and closure across Alcoa’s global portfolio. The role ensures adherence to the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM) and Alcoa’s Impoundment Management System (IMS) while serving as the Geotechnical Engineering Lead for the Integrated Closure Committee, driving enhancements to global site-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 and associated cost estimates; support development of gap-closure plans.
• Provide recommendations to optimize geotechnical designs, construction, and monitoring of global closure strategies.
• Conduct risk assessments and readiness reviews for closure execution.
• Perform technical reviews of studies, data, and reports including geotechnical investigation reports, seepage analyses, closure designs, monitoring data, QA/QC protocols, and related documents.
• Provide technical guidance to locations on required geotechnical site investigations, stability analyses, closure works, maintenance, monitoring activities, and risk assessments.
• Interpret monitoring data and recommend modifications to optimize operations and maintenance programs.
• Perform site visits to support closure-plan development, optimize O&M programs, and provide technical support during active construction projects.
• Oversee program maintenance requirements to ensure ongoing conformance with Alcoa requirements while identifying opportunities to improve program efficiency and reduce risk.
• Coordinate internal assurance reviews and external audits related to impoundment management with project teams.
• Update technical standards, guidelines, and procedures based on lessons learned and industry-standard practices.
• Coordinate collection of relevant site data from locations 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 similar field preferred.
• PE or 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 such as ICMM, ANCOLD, MAC/CDA, and GISTM.
• Demonstrated experience in geotechnical aspects of tailings dam closure planning, execution, and monitoring.
• Experience performing geotechnical investigations, slope stability analyses, and consolidation modelling.
• Experience performing geotechnical risk assessments, including evaluation of structural stability and long-term performance of legacy impoundments.
• Strong verbal and written communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills with demonstrated ability to challenge effectively and drive outcomes.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills; capacity to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously and drive aggressive implementation plans.
• Commitment to safe work practices and risk awareness when reviewing designs, assessing field conditions, supporting site visits, and advising on impoundment and closure activities.

Schedule

Travel requirements up to 15%.