Date: 16 Jul 2026
Job Posting End Date:
Job Country:
Australia
#job-location.job-location-inline { display: inline; }
Job State/Province: Western Australia
Job Location/Region: Perth
At BHP we support our people to grow, learn, develop their skills and reach their potential. With a global portfolio of operations, we offer a diverse and inclusive environment with extraordinary career opportunities. Our strategy is to focus on creating a safe work environment where our employees feel strongly connected to our values and objectives, and where the capability of our people is key to our success.
Come and be a part of this success.
We are seeking a highly motivated person to be a Principal Water Engineer in the Resource Centre of Excellence (RCoE). The role will apply hydrological and hydrogeological engineering expertise to support the RCoE Water team to advise and develop capability for technical professionals in BHP Assets, Operations and Functions across the full life cycle of our resources. This includes leading expert level technical initiatives and review and providing support whilst ensuring alignment with best practice based on our Water Standards and Guidance Notes as well as industry initiatives:
The Principal Water Engineer will:
- Support second line of defence (2L) assurance activities for water risks / deep dives as part of the BHP integrated technical assurance and risk management frameworks.
- Represent the RCoE globally as a point of contact for water engineering engagements, stakeholder alignment and deep technical knowledge for operations, projects, planning and closure.
- Work collaboratively and proactively with the assets to coach and develop capability, process or systems based on established standards, best practice and industry leading approaches to technical, planning, operational water engineering / management, and closure risk.
- Define, maintain, and uplift global water engineering standards, guidelines, and technical guidance, aligned with regulatory requirements and industry leading practice.
- Identify and integrate hydrological and surface water related risks (water supply, mine dewatering, TSF, environmental recovery, closure) and assist in development of effective controls.
- Support the Assets to deliver on a business case for water infrastructure and design aligned to future planning, specifically for water supplies, excess water management and mine dewatering.
You will have an interest and a deep working knowledge of mining, with a proven background of success in water engineering and mine water management.
To be successful in this role, you will have the following:
- Overriding commitment to health, safety, environmental responsibility and sustainable development.
- Degree or higher in an appropriate engineering or science discipline.
- Minimum of 15 years industry experience (including operational) with proven ability in mine water engineering design and experience in industry standard modelling packages (e.g. HEC-RAS, TUFLOW, etc.).
- A deep understanding of the key value drivers and strategies across a range of commodities and geographies.
- A deep understanding of the issues, risks and opportunities associated with water engineering.
- Experience with mine water management, engineering design and operations, including surface water and surplus water management, and mine dewatering.
- A commitment to excellence in technical assurance.
- An ability to lead change, continuous improvement and influence across the business.
- Strong understanding of processes and key value drivers for affiliated technical and functional disciplines and ability to leverage their expertise through collaboration.
- Proven delivery of risk management processes.
- A commitment to company learning, technology, collaboration, sharing and engagement to promote and achieve ‘community of practice/centre of excellence’.
- Involvement in identification and sponsorship and/or delivery of water related minerals industry innovation and technology.
- Possession of both English and Spanish language skills would be an advantage.
- Strong communication skills and a proven ability to influence change.
At BHP, we are committed to employing individuals who align with the BHP Charter Values and meet the requirements of the role. As part of the recruitment process, there are a number of checks which may be conducted to demonstrate applicants suitability for a role including police / criminal background checks, medical, drug and alcohol testing, due diligence checks, right to work checks, and/or reference checks.
If you are already employed directly by BHP, please log in using your BHP email address or apply via our internal jobs portal.
The size, stability and magnitude of our business not only provides significant opportunity for professional development, but also attractive salary packages with performance-based bonuses and a best-in-class employee share program. We know there are many aspects of our employees' lives that are important, and work is only one of these, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits include flexible working options, a generous paid parental leave policy, other extended leave entitlements and parent rooms.
At BHP, we know that we are strengthened by diversity. We are an Equal Opportunity employer that is committed to making BHP a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and be at their best every day. We are focused on creating a workforce that’s more diverse and represents the communities where we work and live. providing a work environment in which everyone is included, treated fairly and with respect. We are an Equal Opportunity employer and recognise that true diversity includes gender, age, race, disability status, sexual orientation, religion, neurodiversity, education levels, and many more aspects of your identity.
BHP is committed to providing a recruitment process that is fair, equitable and accessible for all. If you have a disability, we know that it may be helpful for us to adjust our process to make it equitable for your individual situation. If you would like to reach out to someone about your situation and our recruitment process, please email us at [email protected].
