Principal Advisor Finance – RTA Technology Transition | Brisbane
- 12-month fixed-term project role
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Provide financial analysis and governance for a technology transformation program
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Establish and manage financial governance for the new technology landscape
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Deliver clear cost, capital, and risk visibility to support decision-making
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Lead structured financial reporting and controls across the portfolio
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Support capital allocation and investment decisions in partnership with BAU finance
About the role
All progress begins with pioneers. At Rio Tinto, it begins with you
RTAL is undertaking a large-scale transition of OT, IT, and Digital assets from a centrally managed model to regional ownership. This requires disciplined financial governance to manage cost transfers, capital investment, and ongoing run-rate impacts, as well as the overall impact to the technology delivery portfolio over the transition period. While this role operates within a time-bound transition team, it is designed to work in close alignment with existing BAU finance teams, ensuring that transition activities, financial structures, and reporting are integrated into RTAL’s broader financial governance architecture and operating model.
The Transition Team operates as a program governance function, responsible for portfolio-level visibility, control, and decision quality rather than execution. The team is structured around a central Transition Manager (Performance & Assurance), supported by Workstream Leads, Technical Business Analysts, and specialist roles including Architecture and Communications & Change, working together to govern and enable delivery across the transition portfolio.
Within this model, the Financial Analyst plays a critical role in enabling financial transparency across transition costs and impacts, supporting structured governance of capital and operating expenditure, and providing decision-ready financial insights for leadership.
Key Responsibilities
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Design and administer the financial governance architecture for the transition program, including controls, data structures, and reporting frameworks
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Provide clear visibility of transition costs (opex, capex, one-off spend, contingencies) and overall portfolio financial performance
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Deliver decision-ready financial reporting, including variance analysis, run-rate impacts, and “before vs after” cost views
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Support prioritisation, sequencing, and risk management across the transition portfolio
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Enable capital allocation and investment decisions, including business case evaluation and financial implications (capitalisation, write-offs, run-rate impacts)
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Integrate transition financials into annual planning cycles, forecasts, and broader governance processes, ensuring alignment with overall financial architecture of the product group
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Work closely with BAU finance and key stakeholders (Procurement, Commercial, Technology) to align cost structures and reporting
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Support financial readiness for function and cost absorption into RTAL, including cost model and budget structuring
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Establish a clear financial baseline and track ongoing transition performance
About you
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Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Finance or Accounting; CPA/CA/MBA or equivalent graduate qualification advantageous
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Experience in financial analysis, FP&A, or business partnering, operating beyond transactional finance
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Strong cost model design and budget/cost centre management, ideally through transformation or operating model change
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Solid financial analysis capability (forecasting, variance analysis, performance reporting)
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Experience supporting complex programs, transitions, or multi-entity environments
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Ability to work with technology/digital investments and interpret financial implications for governance and decisions
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Comfortable operating with ambiguity and across organisational boundaries
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Familiarity with transformation/portfolio tracking and financial discipline frameworks
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Strong communication and stakeholder engagement, delivering clear, decision-ready insights
Where you will be working
Based in Rio Tinto’s Brisbane Head Office, you’ll join a collaborative, high-performing corporate environment supporting our Aluminium business. Located in the CBD, the office offers modern, flexible workspaces and close proximity to public transport, dining, and lifestyle amenities. From here, you’ll partner with leaders across multiple sites, contributing to enterprise priorities while being connected to a strong community of HR, commercial, and operational professionals.
#gts
About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and materials company. We operate in 35 countries where we produce iron ore, copper, aluminium, critical minerals, and other materials needed for the global energy transition and for people, communities, and nations to thrive.
We have been mining for 150 years and operate with knowledge built up across generations and continents. 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 the right environmental, social and governance standards. But we can’t do it on our own, so we’re focused on creating partnerships to solve problems, create win-win situations and meet opportunities.
Respect and Inclusion
At Rio Tinto, we particularly welcome and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, the LGBTI+ community, mature workers, people with disabilities and people from different cultural backgrounds.
We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel comfortable to be themselves. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard, all cultures respected and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome – they are essential to our success. We treat each other fairly and with dignity regardless of race, gender, nationality, ethnic origin, religion, age, sexual orientation or anything else that makes us different.
