Principal Adviser Change Management

• Drive people-centred change that helps leaders and employees confidently adopt new processes, technology and ways of working.
• Lead medium-complexity change, learning and capability initiatives across the People Function with broad enterprise exposure.
• Brisbane or Perth based
• 12 month fixed term contract opportunity

We’re Finding Better Ways™ to provide materials the world needs, now and in the future.  Our values – care, courage and curiosity – guide how we work and how we treat each other.

About the role

We are looking for a Principal Adviser Change Management to drive high-quality, people-centred change across the People Function. Reporting to the Manager Capability and Change, you’ll independently lead change planning, impact assessment and stakeholder analysis for medium-complexity initiatives, translating change impacts into practical adoption, learning and capability solutions.

Working across operating model transitions, service improvements and technology-enabled transformation, you’ll help leaders and employees build the knowledge, confidence and behaviours needed to work effectively in new ways. This is a great opportunity for an experienced change professional who enjoys combining structured change practice, learning design and stakeholder insight to deliver measurable adoption outcomes.

What you’ll be doing

Reporting to the Manager Capability and Change and partnering across Future People, People Technology, Communications, People Services and business-facing People teams, you will:

• Lead change planning, impact assessment and stakeholder analysis for People Function initiatives and programs, identifying adoption risks and practical responses.
• Develop and execute integrated change, learning and capability plans aligned with program milestones, business priorities and impacted stakeholder needs.
• Translate process, technology and organisation design impacts into learning pathways, training solutions, toolkits and targeted adoption activities.
• Design leader enablement resources, including talking points, frequently asked questions, coaching guides, holding statements and practical support materials.
• Facilitate workshops, engagement sessions, capability needs analyses and readiness activities with leaders, employees and impacted stakeholder groups.
• Coordinate sponsors and change champion networks, helping build visible sponsorship, local engagement and consistent implementation.
• Monitor readiness, adoption, learning completion and stakeholder feedback, using data and insight to target interventions and reduce implementation risk.
• Strengthen change and capability maturity by improving frameworks, templates and playbooks, sharing lessons learned and coaching colleagues in effective practice.

About you

We’re looking for someone whose experience aligns with the key requirements below. You do not need to meet every “helpful for success” item to apply, if you bring relevant experience and are excited by the opportunity, we encourage you to submit an application.

Required for Success

• A commitment to the safety of yourself and your team.
• Change Management: Demonstrated experience independently leading change planning, impact assessment, stakeholder mapping, readiness and adoption activities for medium-complexity initiatives.
• Learning and Capability: Experience translating organisational, process or technology impacts into practical learning, capability and leader-enablement solutions.
• Stakeholder Leadership: Proven ability to influence leaders, facilitate workshops and coordinate sponsors, change champions and cross-functional delivery partners.
• Measurement and Improvement: Experience using readiness, adoption, learning and stakeholder-feedback measures to identify risks and adjust interventions.
• Operating Context: Experience delivering change in a complex organisation, working across project, communications, technology, operational and People stakeholders.

Helpful for Success

• Working knowledge of established organisational change methodologies such as ADKAR, together with impact-analysis and stakeholder-mapping techniques.
• Familiarity with Human Resources processes, service-delivery models, people technology ecosystems or organisation-design change.
• Experience developing reusable change or capability frameworks, templates, playbooks, toolkits or communities of practice.

What we offer 

Be recognised for your contribution, your thinking and your hard work, and go home knowing you’ve helped the world progress. 

• A work environment where safety is always the number one priority 
• A permanent position working directly for Rio Tinto 
• A competitive base salary reflective of your skills and experience, with an annual incentive program 
• Comprehensive medical benefits, including subsidised private health insurance for employees and their immediate family 
• Attractive share ownership plan 
• Company provided insurance cover 
• Extensive salary sacrifice & salary packaging options 
• Career development and education assistance to further your technical or leadership ambitions 
• Ongoing access to family-friendly health, medical and wellbeing support 
• Leave for all of life’s reasons (vacation/annual, paid parental, sick leave) 
• Exclusive employee discounts (banking, accommodation, cars, retail and more) 

Applications close on 15th November 2026.

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 LGBTQ+ 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.