Senior Data Scientist- Nuton

Senior Data Scientist - Nuton

- Be part of a pioneering team advancing Rio Tinto's innovative heap leaching technology.

- Drive sustainable solutions while accelerating your career growth.

- Enjoy the unmatched quality of life and work in Utah, ranked #1 overall by U.S. News & World Report.

About the Role

Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.

As a Data Scientist at Nuton, you won’t just model data – you’ll harness AI to reinvent how the world thinks about mining. You’ll play a key role in delivering advanced analytics and predictive modeling, leading to smarter, more sustainable mineral processing. In this fast-growing venture, your work will directly contribute to making mining cleaner, more responsible, and technology-driven, helping redefine one of the world's most essential industries for a better future.

This is a rare opportunity to help build the AI backbone of a fast-scaling venture from the ground up and influence the growth of our team and practices. You’ll have the freedom to experiment, the space to innovate, and the responsibility to make your mark on both our technology and our culture. Join us at the intersection of mining, sustainability, and AI — where your work could help to rewire global supply chains for a cleaner future.

Nuton, Rio Tinto’s latest entrepreneurial venture, is a suite of innovative, bio-heap leaching technologies that harness natural processes to unlock new sources of critical metals. Nuton not only pushes the boundaries of copper recovery but also sets a new standard for sustainability in mining. Learn more about Nuton here.

Your key responsibilities will include:

- Collaborate in an Agile, startup style environment with software and data engineers, product owners, and mining experts to turn ideas into solutions that scale fast and deliver real impact.

- Dive into massive, complex, and often untapped datasets, from sensors in the field to advanced mineral processing systems, and transform them into actionable insights.

- Develop predictive and prescriptive models with machine learning, AI, and statistics to solve real-world business challenges.

- Communicate insights and recommendations through clear visualizations, dashboards, and presentations.

- Push the boundaries of AI in ways rarely seen in mining, experimenting with cutting-edge AI technologies, to solve previously insurmountable problems.

- Shape the culture of a startup by taking ownership, thinking independently, and iterating quickly.

About You

- You are a builder at heart – someone who thrives on transforming raw complexity into robust and elegant systems that make a real-world difference. You’re comfortable with pipelines, cloud platforms, and distributed data, but what really drives you is turning data into tangible impact at scale.

- You are passionate about software development best practices, including versioning, testing, CI/CD, APIs, and MLOps, and have familiarity with containerization and orchestration.

- You bring a startup mindset: action-oriented, creative, resilient, and always learning. Ambiguity excites you, giving you the chance to flex your entrepreneurial muscle and strong problem-solving skills to pioneer new solutions.

- You love to collaborate, share knowledge openly, and communicate with clarity –because you know data only reaches full potential when it’s accessible and understood.

- You have a background (5+ years of experience preferred) and a Bachelor’s or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Statistics, Mathematics, or a related field, and a passion for applying your skills to real-world challenges.

Benefits offered:

- Competitive salary with performance-based bonuses.

- Retirement options that include a 6% company contribution to a defined plan, 401(k) matching, and a share ownership program.

- Generous time-off opportunities include paid time off, holidays, bereavement leave, and four months of parental leave for all parents.

- Comprehensive health plans covering medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and additional voluntary benefits.

- Access to wellness initiatives, including employee discounts and an employee assistance program for confidential support.

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

Rio Tinto is committed to equal employment opportunity. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, age, religion, national origin, disability, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law.

We are committed to an inclusive environment where people feel safe, respected and valued. We want our people to feel that all voices are heard and that a variety of perspectives are not only welcome but are essential to our success. We treat all our people fairly and with dignity.

Rio Tinto participates in E- Verify to confirm work authorization. Please visit http://www.ucis.gov/ for more information.