Specialist - Alumina Scheduling

Why explore

• An opportunity to develop your career within a global organisation
• Work with key stakeholders in our global commercial hub
• Gain exposure to multiple and varied commercial tools
• Based in Singapore, a global commercial hub for Rio Tinto

About the role

Bauxite and Alumina (B&A) is accountable for Rio Tinto’s worldwide activities related to bauxite mining and refining into smelter-grade alumina. The business unit employs approximately 6,000 people(incl. JVs, excl. contractors) in ten countries and owns and/or operates five bauxite mines and four smelter-grade alumina plants. B&A is a recognized leader and supplier of alumina refinery technology and has an extensive project pipeline which includes the expansion of operations in Australia and potential future development in many other countries.

We are looking for an Alumina Scheduling Specialist to join our Bauxite & Alumina Commercial team in Singapore. This role is responsible for real-time coordination of refinery production to vessel loading, ensuring safe, efficient and commercially optimized execution of shipments in a dynamic operating environment. Working at the interface of operations, marine and commercial teams, you will manage vessel scheduling, inventory flow, customer deliveries (CIF & FOB), and optimization opportunities.

Reporting to the Manager - Scheduling, you will:

• Manage direct stock flow from refinery to vessels, ensuring alignment between production rates and loading schedules while avoiding topping out inventory and supply shortfall risks.
• Own and continuously optimise the vessel line-up, including tracking ETA changes, berth allocation and loading windows in response to operational and market dynamics.
• Ensure vessel readiness for loading, including hold cleanliness inspections, certification compliance, and coordination with surveyors and terminal teams.
• Minimize demurrage exposure by synchronising cargo readiness with vessel arrival, optimising loading sequences and proactively managing delays.
• Execute customer deliveries across CIF and FOB contracts, ensuring cargo availability, adherence to delivery windows and effective communication of schedule changes.
• Balance grade allocation vs loading efficiency, ensuring customer specifications are met while maintaining operational practicality in vessel loading.
• Identify and advise on short-term commercial opportunities, including spot cargoes, volume reallocations and freight optimization decisions.
• Operationalise the supply chain by converting plans into real-time execution, responding dynamically to production variability, vessel changes and port constraints.
• Act as the central coordination point between refinery operations, smelters, marine operations and commercial teams to ensure alignment across the value chain.
• Monitor and manage operational risks including vessel delays, topping out inventory, cargo readiness issues and quality risks.
• Maintain accurate and timely updates on shipment status, inventory position and schedule adherence, providing visibility to stakeholders.
• Enhance supply chain efficiency through running initiatives that aims to minimize delays and costs while maximizing asset utilization and delivery performance.

About you

To be successfully considered for this role, you will have:

• Bachelor’s degree in engineering, Supply Chain, Maritime, Business or related field
• 3 to 7 years of experience in supply chain scheduling, marine logistics, operations or commodities environment.
• Strong understanding of bulk shipping operations, vessel scheduling and demurrage mechanics.
• Experience managing inventory flow in continuous production environments.
• Exposure to CIF and FOB contract execution and customer delivery coordination.
• Strong analytical and decision-making skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities in real time.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills across operational and commercial teams.
• A highly accountable and commercially minded approach, with ability to balance operational constraints and value outcomes.
• Understanding of financial performance and underlying value drivers.

It will also be beneficial if you have:

• Knowledge of the bauxite, alumina or aluminum processes an advantage.
• Knowledge of Excel, Power BI or any other data analytics tools/applications.
• Previous experience with integrated planning systems is an advantage (Anaplan or others).