Senior Advisor – Business Applications & ERP
- Opportunity to develop your career and work for a global company
- Contribute to the success of Rio Tinto by applying your technical and professional expertise
- Southern California – hybrid, with onsite presence in Boron and/or Burbank as required
- For California based roles the expected salary range is $125,440 - $172,480
About The Role
We are looking for an experienced Senior Advisor – Business Applications & ERP to take a leading role in shaping the future enterprise application landscape for U.S. Borax.
ERP will sit at the heart of this position, representing approximately 70% of the role, alongside responsibility for the broader business applications environment and enterprise application architecture.
The timing of this appointment makes the opportunity particularly significant. As U.S. Borax transitions towards greater independence, you will have the opportunity to influence the future ERP and application environment from an early stage, helping determine how systems are designed, implemented, integrated and governed for the standalone organisation.
You will act as a key bridge between the business, IS&T, implementation partners and application vendors – understanding business requirements, translating them into clear functional and technical requirements, and ensuring ERP and enterprise application solutions support both immediate operational needs and the organization's longer-term strategy.
You will have substantial involvement across ERP renewal, modernization, implementation, configuration and future-state design.
This is not intended to be a deeply hands-on ERP configuration or development position. Instead, you will provide ownership, direction and oversight, ensuring implementation partners and service providers deliver solutions that meet business requirements and that technology decisions remain aligned with the organisation's longer-term application strategy.
We are therefore open to backgrounds including senior ERP Business Analysts, Enterprise Applications specialists, ERP program professionals and application architects, provided you combine strong ERP knowledge with the ability to operate effectively between business and technology stakeholders.
The role is largely remote, with onsite presence in Boron and/or the new Burbank professional-services office driven by business and project requirements. In the short term, approximately one day per week onsite should be anticipated. During key phases of the ERP transformation, additional onsite presence may be required to support stakeholder engagement, requirements alignment, negotiation and critical programme activities.
Reporting to the IS&T Leader, you will
- Take a leading role in the organisation's ERP environment and transformation programme, which will represent approximately 70% of the position.
- Serve as a key IS&T advisor for ERP, business systems and enterprise application decisions.
- Support ERP selection, design, implementation, modernisation and business-readiness activities.
- Work closely with business and functional leaders to understand operational requirements and translate them into clear business, functional and technical specifications.
- Act as the bridge between business stakeholders, IS&T teams, implementation partners and application vendors.
- Ensure business, operational and regulatory requirements are appropriately reflected in ERP and enterprise application solutions.
- Provide direction and oversight to ERP implementation partners, service providers and technology vendors.
- Challenge proposed solutions and ensured vendors deliver against agreed business requirements, architecture principles and expected outcomes.
- Own and help shape the broader enterprise application portfolio, roadmap and lifecycle.
- Provide input into enterprise application architecture and ensure individual systems form part of a coherent and scalable technology landscape.
- Assess technology opportunities and provide recommendations regarding application investment, modernisation and rationalisation.
- Drive continuous improvement across ERP and the wider business application environment.
- Manage application risks, dependencies and strategic vendor relationships.
- Balance immediate ERP transformation priorities with the organisation's longer-term application and technology strategy.
- Build strong relationships across business functions and establish credibility as a trusted advisor on ERP and enterprise applications.
- Support application governance and lifecycle management to reduce complexity and improve technology alignment.
About You
You will bring significant experience across ERP and enterprise business applications, combined with the ability to understand business needs and translate them into practical technology solutions.
You do not necessarily need to come from one specific ERP discipline. The successful candidate could have developed through Business Analysis, ERP programme/project leadership, Enterprise Applications or Application Architecture. What is important is substantial ERP transformation experience and the ability to operate effectively between business stakeholders and technical delivery partners.
You will ideally bring
- Significant experience working with enterprise ERP platforms and business applications.
- Demonstrable involvement in major ERP transformation, implementation, renewal, upgrade or modernisation programmes.
- Experience across ERP customisation, configuration and implementation concepts, with sufficient technical understanding to effectively oversee delivery partners.
- Strong experience gathering complex business requirements and translating them into clear functional and technical specifications.
- The ability to understand both the business and application/technology perspectives and bridge the gap between the two.
- Experience managing ERP implementation partners, application vendors and/or managed service providers.
- Strong understanding of enterprise application architecture, integration and application lifecycle management.
- Experience developing or contributing to application roadmaps and future-state technology strategies.
- The ability to provide direction and oversight without needing to personally perform detailed technical configuration or development.
- Strong stakeholder engagement, facilitation and negotiation skills.
- Experience working with senior business leaders to resolve competing requirements and reach decisions around technology solutions.
- The ability to balance immediate transformation requirements with longer-term organisational needs.
- Experience within manufacturing, industrial or similarly complex operational environments would be advantageous.
- Experience working in environments where individuals need to take broad ownership rather than operate within narrowly defined technology silos would be beneficial.
We are looking for someone who sees ERP transformation as part of a long-term enterprise applications journey, rather than simply a finite implementation project.
The successful candidate will have the opportunity not only to help deliver a major ERP transformation, but to take ongoing ownership of the environment they help create – shaping how enterprise applications evolve as U.S. Borax establishes itself as a standalone organization.
What we offer
- A largely remote working model, with onsite engagement based on stakeholder and project requirements.
- Genuine end-to-end ownership and influence across ERP and the broader enterprise applications landscape.
- Significant involvement in a major ERP transformation, with the opportunity to influence its future-state design.
- The opportunity to help establish the application environment for U.S. Borax as it transitions towards operating as a standalone organisation.
- Broad ownership across ERP and enterprise business applications rather than responsibility for a single application or project.
- Direct interaction with senior business stakeholders, technology leaders, implementation partners and strategic vendors.
- The opportunity to remain involved beyond implementation and take long-term ownership of the environment you have helped shape.
- A work environment where safety is always the number one priority.
- Competitive base salary is reflective of your skills and experience with an annual incentive bonus.
- Access to top-tier family-friendly health programs including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, life insurance coverage, and various voluntary benefits.
- Excellent retirement plan including up to 6% defined company contribution; Generous 401k matching program.
- Attractive share ownership plan.
- Comprehensive leave policies which cover all the moments that matter in life PTO (paid time off), paid holidays, and paid bereavement leave.
- A generous parental leave policy, which ensures you’re able to spend quality time with your new family.
- Discount programs for leisure purposes and access to Virgin Pulse with incentives supporting your wellbeing.
- Access to our Employee Assistance Program (EAP), which provides confidential counselling or expert guidance for you and your family to help get through life’s challenges.
About U.S. Borax
U.S. Borax is a global leader in the supply and science of borates, with a long-established operation in California and products used across a diverse range of industries and applications around the world.
U.S. Borax is now entering an exciting new chapter as the business transitions from the wider Rio Tinto Group to operate as a more independent, standalone organization. This transformation creates a rare opportunity to help build and shape the technology environment of an established business as it moves towards greater independence. Rather than owning a narrowly defined area within a large corporate technology structure, you will have the opportunity to take genuine end-to-end ownership, influence key technology decisions and help establish the systems, architecture, partners and ways of working that will support U.S. Borax for the future.
For technology professionals, this offers the best of both worlds the scale and complexity of an established industrial organization combined with the ownership, visibility and influence typically associated with a much smaller business.
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.
