Process Engineering Director

We are looking for a highly skilled and motivated Process Control Engineer who will be responsible for developing, maintaining, and optimizing advanced process control (APC) systems for a 175,000 tonnes‑per‑day copper/gold/silver concentrator. This role ensures stable, reliable, and efficient plant operation by supporting DCS/PLC systems, implementing control strategies, tuning loops, developing advanced models, and providing real‑time support to operations and maintenance. The Process Control Engineer will support the project by validating system design and control philosophies and will work closely with operations, metallurgy, maintenance, and reliability teams to support commissioning and maximize throughput, recovery, and plant availability.

CONTEXT

Ability to form and lead a process control team in a high-altitude mining environment is required. Support project engineering and design reviews.

The role requires leadership for all process control systems across all plant circuits, including:

• Primary, secondary, and tertiary crushing
• HPGR SAG/ball milling circuits
• Regrind mills and cyclones
• Flotation circuits
• Thickeners, filters, and concentrate handling systems
• Reagent prep, pumps, pipelines, compressors, and utilities
• Process water, fresh water, and tailings pumps

The Process Control Engineer should lead:

• Throughput stability (variance reduction)
• Grinding and flotation circuit performance improvements
• PID loop performance and APC utilization rates
• Reduction of downtime caused by control issues
• Alarm management (alarm count reduction, criticality improvements)
• Project delivery and improvements implemented
• Control system reliability and cybersecurity compliance

Lead and support Health and Safety programs.

Support EPCM schedule as it applies to Process Plant Operational activities.

MAIN KNOWLEDGE, EXPERIENCES AND SKILLS

• Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, or Maintenance Engineering (or Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Control Systems Engineering, or related field.
• +10 years of experience in process control or automation in mining, mineral processing, or heavy industrial plants.
• Strong knowledge of grinding, flotation, and thickening circuits.
• Experience with DCS (ABB, DeltaV, Yokogawa, Honeywell, etc.) and PLC/SCADA systems.
• Strong skills in PID tuning, logic development, and APC systems.
• Experience with data platforms (OSIsoft PI, SQL, Python preferred).
• Experience in large‑scale (>100ktpd) copper concentrators.
• Familiarity with model‑predictive control (MPC / multivariable control).
• Knowledge of instrumentation, sensors, calibration, and industrial networks.
• Experience with machine learning or AI‑driven optimization tools well regarded.

Bilingual (Spanish/English) well regarded.