Rio Tinto Graduate Programs & Internships

Every idea, every innovation, every little thing the world calls ‘progress’ begins with a first step, and someone willing to take it: explorers, inventors, entrepreneurs. Pioneers.

For nearly 150 years, Rio Tinto has been a company of pioneers –generations of people spanning the globe, all with the grit and vision to produce materials essential to human progress. Our iron ore has shaped skylines from Shanghai to Sydney. Our aluminium –the world’s first to be certified “responsible” –helps planes fly and makes cars lighter. Our copper helps wind turbines power cities and our boron helps feed the world, and explore the universe. Our diamonds help us celebrate the best parts of life.

Join Rio Tinto today, to shape the world of tomorrow

In life there are those that want to watch things happen and then there’s those that want to make things happen. 

From day one at Rio Tinto, graduates are given the chance to shape who we are. From playing an active part in reinventing our business to helping pioneer human progress through the ideas, materials and actions you experience every day. We create an environment where you can go further. One that thrives on curious and creative minds. 

Join us and pioneer a career that will not only build your future, but build a new future for the industry, and a better future for tomorrow.

The Graduate Program

Rio Tinto’s graduate program gives you the tools and the skills to innovate and invent – to pioneer progress for you and for us.  It is designed to launch your career and prepare you for leadership roles.

Joining us as a graduate, you’ll experience our innovative, future focused development program:

• Learn fundamental leadership skills by leading a virtual team through a gamified leadership simulation
• Challenge your thinking and gain outside in perspective from futurists and external thought leaders
• Acquire a toolkit focused on future skills to inspire innovation and creativity through a series of masterclass
• Team up with graduate colleagues to innovate solutions for future business and world challenges Grow your leadership skills with 1-1 coaching sessions with an experienced external coach
• Network with our senior leaders and subject matter experts
• Access world-class digital learning 
• And much more!

Applications open: March 1, 2021

Applications close: March 31, 2021

Start date: March 2022

Apply Today

Join Rio Tinto today, to shape the world of tomorrow

We’re looking for motivated students who want pioneer the way forward. Those wanting to reinvent tomorrow and make a lasting impact. 

Rio Tinto’s Vacation Program provides you with the opportunity to gain hands-on experience, apply skills to real-life projects, and get a taste of the day to day life at Rio Tinto.

The best part, it gives you the opportunity to secure a graduate position at the end of the program.

Applications open: March 1, 2021

Applications close: March 31, 2021

Start date: December 2021

Apply Today

Claudia Haugg

Lucas Cary

We particularly welcome and encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, women, the LGBTI+ 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.

At Rio Tinto, we produce materials essential to human progress.

Achieving this purpose requires us to work, as often as not, in remote locations and sensitive, beautiful environments, often on land owned by Indigenous peoples. Our values, experience and history tell us that we must work in a way that delivers real, lasting benefits. We must care for our employees, respect and safeguard the environment when we explore, build and operate, and re-purpose or rehabilitate the land when our operations come to an end. We must also contribute to local and national economies by paying competitive wages, treating our suppliers fairly, investing in our local communities and paying our share of taxes. And we must do so in a way that preserves the profitability of our own business, not only so we can meet our commitments to our shareholders, but so that we can continue to invest in areas important to our other stakeholders, including safety, climate change mitigation and workforce training. These beliefs are the foundation of our views on sustainability.

Learn more about Our Sustainability Approach here.