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Principal Engineer (Process and Functional Safety) | MECoE | Brisbane, Adelaide, or Perth

Date:  1 Oct 2026
Job Posting End Date: 
Job Country: 

Australia

Job State/Province:  Various Locations
Job Location/Region: 

About BHP 

At BHP we support our people to grow, learn, develop their skills and reach their potential. With a global portfolio of operations, we offer a diverse and inclusive environment with extraordinary career opportunities. Our strategy is to focus on creating a safe work environment where our employees feel strongly connected to our values and objectives, and where the capability of our people is key to our success.

Come and be a part of this success.

 

About the Role

An exciting opportunity exists within our global MECoE Engineering team. We are actively seeking a highly capable and experienced Process and Functional Safety Engineer with a strong background in mining or other heavy industries.

Reporting to the Manager Process, Functional and Fire Safety Engineering, the Principal Engineer (Process and Functional Safety) will play a critical role in defining and leading global standards, applying industry-leading practices, and leveraging technological advancements to manage high consequence risks across BHP.

Key Responsibilities:

  • In this challenging and highly visible global role, you will act as a technical Subject Matter Expert and:
  • Provide functional support to assets to drive improvement in Process Safety and Functional Safety Management.
  • Demonstrate professionalism, integrity, and alignment with BHP’s Charter, Group Level Documents, Code of Conduct, and statutory obligations.
  • Support the development and maintenance of MECoE engineering Process and Functional Safety Management standards, procedures, guidelines and supporting tools.
  • Provide guidance on how to integrate functional safety and process safety principles into existing engineering and operational processes in a practical way considering the guidelines established within established industry standards.
  • Lead governance and assurance activities, including oversight of critical controls across BHP’s global operations.
  • Facilitate delivery and implementation of effective, assurance processes through global standards, good practice guidance and global tools across the life cycle of BHP facilities.

  • Integrate with the Process and Functional Safety engineering community across the organization whilst providing oversight to process safety engineering and technical capability building.
  • Provide subject-matter expertise, mentoring and support to the group, providing the enabling tools to achieve success.
  • Support material risk management processes related to fire and explosion priority group risks.
  • Build and nurture collaborative partnerships with operational assets to drive improved safety outcomes.
  • Develop and maintain strong relationships with Operational and Functional stakeholders to enhance risk management effectiveness.
  • Communicate effectively and influence stakeholders at all levels across the organisation.
  • Champion innovation and change within a complex business environment.

About You

To be successful in this role, you will bring:

  • A Bachelor of Engineering in Process, Control Systems, Electrical & Instrumentation or a related discipline.
  • Understanding of industry Process Safety Management models and their elements.
  • Experience applying Functional Safety Standards such as IEC 61508 Series, IEC 61511 Series, IEC 62061and ISO13849.
  • Demonstrated of industry experience in Process and Functional Safety Management, with a strong background in mining or other heavy industry high risk environments.
  • Ability to provide technical review / challenge technical Process Safety and Functional Safety reports, QRA (Qualitative Risk Analysis), HAZOPs, PHAs, LOPAs, dispersion models and facilitate hazard identification and risk assessment workshops.
  • Familiarity with Asset Management processes.
  • Exceptional technical leadership, communication, and stakeholder engagement skills within a matrix organisation.
  • High-level strategic thinking, critical analysis, and problem-solving abilities.
  • A track record of successfully leading strategic change initiatives and delivering impactful outcomes in complex environments with the confidence to challenge the status quo positively.
  • Proven experience working with a range of stakeholders in complex environments and have accomplished change on a global scale.
  • An established capability to coach/ mentor engineers and operational staff

About Our Process 

At BHP, we are committed to employing individuals who align with the BHP Charter Values and meet the requirements of the role. As part of the recruitment process, there are a number of checks which may be conducted to demonstrate applicants suitability for a role including police / criminal background checks, medical, drug and alcohol testing, due diligence checks, right to work checks, and/or reference checks. 

If you are already employed directly by BHP, please log in using your BHP email address or apply via our internal jobs portal. 

Supporting a Diverse Workforce  

The size, stability and magnitude of our business not only provides significant opportunity for professional development, but also attractive salary packages with performance-based bonuses and a best-in-class employee share program. We know there are many aspects of our employees' lives that are important, and work is only one of these, so we offer benefits to enable your work to fit with your life. These benefits include flexible working options, a generous paid parental leave policy, other extended leave entitlements and parent rooms.  

At BHP, we know that we are strengthened by diversity. We are an Equal Opportunity employer that is committed to making BHP a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone can thrive and be at their best every day. We are focused on creating a workforce that’s more diverse and represents the communities where we work and live. providing a work environment in which everyone is included, treated fairly and with respect. We are an Equal Opportunity employer and recognise that true diversity includes gender, age, race, disability status, sexual orientation, religion, neurodiversity, education levels, and many more aspects of your identity.

BHP is committed to providing a recruitment process that is fair, equitable and accessible for all. If you have a disability, we know that it may be helpful for us to adjust our process to make it equitable for your individual situation. If you would like to reach out to someone about your situation and our recruitment process, please email us at inclusion@bhp.com.