What's your job about?
I work as a Mine Planning and Scheduling Superintendent at BHP, one of the largest mining and resources companies in the world. BHP extract the resources needed to support the development of future infrastructure.
I manage a team of 14 Engineers who design and plan mining-related activities for 1 week to 2 years, including the creation of the mine site budget for the South Flank iron ore mine. This involves meeting the required tonnes of iron ore for stable production, ensuring it gets to the rail and port in a safe and socially responsible way
We collaborate and engage with a large number of groups and departments across BHP to communicate the plans and designs. Our team works hard to identify risks early and in collaboration with other departments, provide solutions to manage the risk. In simple terms, we enable safety and value through the plans and designs we make and solve problems every day in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
As a Leader, it’s important that my team not only have all the tools and resources needed to complete their work but that provide them with clear expectations. I ensure their long-term development plans and aspirations are prioritised and we have regular conversations to ensure they are high-performing, engaged, happy, enabled and on the right path to meet their long-term career or life goals. And of course, the most important part, ensure they are physically and mentally safe at work.
What's your background?
I was born in Shiraz/Iran, where I grew up until age 13 and my family migrated to Australia, Perth. Growing up I had fantasies of wanting to become a pilot, historian, and lawyer and never really considered engineer as an option until the later years of high school. In Year 12 I was fortunate enough to visit the Pilbara on a school trip and visited BHP’s port operations. This was my first exposure to mining and was amazed by the scale and complexity of everything. From this point, I decided to study engineering.
There are many stages in life that are important and with each day, we face change, opportunities, and challenges of life and work. A few key moments in my professional life would have to be my first vacation work in 2010 when I decided mining engineering was the path I wanted to follow, my first internship with BHP in 2011 and continuing to work part-time for BHP for 3 years while I studied, then in 2018 when I joined the BHP Graduate Program and realised the true meaning of a career - it’s a marathon! Be sure to prioritise life/health and work balance and invest in personal growth.
Throughout my years in various roles in BHP, I realised that leadership is a career path, where I can help others reach their objectives, coach, mentor and enable teams and be an agent of change. This is how I reached my current role as a Superintendent of Production Scheduling.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes. Having the technical expertise of a mining engineer is great, but it is not always necessary. The attributes one requires to do my role are :
What's the coolest thing about your job?
There are many things I love about my role, but to call out a few:
What are the limitations of your job?
My role bears a lot of responsibility and has a wide span of control. Whilst this is exciting, it can also be stressful. So it's important for me to understand the sources of the stress and manage it, to ensure that I am not burned out and I can maintain my energy level. I spend a large amount of time in meetings engaging with various stakeholders, and therefore time management and delegation become key in ensuring my work is not falling behind, trusting and enabling my team to work through the wide span of control.
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