Head of Mine Planning & Production

About the role

This senior position is based at a large‑scale open‑pit diamond mine in Angola and carries accountability for mine planning, production execution and technical services. The role integrates geology, drill‑and‑blast, fleet management, dispatch and plant coordination into a reconciled production system that meets grade, strip‑ratio, carat and unit‑cost targets.

Key responsibilities

• Lead life‑of‑mine, annual, quarterly and monthly planning and ensure weekly plan delivery.
• Optimise pit design, cut‑off grades, strip‑ratio economics and cost models per tonne and per carat.
• Oversee fleet‑management and dispatch systems, drill‑and‑blast engineering, fragmentation analysis and dilution control.
• Implement reconciliation frameworks, short‑interval control, KPI tracking and continuous improvement routines.
• Support life‑of‑mine planning, short‑interval control, reconciliation and operational performance improvement.

Required profile

• Minimum 15 years of experience in open‑pit mining, including at least 5 years in a senior management role at a large operation (>20 Mt/year).
• Bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering; Mine Manager’s Certificate of Competency strongly preferred.
• Experience with owner‑operated and contractor‑mining models and large OEM fleets (Komatsu, Caterpillar).
• Fluent professional English; Portuguese language capability is a plus.

Required skills

• Mine planning software: Deswik, GEOVIA, Surpac, Whittle, MineSched, Maptek Vulcan, Datamine, Micromine.
• Fleet‑management and dispatch systems: Modular DISPATCH, Wenco, Hexagon.
• Strong capability in pit optimisation, cut‑off grade analysis, strip‑ratio economics and cost modelling.
• Expertise in drill‑and‑blast engineering, fragmentation analysis, dilution control and ore loss management.