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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Underground Director

💰 $120,000 - $220,000

MiningOperationsEngineeringSafetyLeadership

🎯 Role Definition

The Underground Director is a senior operational leader accountable for the safe, reliable and cost-effective delivery of underground mining operations. This role leads mine planning and production execution, enforces rigorous health, safety and environmental standards, manages capital and operating budgets, oversees geotechnical stability and ventilation systems, and drives continuous improvement, digitalization and workforce development and training. The Underground Director reports to executive leadership and serves as the primary interface between operations, engineering, safety, contractors and external stakeholders.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Underground Mine Manager / Operations Manager
  • Senior Mine Engineer / Mine Planning Manager
  • Regional Operations Manager or Project Manager (underground projects)

Advancement To:

  • VP of Mining Operations
  • Chief Operating Officer (COO) — Mining
  • Global Head of Underground Operations

Lateral Moves:

  • Technical Services Director (Geotechnical / Ventilation)
  • Construction & Development Director (Underground Projects)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Develop, own and execute the multi-year underground mine plan and short-term production schedules, aligning mine sequencing, stope design, development, and fleet utilization to meet production, grade and cost targets while mitigating dilution and maximizing ore recovery.
  • Lead all aspects of operational delivery including shaft and decline development, production headings, loading and haulage, crushing and material handling systems to ensure consistent throughput and optimize asset availability.
  • Establish and enforce a zero-harm safety culture across all underground workplaces — develop and implement HSE systems, permit-to-work processes, hotspot controls, emergency response and mine rescue plans in compliance with MSHA/OSHA and local mining regulations.
  • Provide technical oversight for ground control and geotechnical programs including rock mechanics, monitoring systems, ground support design (bolting, shotcrete, cable bolt systems), and slope/stope stability assessments to prevent ground failure and minimize risk to people and production.
  • Design and manage ventilation and refrigeration strategies to control underground air quality, gas, heat and dust exposures and ensure regulatory compliance and worker comfort for all shifts and working areas.
  • Direct the mine maintenance strategy, including preventive and predictive maintenance, reliability-centered maintenance (RCM), spare parts strategy and workshop management to maximize fleet uptime and lower lifecycle costs.
  • Own the operating and capital budgets for underground operations — forecast expenditure, drive productivity initiatives, identify cost-savings opportunities, and report monthly/quarterly financial performance against targets.
  • Lead an integrated workforce plan: hire, develop and retain skilled underground personnel (superintendents, shift bosses, drillers, fitters, electricians), implement competency matrices, succession planning and on-the-job training programs.
  • Manage and coordinate all major contractors and service providers, negotiate commercial terms, enforce performance metrics and contract compliance, and integrate contractors into the site safety and operational culture.
  • Oversee drill & blast programs: establish blasting protocols, fragmentation goals, vibration controls, and regulatory reporting while optimizing fragmentation for downstream handling and processing efficiency.
  • Drive mine-to-mill optimization initiatives by aligning blasting, material handling and processing to improve throughput, recovery and lower unit costs using data-driven KPIs.
  • Implement and govern operational reporting systems and KPI dashboards (production, development meters, cost per tonne, equipment utilization, safety metrics) to provide timely insight to senior leadership and support decision-making.
  • Lead emergency preparedness and crisis response for underground incidents, chair the site emergency response team, conduct incident investigations and ensure closure of corrective actions and continuous learning.
  • Ensure environmental compliance for underground activities including water management, tailings interfaces, waste rock handling, acid rock drainage controls and permitting processes with regulatory agencies.
  • Champion continuous improvement and digital transformation projects (automation, remote operations, telematics, condition monitoring, mine planning software) to increase safety and operational efficiency.
  • Coordinate exploration-to-production handover, ore reserve validation and reconciliation processes, and work closely with geology and mine planning to update orebody models and life-of-mine scenarios.
  • Oversee quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) practices for sampling, grade control, and reconciliation to ensure production aligns with reserve models and mill feed specifications.
  • Interface with corporate functions — finance, legal, environment, community relations — to align site operations with corporate policies, reporting requirements and social license to operate.
  • Represent the company to external stakeholders including regulators, community leaders, unions and industry groups; lead stakeholder engagement and manage industrial relations to minimize disruptions.
  • Drive workforce health programs (fatigue management, occupational hygiene, mental health initiatives) and ensure training, PPE compliance and behavioral safety programs are embedded into daily operations.
  • Lead capital project delivery for underground expansion, development drives, decline construction, and major equipment purchases — ensure projects are on time, on budget and meet operational handover standards.
  • Ensure robust inventory and supply chain controls for critical spares, consumables and capital goods to avoid production stoppages and optimize inventory carrying costs.
  • Monitor and enforce regulatory reporting obligations, maintain permits and licenses, and proactively manage inspections and audits from authorities.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Mentor and coach mid-level managers on operational excellence, leadership practices and people development.
  • Participate in site leadership forums and strategy sessions to align underground plans with overall business objectives.
  • Provide technical input into mine closure planning and progressive rehabilitation strategies where relevant.
  • Lead periodic safety and operational audits, gap analysis and implementation of corrective action plans.
  • Coordinate cross-functional root-cause analysis for production interruptions and implement countermeasures to prevent recurrence.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Extensive underground mining technical knowledge: mine planning, development sequencing, stoping methods (cut-and-fill, longhole, sub-level, shrinkage), stope design and ore control.
  • Strong geotechnical and ground control competency, including experience with rock mechanics, instrumentation, and design of ground support systems.
  • Ventilation engineering and underground environmental controls expertise (airflow modeling, gas monitoring, refrigeration).
  • Experience with mine planning and scheduling software such as Datamine, Deswik, Surpac, Leapfrog, Vulcan or equivalent.
  • Proficient in fleet management and mine maintenance systems (CMMS, telematics, OEM predictive systems).
  • Proven budget ownership and financial acumen: capex/opex management, forecasting, variance analysis and cost-to-serve optimization.
  • Competence in regulatory compliance and audit management (MSHA, OSHA, local mining regulators, environmental permitting).
  • Experience with drill & blast design, explosives safety protocols and vibration/blast monitoring systems.
  • Familiarity with digital mining systems: automation, remote operation systems, condition monitoring, IoT sensors and data analytics platforms.
  • Contract management and commercial negotiation skills for procurement and large services contracts.
  • Emergency response planning and mine rescue leadership — incident command system experience.
  • QA/QC, grade control procedures and geological reconciliation experience.
  • Competent in Microsoft Office suite, ERP systems (SAP, Oracle) and data visualization tools for KPI reporting.

Soft Skills

  • Strong leadership and people management skills with a coaching and development mindset.
  • Clear and persuasive communicator able to present complex technical information to executives, regulators and community stakeholders.
  • Strategic thinker with the ability to balance short-term production demands and long-term mine planning.
  • Excellent problem-solving and decision-making under pressure and in crisis situations.
  • Collaborative, cross-functional influencer capable of aligning operations, technical services and corporate teams.
  • Strong negotiation and stakeholder management skills including union/industrial relations experience where applicable.
  • High personal integrity, accountability and commitment to safety-first culture.
  • Adaptability to change and ability to drive cultural and process change in a dynamic operational environment.
  • Results-oriented with a continuous improvement mindset and data-driven decision-making approach.
  • Time management and prioritization skills to handle competing operational demands across multiple work fronts.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor's degree in Mining Engineering, Geological Engineering, Mechanical/Electrical Engineering, Metallurgy, or related discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Mining Engineering, MSc Geotechnical Engineering, MBA or equivalent advanced degree preferred.
  • Professional certifications or registration (e.g., Registered Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer) and formal safety/leadership credentials.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Mining Engineering
  • Geological Engineering
  • Mechanical or Electrical Engineering
  • Metallurgical Engineering
  • Occupational Health & Safety / Environmental Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 10–20+ years of progressive underground mining experience with at least 5–10 years in senior operational leadership roles.

Preferred:

  • 15+ years of underground operations experience including hands-on mine management, mine planning and capital project delivery.
  • Demonstrated track record delivering safe, on-budget production targets at high-risk underground operations.
  • Experience managing multi-site operations or large underground projects, and leading teams of 100+ employees and contractors.
  • Prior experience with modernization initiatives (automation, digitalization) and strong stakeholder engagement with regulators, communities and unions.
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