Lead Mining Operations Specialist
industrial_energy_operations › Mining Operations · S5 — S5 — Principal Support Specialist · Support
Serves as the top technical authority for hands-on mine production, guiding best practices across drilling, blasting, hauling, and processing activities.
Median pay · United States · annual
$60,631 USD
▲ +62.4% vs S1 on this ladder
Typical range ()
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What this role is
Serves as the top technical authority for hands-on mine production, guiding best practices across drilling, blasting, hauling, and processing activities. At the Principal Support Specialist (S5) level, the role owns function-wide support practice, program-level and systemic support problems, and drives support strategy across the function. Subject-matter authority; shapes the practice.
What this level does
- Serve as the recognized specialist operator for the most complex or high-risk equipment and conditions, resolving problems that stump other operators
- Contribute to the creation and revision of standard operating procedures, pre-start checks and short-interval-control routines for the equipment fleet
- Facilitate and lead peer execution of daily production routines, embedding operational discipline through daily production meetings and short interval control at the crew level
- Develop and deliver on-the-job training and competency assessment for operators moving onto new equipment or into non-routine tasks
- Translate ground conditions and machine performance patterns into practical recommendations that improve production and safety across the shift
- Knowledge applied
- Highly skilled specialist in the equipment and conditions of this focus; contributes to the creation of operating procedures and techniques.
- Complexity & problem solving
- Resolves complex, high-risk operating problems and develops improved methods and routines.
- Collaboration & interaction
- Acts independently and as a working lead/facilitator; provides guidance, training and competency assessment to peers.
- Typical experience
- 6+ yrs; expert operator in the equipment specialty.
Skills at this level
- Heavy Mining Equipment Operation
- — Operates haul trucks, loaders, drills, excavators, continuous mining machines, shuttle cars and LHDs to extract and move ore, coal and waste rock safely and efficiently against production schedules.
- Ground and Roof Condition Assessment
- — Reads seam height, roof stability, floor conditions, water and gas during mining and adjusts operating action to keep the face and crew safe.
- Mine Ventilation Support
- — Hangs and maintains ventilation tubing and curtains to keep the underground mining face area properly ventilated as work advances.
- Drilling and Excavation
- — Uses hydraulic and motor-driven machinery to drill holes and excavate rock, coal and metals, controlling depth, sequence and material handling.
- Pre-Start Inspection and Fault Reporting
- — Performs walk-around and pre-start checks on mining machines, identifies defects and abnormal readings, and decides whether to operate, isolate or hand over to maintenance.
- Operations Logging
- — Maintains accurate logs of machine hours, tonnes moved, maintenance tasks and machinery performance during the shift for production and maintenance tracking.
- Fleet Monitoring System Use
- — Uses fleet monitoring software to track machine performance and cycle times and adjusts operation to keep production on target and losses down.
- Short Interval Control
- — Applies structured Management Operating System routines, daily production meetings and short-interval control to keep the crew's output aligned with daily, weekly and monthly targets.
- Production Cycle Coordination
- — Sequences loading, hauling and dumping across peer operators to keep material flowing continuously without stalling the cycle.
- Operator Training and Coaching
- — Teaches less experienced operators equipment technique, hazard recognition and non-routine handling on the job, and assesses their competency to progress.
- Operating Procedure Development
- — Contributes to creating and revising standard operating procedures, pre-start checks and routines for the equipment fleet based on field experience.
- Working Lead of Operations
- — Allocates machines and haul routes across a shift and facilitates peer execution of production routines, leading the work rather than managing people.
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As of · 2026-07-30
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