Skip to content

Kylie Sherriff

from Woolworths Cashier to Long Term Planner
I plan and manage sit resources and budgets
Industry
Mining and Resources
Company
Rio Tinto
Job Level
Senior

Ask me about

  • The skills and qualifications that helped me move into leadership
  • The advice I would give if you're interested in a career in mining
  • How I progressed from being a Shift Operator to a Long Term Planner

About me

  • Regional Background

I began my mining and industrial operations career at Bell Bay Aluminium as a shift operator. During my time there, I progressed through a variety of roles, including Process Controller, Supervisor, and Trainer and Assessor, gaining extensive experience in operations, leadership, and workforce development.

After five years, I transitioned into Maintenance Coordinating, where I was responsible for planning and managing high-risk work activities, including roofing, fire systems, lifting equipment inspections, road works, and civil projects. These roles strengthened my planning, risk management, and stakeholder engagement skills. Today, I work as a Long Term Planner for Gove in the Northern Territory.

About my role

  • Analytical
  • Decisive
  • Humorous
  • Logical
  • Perfectionist

I am responsible for developing and maintaining long term maintenance and asset work plans to ensure assets remain safe, reliable, and fit for purpose throughout their lifecycle. I work closely with operations, maintenance, engineering, and project teams to identify future work requirements, balance operational priorities, and optimise resource utilisation. Using asset condition information, risk assessments, performance data, and maintenance strategies, I forecast work programs and develop plans that support budget, safety, reliability, and business objectives. I monitor emerging risks, asset trends, and future demands to ensure plans remain aligned with organisational priorities. My role focuses on providing a structured, forward looking approach to maintenance planning, enabling informed decision making and helping ensure work can be delivered safely, efficiently, and at the right time.

Education

  • Contribute to Assessment (Unit of Competency)
  • Provide On-the-Job Training (Unit of Competency)

Subjects

  • English
  • Food and Technology
  • Health and Human Development
  • Specialist Mathematics (Maths C)

Hobbies

  • Beach adventures
  • Camping
  • Cooking
  • Gym
  • Travel

Pets

  • 2 Dog

My career journey

Curious to know how I got here? Here’s a snapshot of my career pathway.
  1. Shift Operator at Bell Bay
  2. Transitioned into Process Control and Operations leadership
  3. Became a Trainer and Assessor
  4. Worked coordinating high-risk maintenance
  5. Now working in strategic long term asset planning

My typical day

My employer

Rio Tinto operates in 35 countries where its 60,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs. Rio’s portfolio includes iron ore, copper, aluminium and a range of other minerals and materials needed for people, communities and nations to grow and prosper, and for the world to cut carbon emissions to net zero. Continuously searching for new projects that can support the energy transition, Rio Tinto is currently exploring for 8 commodities in 17 countries. The organisation has more than 150 years of mining and processing experience guiding its work and, today, the business relies on technology such as automation and artificial intelligence to help it run more safely, more efficiently and leave a lighter footprint.