About Orica
"Orica has evolved to become one of the world's leading mining services companies. We are an Australian owned, publicly-listed global company based in offices in over 50 countries, providing products and services to customers in over 100 countries."
We have evolved from a supplier of explosives to the Victorian gold fields in 19th Century Australia into a multi-billion dollar company that is currently ranked as one of the top 30 companies listed on the Australian Stock Exchange based on market capitalisation.
Orica’s proud traditions of leadership, innovation, quality and safety are shared by our 13,000 people located in around 50 countries across six continents.
Orica turns science into the solutions that satisfy basic human needs. Our products, brands and services can be trusted for their reliability, range and quality. Each of our businesses – Orica Mining Services, Minova and Orica Chemicals - is the leader in its chosen market.
Orica Mining Services
Orica Mining Services offers commercial explosives, initiating systems and Blast Based Services to the mining, quarrying and construction industries. Operating across more than 100 countries, Orica mining Services in the world's largest supplier of commercial explosives and blasting systems. The business has established ammonium nitrate plants in Australia, North America, Latin America and Asia.
Orica Chemicals
Orica Chemicals is a leading manufacturer, trader and distributor of chemicals and services for customers in industrial, mining, pulp and paper, water treatment, construction, dairy, food and beverage and agriculture markets. The group has six business units: Mining Chemicals, Chemicals Australia, Chemnet New Zealand, Orica Chemicals Latin America, Bronson & Jacobs and Marplex. The group has a strong portfolio of manufacturing and distribution assets strategically located across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Latin America and Africa.
Minova
Minova is a leading manufacturer and supplier of chemical-based consumables, steel bolts, application and drilling equipment and services associated with rock bolting, ground consolidation, ventilation and water control in the underground mining, tunneling and civil engineering markets. Minova operates sites in Australia, the Czech Republic, United Kingdom, Germany, India, South Africa, Poland, Russia, the USA, China, Kazakhstan, Sweden, Switzerland and Spain.
Our Global Graduate Program
Our Graduate Program develops future leaders for our technical, functional and leadership pipelines.
The Orica Global Graduate Program develops your technical and leadership capabilities, providing you with the necessary skills to have a successful, challenging and long-term career with Orica. Your passion, commitment and diversity of perspectives will help you contribute to Orica’s growth over the coming years. Through a supported program with real roles and real responsibility, we provide you with a competitive, challenging and rewarding experience.
As a truly global company Orica is progressive and forward thinking with a focus on global expansion and continued market leadership. The Global Graduate Program is strategically aligned to this strategy, creating endless opportunities for your growth and development.
On the Orica Graduate Program you will experience:
- 3 year program
- 3 diverse rotations
- 4 day development workshop per year with a focus on preparing you for operating in a global environment
- Established development frameworks for onsite technical training
- Opportunity for global rotations
- An assigned leadership Mentor for career guidance, support and advice
- A nominated graduate Buddy in your first year for peer-to-peer support
- Involvement in local community projects by way of the Graduate Sustainability Committee
You will receive:
- Best in class development - to put you ahead in your career
- Varied career options – no career path looks the same at Orica
- Networking opportunities with Orica’s leaders – you’re a valued part of Orica’s long term growth strategy
- Graduate peer community – a young professionals community is alive at Orica
- Accountability – we set targets for you from your first day so you know what results to drive for
- Highly competitive and diverse peers and team members
- Competitive salary and benefits
As the world's largest supplier of commercial explosives, we have a vast number of roles in the Mining industry to fit your university degree. We take graduates into the following functions;
- Technical Services - Work with some of the best Blasting Engineers to deliver blasting solutions to our customers in mining and quarries operations.
- Operations - Operations make our services happen for our customers. Work with Operations Managers and learn to manage multiple stakeholders, projects and the vast range of activities to deliver safe and efficient services for our customer.
- Engineering - Work with some of the best engineers and gain exposure to a range of Engineering roles including; Large scale manufacturing, Engineering Design, Research & Development, Project Management
- Marketing - Work across multiple marketing areas and business platforms to build a marketing career with a global focus
- Supply Chain - Work with our supply chain/logistics team who deliver supply chain outcomes in a complex and geographically challenging network. The team are responsible for moving bulk and packaged items through a variety of channels to our customer sites.
Orica Emerging Leaders Program
At Orica we have developed an Emerging Leaders Program to accelerate the development of high potential graduates showing business leadership capability. In this program you will experience involvement in projects cross-function to understand and develop new skills and knowledge of our global business. We test all applicants for leadership capability and invite a selected few to participate in the Emerging Leaders Program as an additional element to the Orica Graduate Program.
Our Graduates
Graduates selected from New Zealand can either start their graduate program in New Zealand or Australia.
Kirk Teesdale
BE Mechanical (Hons), Auckland University of Technology
- Orica Graduate Program Year 1: Maintenance Team, Mount Maunganui (NZ)
- Orica Graduate Program Year 2: Engineering Shared Services, Mount Maunganui (NZ)
- Orica Graduate Program Year 3: Engineering Shared Services, Mount Maunganui (NZ)
After completing my Bachelor of Engineering I joined Orica’s graduate programme for the first of three roles, which was with the maintenance team based at the Mount Maunganui manufacturing site. I was immediately given responsibility for aspects of the sites regulatory compliance as well as given ownership of several small projects. The work I carried out was a good mixture of hands on and theoretical work and I also got the bonus of travelling to other Orica NZ sites regularly.
Following a year in this role I moved into my second year of the programme and into my current position. I am still based at the Mount Maunganui site; however I am now working for Orica Engineering Shared Services, an internal engineering consultancy. My work has changed to being project based and is really exciting and fast moving - I never really know what I will be working on each day!
The opportunities given to me so far have far surpassed my expectations. The people I have worked with all over Orica’s different businesses so far are all willing to talk and take time out of their busy schedules to help me and answer my questions. The other graduates in the programme are a great bunch of people and I have had plenty of opportunity to get to know them with our twice a year graduate workshops.
Tim Scheirlinck
Mechanical Engineer, University of Auckland
- Orica Graduate Program Year 1: Orica Chemicals, Mount Maunganui, New Zealand
- Orica Graduate Program Year 2: Orica Mining Services, Gladstone, Queensland
I started with Orica on the Graduate Program in February 2011 after studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Auckland. My first role with the company has been working at the Mount Maunganui site in Tauranga, as a Mechanical Engineer in the maintenance team. The maintenance team covers all of Orica New Zealand’s manufacturing sites which has allowed me to gain even more experience by travelling to other sites on a regular basis. A role in maintenance has meant that every day can be different.
While working at the Mount Maunganui site I have been involved with updating process drawings, ensuring storage tanks are compliant, helping to create new databases and managing several of my own small projects. The work I have been involved in gives a good balance of being in the office and on site. The part I have most enjoyed in my role so far is managing projects. I have found it challenging and exciting as I was given full responsibility for how the projects turned out. Walking around on site and seeing projects that I have proposed, initiated, managed and then seen through to completion is very rewarding.
The highlight of the year for me is the bi-annual graduate workshops where graduates across Australia and New Zealand meet in Melbourne to discuss our roles and participate in leadership development activities that give us a greater understanding of ourselves and Orica’s operations. The workshops are fun and informative but the best part is getting the chance to talk to other graduates in the program and find out what sort of work they have been involved in. It’s a good way to find out where you might like to go on your next rotation.
My next rotation will be to the Yarwun site in Gladstone. It will be a completely different role working for the Orica Mining Services business platform. As with most things at Orica, moving to Australia will be both exciting and challenging, but I can’t wait!
Andrew Collins
Mining Engineer, University of New South Wales
After finishing my studies at UNSW, I joined Orica full time in March 2011 based out of the Townsville office. After a week of inductions and paperwork I went straight out to Cannington, Ernest Henry and Mt Wright to begin working underground with experienced underground operators. Working with crews and engineers of varying experience and with different mining methods in highly complex geological domains was a very good introduction to the role of a tech services engineer. My time with the operators gave me a very valuable insight into underground charge-up and the drill and blast process.
During my first year with Orica I have worked on numerous different sites owned by various companies and have been involved in some brand new product trials. These have ranged from experimental detonators, chemically decoupling bulk emulsions and small cast primers. This trial work has been very involved and rewarding because some of these products are now used globally and I frequently find people using them on sites I visit.
When you consider the fact that blasting is the primary means of rock breakage for almost every mine and quarry in the world, it is easy to see why good blasting engineers are very highly sought after – and well rewarded. My blasting engineering training has introduced me to arguably the most experienced blasting engineers in Australia, world renowned shock physicists, CSIRO geo-mechanical engineers and more than my fair share of mine managers.
Making the decision to work for a specialist contracting company may have appeared as a gamble at first however I have now worked on dozens of sites around Australia. The graduate program has presented me with many options regarding my career path and I am now about to begin 6 month work at BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam project as a contracted stope design engineer.
Kira Lakin
Chemical Engineer, University of Newcastle
- Orica Graduate Program Year 1: Technical R&D, Kurri Kurri, Newcastle, NSW
- Orica Graduate Program Year 2: Ammonia Plant, Kooragang Island, Newcastle, NSW
- Orica Graduate Program Year 3: Engineering Design, Melbourne, VIC
I joined Orica in February 2009 with the technical team at Kurri Kurri in Newcastle. I was involved in design, development and many trials of a number of projects including an emulsion mixing process used to make explosives in the mining industry. This technology was patented internationally and it was a fantastic opportunity to be participating in such a significant project straight out of university.
In my second rotation I decided to get large plant experience on Orica’s only ammonia plant at Kooragang Island, Newcastle. I enjoyed the challenge of a complex process where I spent part of my time doing some design work and the rest of my time helping in the continual juggle of plant pressures and temperature to maintain the highest plant efficiency possible in making ammonia. I was lucky enough to be a part of a major plant upgrade in which we implemented changes to increase plant capacity by almost 25%. I was a part of the commissioning team which checked everything that was installed and removed from the plant to ensure all modifications were carried out correctly. I went inside all of the vessels and towers on the plant and got to see what the insides looked like and how they work first hand rather than looking at pictures in textbooks. This was the highlight of my graduate program as it was engineering, but it was also time management, people management, leadership development, safety awareness and prevention and crisis management as nothing ever goes as smoothly as planned. It was an amazing experience that I never thought I could have gained only 30 months out from Uni.
I’m now in my last rotation getting pure engineering design skills at head office in Melbourne. I’m working on two large projects that will be implemented internationally. The world class experience I gained on ammonia nitrate technology has enabled me to use my plant based skills to implement a project in an existing plant.
All in all, the graduate program with Orica has opened my eyes to three very different engineering positions and I have gained invaluable experiences from each to help me launch my career in the direction I choose.
How to Apply
What you need to know
Degree’s and Disciplines
Orica accepts graduates from a wide range of disciplines including;
- Mining Engineering
- Chemical Engineering
- Mechanical Engineering
- Civil Engineering
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Electrical Engineering
- Science
- Geogolgy
- Surveying
- Chemistry
- Marketing
- Business/Commerce
- Supply Chain/Logistics
The skills and qualities we look for in graduates;
- genuine interest in our business and industry
- strong interpersonal and communication skills
- personal drive and motivation for a fulfilling career
- open minded with a willingness to learn and ability to embrace change
Our Recruitment & Selection Process:
- Online application
- Online psychometric testing
- Brief telephone interview
- Orica Assessment Centre
- Behavioral Interview
- Reference check, Medical and drug screen
How to apply
Visit our website and go through our online application.
When to apply
Applications are open now for the following disciplines; Business/Commerce, Mining Engineering, Geo-technical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Geo-Science, Geology
Eligibility
- At minimum, a three year university degree
- Minimum grade point average of 65
- Must be mobile and willing to relocate for each rotation
- New Zealand Citizen or Permanent Resident
Position locations
We recruit for a role in Australia/New Zealand and international opportunities are available for high performing graduates in their second or third year of the graduate program.
Locations in New Zealand could include; Auckland, Tauranga or Christchurch.
Locations in Australia could include; Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Perth, Newcastle, Emerald, Mackay, Townsville, Gladstone.
Further information
Please visit our website.
