Principal Hydrogeologist

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Start Date: ASAP
Work Model: Hybrid
Location: Downtown Toronto (outside Union Station – TTC & GO accessible)
Dress Code: Business Casual 
A Great Place to Work

Who We Are

Founded in 1993, Kinross is a Canadian-based senior gold mining company with operations and projects in the United States, Brazil, Mauritania, Chile and Canada. Our focus on delivering value is based on our four core values of Putting People First, Outstanding Corporate Citizenship, High Performance Culture, and Rigorous Financial Discipline.

Mining responsibly is a priority for Kinross, and we foster a culture that makes responsible mining and operational success inseparable. Our values-based approach ensures that sustainability and our environmental, social and governance commitments are a core part of our strategy and plans for future growth. In line with our values, we also aim to build meaningful partnerships with all of our stakeholders, including communities, shareholders, employees, governments and suppliers.

Kinross maintains listings on the Toronto Stock Exchange (symbol: K) and the New York Stock Exchange (symbol: KGC).

Job Summary

The Principal Hydrogeologist provides technical expertise, leadership, and a strong focus on sustainable water management within mining projects and operations. The Principal Hydrogeologist will focus on assessing and managing groundwater for environmental stewardship and operational efficiency. This involves responsibilities related to seepage control, environmental impact assessment, mine dewatering, and geotechnical design. The Principal Hydrogeologist advises site and corporate management on challenges related to physical hydrogeology, groundwater geochemistry, and interactions with related areas, including surface water hydrology, geotechnical stability of open pit mines, underground mines, heap leach pads, and tailings facilities. Additionally, the role requires contributions to mine closure planning, permitting, remediation, and compliance monitoring, as required.

Key Responsibilities

Reports to the Director, Environment but with a dotted line reporting relationship to the Director, Geotechnical. The division of work will vary but is expected to be approximately 70% in support of environmental stewardship and 30% in support of mine operations and geotechnical engineering.

The Principal Hydrogeologist will:

• Provide independent support and guidance to sites and corporate project teams on hydrogeological studies and projects, including both desktop studies and field investigation programs.
• Direct consultants and contractors to ensure the production of technically sound work products that align with Kinross’ business objectives.
• Oversee hydrogeological consultant procurement and independent peer reviews of water studies, ensuring appropriate scopes, rigorous evaluation, and timely resolution of findings.
• Provide strategic advice and executive-level communications to senior leaders and Board members on major operational challenges, supported by technical analysis, diagnostics, and external expertise.
• Participate in site visits, inspections, reviews, and audits related to groundwater.
• Support sites in reviewing and analyzing hydrogeological issues, including characterization of groundwater flow and hydraulic properties of soil and rock; analysis of trends in chemical constituents of groundwater, and groundwater modeling work where applicable.
• Assist sites in developing and implementing action plans related to groundwater management.
• Support site water management by contributing to the development and maintenance of water balance models.
• Participate in environmental hydrogeology through assessment of potential contaminant transport; evaluation of seepage; analysis of geochemistry, and robust impact assessment related to groundwater extraction and drawdown.
• Assist geotechnical hydrogeology through analysis of open pit slope stability and underground excavations and troubleshooting dewatering and depressurization issues in both open pit and underground mines.
• Support groundwater assessments in relation to dam and tailings facility stability, and in tailings basin integrity for seepage mitigation.
• Enhance, as needed, the Kinross environmental management program based on groundwater best management practices and industry standards.
• Participate in due diligence reviews with groundwater related scope, as needed.
• Lead the development of corporate hydrogeological and environmental monitoring data tools, including Power BI dashboards connected to site monitoring databases (e.g., MonitorPro, PI Vision), hydrochemical visualization (e.g., Piper diagrams), automated extraction of laboratory data, and Python-based analysis, to improve risk visibility and compliance tracking across sites.

Qualifications and Skills

• A degree directly related to hydrogeology (typically in Geology, Civil, Geotechnical, or Geological Engineering) is required.
• A master’s degree in hydrogeology is preferred.
• Registered as a P.Geo. or P.Eng. (or eligible to do so within one year of starting in the position).
• 12or more years of hydrogeology experience, with at least 6 years in mining.
• Experience in site investigation, analysis, groundwater modeling, and interfaces with engineering design and construction oversight.
• Experience in seepage mapping and pit dewatering.
• Familiarity with both environmental and geotechnical applications of hydrogeology. While specialization in one area is acceptable, overall well-rounded experience in hydrogeology, particularly with mining applications, is essential.
• Proficiency with groundwater modeling software and Leapfrog (or other geological modeling tool is essential)
• Ability and willingness to travel and work internationally.
• Ability to speak Spanish and Portuguese is an asset.
• Ability to work independently with minimal oversight.
• Strong communication and presentation skills including concise, data-driven reporting to senior leadership.
• Highly organized: able to manage a large and growing body of historical and current technical information across multiple sites, and to condense diverse reports and datasets into concise, decision-ready summaries for site teams and senior leadership.
• Ability to interface effectively with senior site and consulting company staff.
• Experience in managing people across diverse functional and technical areas.
• Team player with a strong inclination towards developing cooperative solutions.
• Aptitude to effectively manage multiple tasks and changing priorities, often under pressure and within time constraints.
• Understanding of Kinross processes is a definite asset.

Use of AI in Our Hiring Process

We use AI-enabled tools to help sort and review applications based on job-related criteria. All hiring decisions, including who moves forward in the process, are made by a human.

Existing Vacancy

This job posting is for an existing vacancy