Specialist - Project Planning & Integration at Vale

Job description

Who We Are We are a global mining company dedicated to safely delivering nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum group metals essential for the world’s energy transition. Our mission is to improve lives and shape a better future together. From utensils to cellphones to satellites, our operations simplify daily life and enhance connectivity. Our metals are integral to life-saving medical equipment and the electric vehicles driving the fight against climate change – our work truly matters. Join our diverse team of 15,000 talented individuals committed to transforming critical minerals into prosperity and sustainable development in countries like Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and Japan. We invite you to use your skills with us and contribute to something meaningful and enduring. The Opportunity We are seeking a Specialist – Project Planning & Integration - to join our VBM / CTO / Studies / Project Controls team at Sudbury , Ontario . This is a permanent position reporting to the Sr. Manager, Project Controls - Canada and supporting Vale Base Metals' Canadian studies portfolio. The role is responsible for planning and scheduling across multiple studies and projects, ensuring the development, integration, and governance of study schedules and project execution schedules throughout the project lifecycle. As the planning discipline lead for the Canadian studies portfolio, the successful candidate will ensure that project schedules are fully integrated with estimating, risk management, cost control, change management, and performance management processes. This role also serves as a key planning advisor to Canadian Operations by providing independent schedule reviews, technical support, and planning capability development across the organization. About You You are an experienced planning and scheduling professional with a strong background supporting complex capital projects within mining, metals, energy, infrastructure, or other asset-intensive industries. You are skilled at translating technical scope, execution strategies, procurement requirements, construction sequencing, and operational readiness activities into realistic and achievable schedules. You thrive in environments where schedule integrity, project governance, and effective decision-making are critical to success. Your ability to collaborate with multidisciplinary teams, challenge assumptions constructively, and provide schedule-driven insights allows you to influence project outcomes and improve delivery certainty. In this role, you will: Planning and Scheduling for Studies Develop, maintain, and govern integrated study schedules for Canadian PEA, PFS, and FS projects. Establish schedule frameworks, work breakdown structures (WBS), milestones, logic networks, schedule assumptions, and critical path methodologies aligned with Vale standards. Validate schedules prepared by engineering consultants and EPCM contractors to ensure logic integrity, realistic durations, resource assumptions, and alignment with project execution strategies. Perform schedule quality assessments, critical path analysis, float analysis, scenario planning, and schedule optimization reviews. Develop Basis of Schedule documentation and maintain schedule governance throughout study lifecycles. Lead schedule reviews and provide schedule recommendations supporting phase-gate and investment decision processes. Development of Project Execution Schedules Develop and maintain project execution schedules covering engineering, procurement, contracting, construction, commissioning, and ramp-up phases. Collaborate closely with engineering, procurement, contracts, construction, HSE, permitting, operations readiness, and commissioning teams to create credible and executable schedules. Integrate execution strategies, contracting approaches, long-lead procurement requirements, construction sequencing, and site constraints within schedule logic. Evaluate alternative execution scenarios and scheduling str