Field Hardware Engineer

About the company:

The mining industry has steadily become worse at finding new ore deposits, requiring >10X more capital to make discoveries compared to 30 years ago. The easy-to-find, near-surface deposits have largely been found, and the industry has chronically under-invested in new exploration technology, relying on the manual techniques of yesteryear – even as demand accelerates for copper, lithium, and other metals to build electric vehicles, renewable energy, and data centers.

KoBold builds AI models for mineral exploration and deploys those models—alongside our novel sensors—to guide decisions on KoBold-owned-and-operated exploration programs. In the six years since founding, KoBold has become by far both the largest independent mineral exploration company and the largest exploration technology developer. Our data scientists and software engineers, who come from leading technology companies, jointly lead exploration programs with our renowned exploration geologists.

KoBold has proven its first discovery with materially less capital than the industry average and found one of the best copper deposits ever discovered: the copper is far more concentrated than the global average of copper mines, and this asset alone is expected to generate meaningful revenue for decades. KoBold has a portfolio of more than 60 other projects, each of which has the potential for another high-quality discovery.

We are hiring a Field Hardware Engineer to help accelerate our mission.

About the position

In this role, you will deploy, operate and maintain prototype hardware technology to improve our exploration programs in Zambia. These hardware technologies produce data that feed the algorithms, models, and analysis that the company uses for mineral exploration, first in Zambia and subsequently around the globe. You will work hands-on to further develop Mingomba’s instrumentation and drilling technology. The data collected by your hardware will create insights that accelerate discovery of critical battery metals.

You will join an outstanding team of data scientists and engineers and will work closely with world-renowned geoscientists to incorporate our best understanding of the chemical and physical processes that create ore deposits.

Ultimately, your role is to help make valuable discoveries by building and deploying next generation hardware to solve scientific problems.

Responsibilities

The Field Hardware Engineer will:

• Deploy and maintain measurement and instrumentation systems at KoBold’s Mingomba site and other sites around Zambia.

• Work hands on to design, build, improve, and repair equipment and instrumentation such as imaging systems, lab measurement systems, and drill site systems in the field and in the core shed.

• Coordinate with KoBold and contractor staff to ensure proper and ongoing operation of measurement and instrumentation systems including conducting operator training.

• Be the in country lead for deployment of new technologies, coordinating logistics & labor, component receiving and inspection, assembly and validation.

• Work closely with vendors to successfully deliver complex hardware systems on time and on budget.

• Source vendors and components in Zambia as well as sourcing and importing parts not available in Zambia.

• Iterate mechanical designs in Solidworks

• Present to and collaborate with our external partners and stakeholders.

Qualifications

A great Field Hardware Engineer candidate will have:

• A successful track record of deploying, maintaining, and improving complex state-of-the-art equipment in production environments.

• Excellent communication skills for a highly interdisciplinary and international workplace

• Ability to coordinate across multiple groups and work across timezones.

• Experience selecting, managing and driving vendors to deliver components meeting quality requirements on time and on budget.

• High attention to detail and organized. Ability to foresee issues and get ahead of them.

Technical skills, including extensive experience with:

• Mechanical engineering, CAD, prototyping, vendor and contractor management.

• Machining, sheet metal fabrication, welding, and 3D prototype printing

• Electrical systems, cable management, wiring, soldering, connectorization

Training and work experience:

• BSc in Mechanical Engineering / Control & Automation / Electronics & Instrumentation or equivalent

• At least 5 years of experience in mechanical design, fabrication, and prototyping

• At least 2 years experience deploying and maintaining equipment in the field

Work practices and motivation:

• Extremely motivated to take ownership and responsibility of large projects

• Enjoys constantly learning such that you are driving insights and innovations

• Ability to explain technical problems to and collaborate on solutions with domain experts who aren’t hardware experts

• Ability to independently prioritize multiple tasks effectively

It is also helpful but not required to have experience with:

• Camera systems

• Basic electronic engineering including power supplies, networking, data collection systems

• Python programming

• Level 3 Technicians are encouraged to apply

Mingomba Mining Ltd is an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunities for people of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or veteran status.

Location: Chililabombwe, Zambia