Principal Engineer - Heat Transfer

At Freeport-Mc Mo Ran , we are committed to providing employment that recognizes excellence and encourages safe production, with a culture supported by our core values. Here, you’ll find a collaborative environment where safety is a top priority.

Where You Will Work

Our global headquarters is in Phoenix, Arizona. Several hundred employees support our operations in finance, human resources, health and safety, information technology, planning, and more. Our flexible work program allows employees to work virtually as well as come together in person when needed at our Collaboration Hub in Phoenix and/or one of our site locations. Employees can work remotely from most states in the U.S., with the exception of California, Connecticut, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma and South Carolina.

Additional states may be excluded from remote work based on business factors.

Should the position shift to in-person (office/site) work in the future, the company will offer relocation benefits at that time, so long as the position meets the established eligibility for these benefits.

Provide technical leadership and subject matter expertise in mechanical heat transfer principles, including conduction, convection, radiation, and heat exchanger design, supporting heap leach and hydrometallurgical operations. Serve as the organization's leading expert in heat exchanger selection and design, stockpile thermal modeling, and thermal management within leach environments.

Lead the development, calibration, and validation of thermal models to predict heat generation, distribution, and loss within stockpiles. Drive the design and optimization of heat exchanger systems and heated raffinate distribution networks, while developing thermal retention strategies that improve sulfide leaching kinetics and maximize metal recovery.

• Lead heat transfer studies involving conduction, convection, and radiation heat transfer within heap leach stockpiles, applying first-principles thermal analysis to predict pile temperature behavior.
• Provide technical leadership for the design, specification, sizing, selection, optimization, and troubleshooting of heat exchanger systems, including shell-and-tube, plate-and-frame, and specialty equipment. Apply advanced thermal design methodologies such as LMTD and effectiveness-NTU analyses while developing strategies to address fouling and improve heat transfer performance.
• Develop, calibrate, and validate advanced thermal models to predict heat generation, propagation, temperature distribution, heat penetration, and thermal breakthrough within heap leach stockpiles, supporting process optimization and operational decision-making.
• Monitor, evaluate, and recommend emerging technologies, industry best practices, and technical advancements in heat transfer, thermal modeling, heat recovery, and thermal management systems to enhance operational efficiency and metallurgical performance.
• Perform other duties as required.

• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering or related engineering discipline and seven (7) years of experience in related engineering field; OR
• Master’s degree in Engineering or related engineering discipline and five (5) years of experience in related engineering field; OR
• PhD in Engineering or related engineering discipline and three (3) years of experience in related engineering field.

• Demonstrated expertise in heat exchanger design, sizing, and troubleshooting (LMTD, effectiveness-NTU, fouling, pressure drop).
• Ability to develop and validate thermal models of large-scale systems such as heap leach stockpiles (heat pile modeling and retention).
• Working knowledge of…