Drilling Engineering Lead

This position requires a seasoned technical expert in drilling engineering who has strong mentoring and leadership capabilities and a good knowledge of the Company’s safety practices. The position reports functionally to the EVP of Drilling & Completions and frequently works closely with the CEO on many complex and process improvement projects. The position will provide advanced technical guidance to both routine and complex drilling projects and is responsible for generating cost estimates and AFEs, coordinating permitting, and supporting drilling operations day to day in order to safely and cost-effectively drill wells. A successful candidate will provide support for the Asset Teams and recommend solutions to challenges that arise during drilling to optimize the development of producing fields. This position is a working lead position that required balance between the lead responsibilities and actual drilling engineering duties.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be responsible for:

- Adherence to company safety practices to promote an incident and injury-free workplace.

- Guiding and mentoring less experienced drilling engineers and asset team members in resolving advanced technical issues and improving risk-reward analysis and decision quality.

- Constantly reviewing, developing, or improving procedures and best practices for all the Company’s drilling challenges, from the most routine to the most complex jobs.

- Process oversight and production of new basin cost estimates for the acquisition group.

- Reviewing and developing company offset analysis processes with drilling and IT technicians to improve the automation of drilling data recording, storage, and reporting.

- Monitoring, analysis, and post-mortem review of all drilling NPT to help improve performance, reduce costs, and drive continuous improvement.

- Leading the drilling team in the generation of, reporting, review of end-of-well reports, post-well look-backs, and general quarterly reviews to drive continuous improvement.

- Responsible for setting, collecting, analyzing, and presenting drilling cost metrics.

- Participating in relevant professional groups to network with other drilling engineers and experts across the industry to stay abreast of current trends and technologies that can help improve routine, step-out, and complex drilling challenges.

- Working closely with the leadership team and responsible for driving the final decisions on all drilling across routine as well as complex drilling situations.

- Leading the drilling team in optimizing BHA (including bit selection) requirements, optimizing hydraulics programs, and defining required drilling rig specifications.

- Leading the drilling team with monitoring ongoing 24/7 drilling operations and assisting with troubleshooting drilling-related problems with cost-effective solutions.

- Other duties and responsibilities as assigned by the leadership team.

Qualifications & Skills

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skills, and abilities required to perform this job successfully.

Education/Experience

Bachelor’s degree in engineering or a related field.

15+ years of experience in drilling operations

Experience with complex drilling conditions and the related solutions in the Eagleford shale.

Computer Skills

Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite and Power BI.

Familiar with common drilling database and rig activity recording software.

Other Skills

Expert knowledge of drilling fluids, well control, casing, and cementing

Expert knowledge of well planning, directional drilling, and LIH recovery techniques.

Natural curiosity that drives the desire to stay current with new technologies

Certificates and Licenses

Well Control Certificate