Drilling Performance Engineer II

The Drilling Performance Engineer II serves as an advanced technical contributor supporting SmartPLAN and NDS Performance Drilling technologies. This role operates with increased autonomy, providing in-depth drilling analytics, customer engagement, and operational recommendations to drive measurable performance improvements.

The Level II engineer acts as a subject matter resource across districts and product lines, leading performance reviews, supporting field deployments, and contributing to product development feedback loops. This position requires strong field credibility, advanced data interpretation skills, and the ability to influence customers through data-driven insights.

- Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, or related discipline.

- 3–5 years of experience in drilling operations, performance engineering, or drilling analytics.

- Minimum 2 years of direct field drilling experience preferred.

- Strong working knowledge of drilling operations, rig equipment, and control systems.

- Ability to independently manage multiple customer accounts and projects.

- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

- Experience with data analytics tools such as Spotfire, Power BI, SQL, or Python.

- Knowledge of automatic drillers, directional automation, oscillation mitigation, and stick-slip mitigation systems.

- Experience with SmartPLAN or other drilling performance optimization platforms.

- Familiarity with Gen AI tools for analytics or reporting enhancement.

Directional drilling experience.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS / WORKING CONDITIONS

- Ability to travel to field locations, including rig sites.

- Ability to work in office and field environments.

- Exposure to drilling rig environments including noise, vibration, and outdoor conditions when on-site.

- Capable of meeting site-specific safety requirements and certifications.

Performance Products Operations

- Conduct advanced drilling performance analysis beyond standard report interpretation, including KPI trend analysis, benchmarking, flat time studies, and offset well comparisons.

- Lead customer-facing performance reviews and provide actionable recommendations to optimize drilling efficiency.

- Develop and refine drilling performance metrics, dashboards, and analytical methodologies.

- Support cross-functional teams with interpretation of product performance reports and drilling analytics.

- Contribute to and enhance the Performance Drilling Knowledge Base, including tool improvements and data-driven insights.

- Coordinate with customers on well planning, SmartPLAN configuration, and execution strategies.

- Perform in-depth flat time analysis and root cause investigations to identify improvement opportunities.

- Provide on-site or remote expert support during field trials and technology deployments.

- Create detailed internal and external reports demonstrating product value, ROI, and operational improvements.

- Serve as escalation support for complex performance or operator disputes, providing technical recommendations to management.

- Provide operational feedback to Product Development and Engineering teams to support continuous improvement.

Assist districts with advanced engineering support and performance optimization initiatives.

Customer Engagement & Relationship Management

- Build strong technical relationships with operators and drilling contractors.

- Act as a trusted advisor by understanding customer drilling challenges and aligning SmartPLAN solutions accordingly.

- Support differentiation of NDS technologies by embedding performance analytics into customer workflows

Participate in customer technical workshops and strategic planning discussions.

Sales Support & Business Development

- Identify performance improvement opportunities that may lead to technology expansion or additional services.

- Support account managers during technical sales discussions and executive presentations.

- Deliver technical demonstrations and performance case studies.

- Contribute operational insights to marketing materials and success stories

- Represent NDS technologies at industry events as needed.

Nabors is a leading provider of advanced technology for the energy industry. With operations in about 20 countries, Nabors has established a global network of people, technology and equipment to deploy solutions that deliver safe, efficient and responsible hydrocarbon production. By leveraging its core competencies, particularly in drilling, engineering, automation, data science and manufacturing, Nabors aims to innovate the future of energy and enable the transition to a lower carbon world.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Nabors is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibiting discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, religion, age, color, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.  This applies to all terms and conditions of employment including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leave of absence, compensation, and training.  To learn more about our Fair Employment practices, please refer to the Nabors Code of Conduct .