Overview:
The Project Development Engineer serves as the front-end integrator for green & brownfield upstream unconventional well locations, facilities, and infrastructure by translating business objectives, operational needs, and technical inputs into clear, aligned, execution-ready scopes. This role builds trusted partnerships across stakeholders and helps shape projects that deliver safe, efficient, and value-focused execution.
Responsibilities:
Front-End Project Development and Scope Definition
- Lead early planning and scoping for well pads, tank batteries, well pad facilities, flowlines, and related infrastructure from inception through design basis readiness.
- Translate business objectives, operational needs, and technical inputs into clear, aligned, execution-ready scopes.
- Support business unit development planning milestones including decision quality assurance reviews (Roadmaps) and drill unit reviews (DUR) ensuring smooth transition into project execution.
Lead Integrator Across Stakeholders
- Serve as the front-end integrator across Business Unit, Global Operations (GO), Wells (D&C), Project Execution, Central Engineering, Surface Land, Regulatory, Project Controls, and Supply Chain.
- Build trusted partnerships and align stakeholders early to reduce rework, clarify handoffs, and improve decision quality.
- Frame tradeoffs & options for stakeholders when scope, schedule, cost, risk, and stakeholder expectations are in tension.
Value Creation and Decision Quality
- Develop & evaluate infrastructure options to support capital-efficient, value-focused project recommendations for development scenarios to inform subsurface decisions.
- Partner with business, reservoir, operations, and project controls teams to support informed scoping and investment decisions.
Technical Basis, Planning, and Execution Readiness
- Develop and steward pre-Gate 3 technical basis, project layouts, site requirements, permitting strategies, planning assumptions, and standard design alignment.
- Coordinate early input for regulatory, land, permitting, constructability, equipment demand, inventory forecasting, and execution planning.
- Provide stewardship and coordination to enable smooth project handoff into execution.
Continuous Improvement and Team Effectiveness
- Contribute to a collaborative team culture built on clarity, ownership, constructive challenge, and trusted partnership.
- Identify process gaps, interface issues, and rework drivers across the front-end development process.
- Support development of tools, workflows, and standards that improve scope quality, consistency, and execution readiness.
Key Relationships / Interfaces
The Project Development Engineer works across a broad set of stakeholders, including:
- Subsurface / Development Planning: Development concepts/priorities, well sequencing, resource plans, and economics
- Global Operations: Facility operational requirements, constraints, operability, and maintenance considerations
- Surface Land / Regulatory: Site planning, permitting strategy, access, constraints, and regulatory readiness
- Integrated Operations Planning & Scheduling (IOPS): Drilling & Completions well timing, planning task milestone compliance
- Wells (Drilling / Completions): Well planning interfaces, development timing, pad / facility coordination, and execution sequencing
- Project Execution: Handoff readiness, constructability, execution planning, schedule assumptions, and scope clarity
- Central Engineering: Standard design verification, technical basis support, and engineering guidance
- Project Controls: Cost, schedule, and capital efficiency support
- Procurement / Supply Chain: Equipment demand/planning and inventory requirements
What Success Looks Like
- Be recognized as a trusted front-end integrator across the organization.
- Develop clear, aligned scopes that reduce downstream rework and improve execution readiness.
- Create stakeholder alignment before projects move into execution.
- Help the business make better development decisions through option evaluation, capital efficiency, and value-based tradeoffs.
- Bring clarity to ambiguous problems and help move the team from uncertainty to executable plans.
Qualifications:
- Must have a BS degree in Engineering or related technical studies
- Prior experience in Project Development, Execution and Planning activities (upstream unconventional is preferred)
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.5
- Proficient in Microsoft Office programs