Operations Engineer

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary engineering liaison for field operations by responding to daily production issues, prioritizing corrective actions, and documenting resolutions.
• Conduct regular onsite field visits (minimum 2+ times per week) to assess well performance, inspect equipment, and proactively identify optimization opportunities.
• Partner with Production Engineers to evaluate workover candidates, artificial lift changes, and facility modifications using economic analysis (NPV, payout, LOE impact).
• Develop and maintain standardized operating procedures (SOPs) for field operations to ensure consistency and adherence to best practices.
• Review daily production data, downtime reports, and LOE trends to identify underperforming wells and implement corrective action plans.
• Execute well performance surveillance data (fluid levels, dynacards, casing pressures, run times, etc.) to optimize artificial lift systems and maximize production efficiency.
• Participate in pump teardown reviews to identify root causes and prevent recurrence of equipment failures.
• Identify bottlenecks (pressure restrictions, facility constraints, undersized equipment) and execute debottlenecking projects to increase throughput.
• Evaluate and optimize chemical treatment programs (corrosion, scale, paraffin, H2S) by tracking chemical spend vs. production performance and optimizing injection rates or equipment sizing as needed.
• Monitor artificial lift KPIs such as run life, failure frequency, lifting costs, and downtime, and work with engineers and field to implement continuous improvement initiatives.
• Lead commissioning of new wells, ensuring proper integration into production systems and adherence to operational and safety standards.
• Coordinate and manage flowback operations for new wells with field operations.
• Work with production engineering team to execute installation of desired artificial lift equipment.
• Develop detailed project scopes, cost estimates (AFE preparation), timelines, and resource plans for LOE reduction and production enhancement projects.
• Manage project execution from concept to closeout, tracking schedule, budget, and performance metrics.
• Monitor and report project costs, forecast expenditures, and implement corrective actions to prevent budget overruns.
• Conduct structured root cause failure analysis (RCFA) on equipment and system failures and implement corrective action plans.
• Evaluate and optimize compression systems, injection systems, and gas-lift infrastructure to ensure adequate pressure support and production uplift.
• Participate in multidisciplinary planning meetings to provide technical recommendations on system design, capacity limits, and infrastructure needs.
• Monitor industry best practices, emerging technologies, and regulatory updates, and incorporate relevant improvements into operations.
• Mentor junior engineers, interns, and field personnel through structured training sessions and hands-on field coaching.
• Conduct regular performance review meetings with field operations to evaluate LOE drivers, system reliability, and production performance.
• Prepare and present monthly performance summaries to senior management outlining production gains, LOE reductions, capital project status, and operational risks.
• Foster cross-functional collaboration between Operations, Production, Facilities, HSE, and Finance to align operational execution with company objectives.
• Demonstrate ownership and accountability for assigned assets, ensuring operational excellence and continuous performance improvement.

Qualifications

• BS in Engineering from an ABET accredited program is required.
• PREFERRED: 5+ years of production/operations/facility engineering experience.
• EXCELLENT COMPUTER SKILLS AND PROFICIENCY IN MICROSOFT EXCEL.
• EXCELLENT COMMUNICATION SKILLS AND CAPABILITY TO WORK EFFECTIVELY IN A MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM ENVIRONMENT.
• EXCELLENT INTERPERSONAL SKILLS AND HIGH DEGREE OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE.
• SELF-MOTIVATED AND HIGH LEVEL OF PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR THE PROJECTS ASSIGNED.
• EXPERIENCE WITH ARIES, RODSTAR, SCADA SYSTEMS, SPOTIFY/POWERBI, AWS TOOLS, SITEVIEW AND WELLVIEW ARE PREFERRED.
• EXPERIENCE WITH OPTIMIZING DOWNHOLE WELL EQUIPMENT AND RECOGNIZING FAILURE POINTS.
• EXPERIENCE WITH WELL-SITE PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT AND INDUSTRY STANDARDS (API, ASME, DOT).
• PROJECT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE PREFERRED.
• EXPERIENCE WITH AUTOCAD, CADWORX, OR SIMILAR DESIGN SOFTWARE ARE PREFERRED.
• EXPERIENCE WITH FLOW SIMULATION TOOLS (PROMAX, SYMMETRY, ETC.) PREFERRED.