Geoscience Engineering Manager

Job Summary

The Geoscience Engineering Manager role validates, challenges, and independently reconstructs the operator's geological, geophysical, and petrophysical work so that UCC's investment decisions, board reporting, and negotiating positions rest on an internally-owned technical view rather than on the operator's numbers alone.

The role covers three integrated disciplines — geology, geophysics, and petrophysics — either performed directly by the incumbent or coordinated through outsourced specialists/consultants where volume requires it.

Job Responsibilities 1

2.1 Geological Assessment & Assurance

• Independently validate operator-provided geological models (structural, stratigraphic, depositional) against raw and interpreted data rather than accepting operator conclusions at face value.
• Review and reconcile field maps, well correlations, and geological cross-sections for each non-operated asset.
• Assess field potential and remaining reserves/resources at a level sufficient to sanity-check operator and third-party Competent Person Reports (CPRs).
• Identify data gaps, inconsistencies, or optimistic assumptions in operator technical submissions, and formally document them for UCC leadership and JV governance forums.
• Identify and rank exploration upside, additional prospects, and appraisal opportunities within existing contract areas.

2.2 Geophysical Assessment & Assurance

• Review seismic interpretation (2D/3D), velocity models, and depth conversion delivered by the operator; flag material interpretation risk.
• Assess seismic data quality, coverage, and vintage against what is required to support development or exploration decisions.
• Support identification and technical screening of drilling targets, including risking of trap, seal, charge, and reservoir presence.
• Where new seismic acquisition or reprocessing is proposed by the operator, independently assess technical justification and cost-benefit.

2.3 Petrophysical Assessment & Assurance

• Review petrophysical interpretations (log analysis, net pay, porosity, saturation, permeability) underpinning operator resource estimates.
• Validate reservoir quality assumptions used in field development plans and economic models.
• Identify petrophysical uncertainty and its downstream impact on volumetrics and reserves classification.

2.4 Resource / Reserves & Data Governance

• Produce independent resource uncertainty summaries (P90/P50/P10) for each non-operated asset, distinct from — and reconciled against — the operator's figures.
• Build and maintain UCC's own subsurface data room for non-operated assets: logs, seismic, core data, petrophysical interpretations, and historical CPRs.
• Track data requests to operators and PDVSA, escalating gaps that materially affect UCC's ability to assess field potential.

2.5 Non-Operated Asset / JV Governance

• Provide technical input into work program and budget (AFE) reviews, sanction decisions, and Farm-in/Farm-out or new-asset screening
• Support due diligence on new opportunities.
• Prepare technical sections of board and shareholder (Bridge/Qatar) reporting packages.
• Coordinate with Reservoir/Petroleum Engineering, Commercial functions to ensure technical positions are reflected Operational Committee meetings.

Job Responsibilities 2

Additional Responsibilities 3

Job Knowledge & Skills

• Prior experience in Venezuela or comparable heavy-oil / mature-basin, PDVSA-JV, or ATF-type contractual environments.
• Experience with offshore gas exploration/appraisal (relevant to Loran Block 2 / Plataforma Deltana).
• Exposure to CPR review from major audit firms (e.g., Gaffney Cline, RPS/Sproule, DeGolyer & MacNaughton, NSAI).
• Prior exposure to a holding-company or investor-side technical assurance role, as opposed to an operating-company G&G role.

Job Experience

• Minimum 20 years of relevant upstream oil & gas experience, including exposure to both exploration and field development/appraisal work.
• Working knowledge of petrophysics sufficient to critically review log-derived reserve inputs, even if not the incumbent's primary discipline.
• Familiarity with reserves/resource classification standards (SPE-PRMS or equivalent).
• Fluent Spanish and English (written and spoken) — role interfaces with PDVSA, Ministry counterparts, and Qatar-based shareholders.

Competencies

Education