The energy industry – oil & gas sector in particular – is bracing itself for a massive wave of retirements over the short to medium term, which has been dubbed “The Great Shift Change.” As the industry prepares for this turnover, companies are looking to the next generation of candidates with skills ranging from finance, geology, engineering, law, etc.

Additionally, lots of exciting opportunities are opening up in various renewable energy sectors as technological advancements rapidly disrupt traditional utility business models. The energy efficiency business is also growing by leaps and bounds, as significant cost saving benefits associated with using less energy are an easy sell for most businesses.

With these issues in mind, Breaking Energy highlights a few interesting energy jobs on a weekly basis. 

Environmental Soil and Ground Water Management 

Shell: Houston, TX

• Work as part of a team that provides sustainable risk-based solutions for soil and groundwater issues (e.g. water resource management and contaminated land management) via technical assurance supported by world-class R&D and Advocacy, in partnership with the Shell businesses
• Interface with Shell environmental and business staff, external consultants, and regulators
• Current focus for Downstream is providing high-level technical assurance on site characterization, conceptual site models, risk assessments and remediation strategies prepared by external consultants for contaminated land management (CLM)
• Current focus for Upstream is water resource management and environmental monitoring related to development of onshore tight sand/shale plays
• Contribute as a team member to the delivery of R&D, Advocacy, and training programs designed to both maintain our capability to deliver leading-edge soil groundwater (SGW) technology, and to communicate Shell’s technical position on key soil and groundwater issues to policy makers, regulators, and other key stakeholders
• Must have a minimum of a Master’s Degree, or PhD degree in Hydrogeology, Environmental Engineering or a related discipline
• Must have at least eight (8) years of substantial, practical experience working in a groundwater resource or contamination-related role, for industry or regulatory agency, or an independent consultancy

Production Foreman 

Statoil: Ross, ND

• Must have good project management experience
• Must have good leadership and supervisory skills to manage contractors and/or service providers
• Will be responsible for supervising daily production activities through production crews and service providers
• Will coordinate all contract crews, trucking activities, and well services
• Must coordinate selection, purchase, and installation of production equipment
• Responsible for maximizing production at minimum cost
• Ensure crews and service providers meet safety standards and quality controls for optimum production
• Develops and implements operating methods and procedures designed to eliminate operating problems and improve product quality
• Revises production schedules and priorities as result of equipment failure or operating problems
• Monitor production rates, and plan rework processes to improve production
• Assist engineering and other personnel to solve operating problems
• Maintain records of drilling and production operations
• Confer with scientific, engineering, and technical personnel to resolve design, research, and testing problems
• Should have good communication and organization skills and the ability to work independently and with a team engineers, landmen and geophysical personnel
• High School diploma or equivalent
• Minimum of 5 years of production field experience
• Strong interpersonal skills including coaching, mentoring, conflict resolution and persuasion skills
• Travel is required

Senior Research Associate – Policy & Research Team 

The Alliance to Save Energy: Washington, DC

• Initiate and carry out research and analysis on energy efficiency, policies, programs and technologies.
• Assist in the development of positions on federal and state legislative initiatives and rulemakings, including drafting comments
• Use various data sources to respond to requests for data or fact-checking related to energy efficiency, energy consumption and impacts of policies, and provide responses through appropriate media (writing, graphs, tables, etc.)
• Prepare white papers, reports, summaries, fact sheets and similar products.
• Work with the Communications team to write blog posts , articles and other media pieces on research, technology, policy and regulatory developments for both the Alliance web site and for external publication
• Represent the Alliance in coalitions, external work groups, collaboratives and similar efforts and at conferences and in other venues.
• Perform other research, analytical, writing, editorial, project organization, and other support duties as assigned.
• Working with the Development team, contribute to funding proposals and grant reports.
• Knowledge of federal and/or state legislative and rulemaking processes
• Bachelor’s degree in economics, engineering, science, policy or another relevant technical discipline.
• A master’s degree or equivalent experience in economics, engineering, science or another relevant technical discipline.
• Experience with a federal agency or in a state policy environment.
• Experience with public speaking.
• Experience analyzing legislation and regulation.
• Experience writing web content.
• Experience with grant writing and grant reporting.