Senior Specialist, Geology & Data Science

aer; Edmonton; On-site; CAD 130,000 - 153,000; Full time

Job summary

The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), a branch of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), is seeking a Senior Specialist in Geology and Data Science to lead multi-disciplinary data science work across oil and gas, minerals, groundwater and natural resources. You will extract insights, build predictive models, and drive AI enablement initiatives within AGS.

You will collaborate with geologists, geomodelers, data managers, IT, and regulatory staff to deliver scalable analytics, data architectures, and

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science, geoscience, or geoscience related discipline.
• 7+ years in the energy industry managing geological datasets, developing and applying modern data science workflows, and exhibiting advanced programming skills.
• Expert knowledge and experience in geological data validation, manipulation, visualization, and presentation, including using machine learning and AI.
• Strong technical proficiency with Python, R, SQL, or other high-level programming languages and software tools used to support data management and analytics.
• Experience designing, developing, and deploying machine learning, statistical, and predictive modelling solutions to address complex scientific and business challenges.
• Experience applying advanced analytics using libraries such as tidymodels, mlr3, xgboost, and ranger in R, and scikit-learn, XGBoost, LightGBM, TensorFlow, and PyTorch in Python.
• Experience integrating machine learning solutions with cloud, geospatial, and enterprise data platforms to support scalable and operationalized analytics.
• Preferred experience developing and applying machine learning, statistical, and AI methods for subsurface characterization, risk, resource evaluation, and predictive modelling using geological, geophysical, petrophysical, engineering, and spatial datasets.
• Awareness of integration of data and its relation to geoscience applications (e.g. Schlumberger Petrel and Studio, IHS Accumap and Kingdom, LASWorx, ESRI ArcGIS Pro, etc).
• Preferred experience developing and deploying machine learning solutions using R and Python within enterprise analytics environments (e.g., Posit Connect, Databricks, Azure ML), including reproducible workflows, model governance, and integration with geoscience and spatial dat

Responsibilities

• Providing technical leadership and guidance while being a significant contributor on multi-disciplinary projects requiring a broad range of data science expertise
• Lead AI enablement initiatives by advancing AI literacy, identifying opportunities for responsible AI adoption, promoting effective AI use, and fostering a culture of innovation and continuous business process improvements
• Own scientific interpretation, method development, and validation of predictive products to ensure they are scientifically sound, meet QA requirements, and results are fit for purpose.
• Compile and clean geological, operational, and regulatory data, extract insights, and create predictive models, using AI and machine learning for the purposes of geological mapping/modelling, landscape susceptibility analysis, assessing operational risks including induced seismicity and addressing other geological/geoenvironmental issues. Translate data into actionable insight through interactive visualizations, reports and dashboards to support internal and external requests.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts across data management, geosciences, engineering, and regulatory processes to facilitate modern, integrated, high-confidence database architectures and analytical tools.
• Collaborate with our IT team to align data science practices with enterprise platform strategies, architecture, and technology standards.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship in the data science space, enabling capability development and success of staff and the organization.
• Communicate complex data solutions, risks, and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders to support data literacy and responsible data use across AGS.

Skills

Python

R

SQL

Machine Learning

AI

Geoscience

Geological Data Validation

Data Visualization

Data Management

Cloud

GIS

Petrel

ArcGIS Pro

Studio

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science or geoscience

Tools

tidymodels

mlr3

xgboost

ranger

scikit-learn

TensorFlow

PyTorch

LightGBM

Posit Connect

Databricks

Azure ML

Petrel

ArcGIS Pro

Job description

Location: Edmonton or Calgary, Alberta

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Salary Range: T4, Level 6, $130,050 - $153,000 per year. The final compensation for this position will be determined based on individual factors, including education, qualifications, experience, and internal equity.

Senior Specialist, Geology and Data Science

The Opportunity

The Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), a branch of the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER), is recruiting for a Senior Specialist, Geology and Data Science position. This role is a critical piece of AGS' geospatial intelligence capabilities and will work alongside data management experts, geomodellers, geologists and geophysicists, remote sensing experts, reservoir engineers, as well as regulatory specialists, business stakeholders, and IT partners.

In this role you will will be a major contributor to both strategic and hands-on work across multi-disciplinary projects related to oil and gas, minerals, groundwater and other natural resources. You will extract insights and create predictive models that utilize information from a wide array of geospatial and non-geospatial data, across geoscience, industry operations, and regulatory fields. Importantly, you will capably work and communicate in 3+ dimensions, leveraging the Geological Framework of Alberta and vast archives of industry and AGS data. You will be a central figure in AI enablement initiatives at the AGS.

What your day-to-day will look like:

• Providing technical leadership and guidance while being a significant contributor on multi-disciplinary projects requiring a broad range of data science expertise
• Lead AI enablement initiatives by advancing AI literacy, identifying opportunities for responsible AI adoption, promoting effective AI use, and fostering a culture of innovation and continuous business process improvements
• Own scientific interpretation, method development, and validation of predictive products to ensure they are scientifically sound, meet QA requirements, and results are fit for purpose.
• Compile and clean geological, operational, and regulatory data, extract insights, and create predictive models, using AI and machine learning for the purposes of geological mapping/modelling, landscape susceptibility analysis, assessing operational risks including induced seismicity and addressing other geological/geoenvironmental issues. Translate data into actionable insight through interactive visualizations, reports and dashboards to support internal and external requests.
• Collaborate with subject matter experts across data management, geosciences, engineering, and regulatory processes to facilitate modern, integrated, high-confidence database architectures and analytical tools.
• Collaborate with our IT team to align data science practices with enterprise platform strategies, architecture, and technology standards.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship in the data science space, enabling capability development and success of staff and the organization.
• Communicate complex data solutions, risks, and recommendations clearly to technical and non-technical stakeholders to support data literacy and responsible data use across AGS.

What we're looking for in you:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in computer science, geoscience, or geoscience related discipline.
• 7+ years in the energy industry managing geological datasets, developing and applying modern data science workflows, and exhibiting advanced programming skills.
• Expert knowledge and experience in geological data validation, manipulation, visualization, and presentation, including using machine learning and AI.
• Strong technical proficiency with Python, R, SQL, or other high-level programming languages and software tools used to support data management and analytics.
• Experience designing, developing, and deploying machine learning, statistical, and predictive modelling solutions to address complex scientific and business challenges.
• Experience applying advanced analytics using libraries such as tidymodels, mlr3, xgboost, and ranger in R, and scikit-learn, XGBoost, LightGBM, TensorFlow, and PyTorch in Python.
• Experience integrating machine learning solutions with cloud, geospatial, and enterprise data platforms to support scalable and operationalized analytics.
• Preferred experience developing and applying machine learning, statistical, and AI methods for subsurface characterization, risk, resource evaluation, and predictive modelling using geological, geophysical, petrophysical, engineering, and spatial datasets.
• Awareness of integration of data and its relation to geoscience applications (e.g. Schlumberger Petrel and Studio, IHS Accumap and Kingdom, LASWorx, ESRI ArcGIS Pro, etc).
• Preferred experience developing and deploying machine learning solutions using R and Python within enterprise analytics environments (e.g., Posit Connect, Databricks, Azure ML), including reproducible workflows, model governance, and integration with geoscience and spatial dat