Project Manager, RZR Deployment

Nabors Industries; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Nabors Industries is seeking a Project Manager to lead RZR deployments from Canrig validation through field readiness and operational handoff. You will coordinate engineering, manufacturing, and drilling operations, manage schedules, risks, and documentation, and deliver concise leadership-ready updates.

The role emphasizes disciplined execution, clear ownership, and timely training, spares, and test-rig activity to ensure reliable deployment health.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering or related discipline; equivalent experience considered.
• 5+ years of project management delivering multi-stakeholder technical deployments.
• Experience in oil and gas, drilling, or energy services environments is preferred.
• Ability to build integrated schedules, budgets, risk registers, and status reporting.
• Strong written and verbal communication for executive updates.

Responsibilities

• Create and maintain integrated deployment plans from readiness to stabilization.
• Coordinate across Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Service Delivery and customers.
• Track readiness gates, punch-lists, procedures, and training for handoff.
• Escalate gaps with clear recommendations and ownership.
• Develop executive-ready presentations and deployment updates for leadership.

Skills

Project Management

Project Planning

Schedule Management

Resource Coordination

Program Management

Stakeholder Management

Risk Management

Cross-functional Coordination

Quality Management

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Engineering

Tools

MS Project

Smartsheet

Primavera

PowerPoint

Excel

Oracle

Job description

Nabors is a leading provider of advanced technology for the energy industry. With operations in about 20 countries, Nabors has established a global network of people, technology and equipment to deploy solutions that deliver safe, efficient and responsible hydrocarbon production. By leveraging its core competencies, particularly in drilling, engineering, automation, data science and manufacturing, Nabors aims to innovate the future of energy and enable the transition to a lower carbon world.

The Project Manager plans, coordinates, and drives execution of RZR deployments and the supporting readiness work required to move RZR from Canrig Engineering validation and initial field commissioning into sustained Drilling Operations ownership. Working day to day with the project managers embedded in Canrig Engineering, Rig Engineering, Manufacturing, Drilling Operations, Service Delivery, and Quality, and with HSE, Commercial, and customer teams, this role converts the deployment strategy set by the Director into one integrated schedule, readiness gates, action plans, and clear owners. The Project Manager also owns the status reporting and presentations that give the Director, VP Drilling, and senior leadership a consistent view of RZR deployment health. This role delivers the disciplined project execution that customers have asked for: trusted timelines, a repeatable process, visible risks, and closed-loop follow-through on training, spares, documentation, and test-rig activity. The Project Manager does not hold technical design authority (retained by Canrig Engineering) or sustained field operating ownership (held by Drilling Operations); the role owns the plan, the coordination, and the evidence that each deployment is ready.

Deployment Planning, Scheduling & Execution

Primary Skills: Project Management Project Planning Schedule Management Resource Coordination Program Management

• Build and maintain integrated deployment plans, work breakdown structures, milestones, and critical-path schedules for each RZR deployment, from readiness planning through mobilization, operational acceptance, and stabilization.

• Drive execution against plan across Engineering, Manufacturing, Operations, Service Delivery, and customer commitments; adjust sequencing as constraints change and communicate schedule impacts early.

• Coordinate rig, crew, equipment, test-rig, and critical-spares availability so deployment dates are based on confirmed readiness rather than assumed dates.

• Maintain a single source of truth for deployment status, dependencies, owners, and due dates that leadership and customers can rely on.

• Run deployment kickoffs, working sessions, and post-deployment retrospectives with clear agendas, decisions, and tracked actions.

Readiness Gates, Handoff & Operational Acceptance

Primary Skills: Operational Readiness Business Process Management Quality Management Documentation Stakeholder Management

• Administer the readiness gates and transition criteria defined by the Director, collecting evidence from Engineering, Quality, HSE, Operations, and Training and confirming completion before handoff.

• Track completion of commissioning punch-list items, procedures, operating documentation, training, support coverage, and escalation paths for each deployment.

• Facilitate the handoff from Canrig Engineering commissioning to Drilling Operations, documenting accountability, open items, and acceptance decisions.

• Escalate readiness gaps to the Director with a clear recommendation, impact assessment, and proposed owner rather than carrying unresolved risk forward.

Risk, Issue & Change Management

Primary Skills: Risk Assessment Issue Management Root Cause Analysis Change Management Corrective Action Planning

• Maintain risk, issue, and dependency registers for active deployments; assess schedule, safety, quality, cost, and customer impact; and drive mitigations to closure.

• Support root-cause analysis and corrective and preventive actions for deployment issues, repeat failures, and field escalations, coordinating technical input from Engineering and Operations.

• Manage scope and schedule change through a documented change-control process, including impact analysis and stakeholder approval.

• Capture lessons learned from every deployment and track assigned improvements through to completion.

Cross-Functional PM Coordination & Stakeholder Alignment

Primary Skills: Cross-functional Teamwork Stakeholder Management Project Integration Meeting Facilitation Relationship Management

• Serve as the day-to-day coordination point with the project managers in Canrig Engineering, Rig Engineering, Manufacturing, Drilling Operations, and Service Delivery, aligning their departmental plans, milestones, and dependencies into one integrated RZR deployment schedule.

• Run a recurring cross-departmental PM working session to review progress, surface cross-team dependencies and conflicts, confirm owners and dates, and track decisions and actions to closure.

• Resolve conflicting priorities and resource requests with peer project managers at the working level and elevate those that require leadership decisions.

Status Reporting, Presentations & Executive Communication

Primary Skills: Reporting Presentation Development Data Visualization Communication Strategy Performance Metrics Budget Tracking & Cost Management

• Create and issue recurring status reports on RZR deployment progress, covering schedule, milestones, readiness-gate status, risks, issues, decisions needed, and customer impact.

• Consolidate inputs from departmental project managers into consistent, accurate reporting, validating data and resolving discrepancies before it reaches leadership.

• Develop executive-ready presentations and dashboards for the Director, VP Drilling, and senior leadership reviews that lead with the message, the risk, and the ask.

• Prepare customer-facing deployment updates and supporting materials in coordination with the Director and Commercial teams.

• Maintain a clear reporting cadence and templates so status is predictable, comparable across deployments, and available without ad hoc requests.

• Track and report project budget, actuals, and forecast against plan for RZR deployment activities, partnering with Finance and departmental project managers to flag variances and cost risks early.

Training, Documentation & Process Standardization

Primary Skills: Training Program Coordination Business Process Documentation Knowledge Management Continuous Process Improvement Performance Metrics

• Coordinate crew and technician training, qualification, and competency verification schedules so Operations personnel are prepared before RZR is handed off.

• Develop and maintain deployment playbooks, checklists, templates, and project artifacts that make RZR rollouts repeatable.

• Track and report deployment metrics such as readiness-gate cycle time, schedule adherence, open punch-list items, and post-deployment stability.

• Contribute to continuous-improvement initiatives that reduce rework, shorten transition time, and improve consistency across deployments.

NON-ESSENTIAL (ADDITIONAL) FUNCTIONS

• Support customer and executive reviews by attending, capturing decisions and actions, and following up on commitments.

• Participate in field visits, manufacturing reviews, test-rig activities, and commissioning observations to maintain current operational context.

• Support business cases, budgets, cost tracking, and resource forecasts related to RZR deployment activities.

• Perform other project coordination and deployment-support activities consistent with the role and business needs.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering (Mechanical, Electrical, Industrial, Petroleum, or Controls/Automation), Construction/Operations Management, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience may be considered.

• 5+ years of project management experience delivering multi-stakeholder technical projects, with engineering, manufacturing, field-deployment, or commissioning scope.

• Experience in oil and gas, drilling, energy services, or a comparable heavy-industrial or safety-critical environment.

• Demonstrated ability to build and manage integrated schedules, budgets, risk registers, and status reporting using standard project tools (e.g., MS Project, Smartsheet, Primavera, or equivalent).

• Working knowledge of equipment commissioning, field deployment, quality, and HSE requirements.

• Demonstrated ability to coordinate with peer project managers and technical leads across Engineering, Operations, and customer teams without direct authority.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including experience producing recurring status reports and executive presentations for senior leaders.

• Advanced proficiency in PowerPoint and Excel; working proficiency with a project-scheduling tool.

• Ability to travel domestically to rig locations and support critical deployment activities outside standard business hours when business needs require.

• Travel domestically up to 25-50% of the time, including to rig locations and test rigs, to support deployments, commissioning activities, and field observations.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• PMP, CAPM, or equivalent project-management certification.

• Experience with drilling rigs, drilling automation, controls, robotics, or software-enabled equipment deployments.

• Experience working with product-engineering teams on prototype-to-production transitions, field trials, or technology commercialization.

• Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, root-cause analysis, change management, or stage-gate/readiness-gate frameworks.

• Experience coordinating customer-facing deployments or field-support programs for operators or drilling contractors.

• Familiarity with ERP and reporting tools (e.g., Oracle, Power BI, Excel) for tracking cost, resources, and deployment metrics.