Reservoir Engineer

Charm Industrial; Fort Lupton (CO); On-site; USD 130,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity ownership

Healthcare premiums covered

401(k) match

Job summary

Charm Industrial is seeking a Reservoir Engineer to own the technical story from reservoir behavior to permit readiness. You will build injection strategies, manage reservoir models, and lead Class V UIC permit applications with regulatory stakeholders.

You will collaborate with subsurface, land, operations, and MSE teams in a fast-paced startup setting, leveraging your background in petroleum engineering and carbon storage to advance our sequestration projects.

Qualifications

• Working knowledge of Class I, II, VI UIC permitting or equivalent experience.
• Degree in petroleum or chemical engineering or closely related field.
• 5+ years in reservoir or subsurface engineering (injection/disposal, EOR, carbon storage, or reservoir management).
• Hands-on reservoir modeling and forecasting including pressure-transient behavior and petrophysics.
• Strong technical writing that conveys complex analysis clearly to regulators and finance.
• Excellent cross-functional communication and proactive, organized approach.

Responsibilities

• Draft, assemble, and steward Class V UIC permit applications.
• Translate reservoir work into permit-ready narratives for regulators.
• Maintain injection strategy and reservoir models to guide operations.
• Develop forecasts and communicate end-of-life risks for the portfolio.
• Collaborate with subsurface, land, operations, and MSE teams.
• Travel as needed to support operations and permitting.

Skills

UIC permitting

reservoir engineering

reservoir modeling

technical writing

stakeholder comms

startup mindset

cross-functional work

Education

Petroleum/Chemical eng degree

Tools

CMG

Petrel

Kappa

Job description

About Charm

Our mission is to return the atmosphere to 280 ppm CO₂. We convert excess inedible biomass into carbon-rich bio-oil and inject it into underground storage for permanent carbon removal. At scale, we can use bio-oil to make fossil-free iron.

About Charm

Our mission is to return the atmosphere to 280 ppm CO₂. We convert excess inedible biomass into carbon-rich bio-oil and inject it into underground storage for permanent carbon removal. At scale, we can use bio-oil to make fossil-free iron.

Our carbon removal efforts began in 2020 with initial purchases from customers like Stripe, Shopify, and Microsoft. Since then, we’ve scaled to thousands of tons of carbon removal, grown to over a hundred employees, and established three locations in San Francisco, Colorado, and Louisiana.

We're expanding our team of ambitious, creative, and hands‑on problem solvers. We value psychological safety, collaboration, and continuous learning. We take calculated risks and treat mistakes as opportunities to improve. If you're excited about tackling big challenges, we encourage you to explore our company values.

Come help us reverse climate change. Gigatons or bust!

About The Role

Charm is looking for a Reservoir Engineer. Successful bio‑oil sequestration requires a deep understanding of the reservoir: how much we can inject, at what pressure, for how long, and whether we can prove confinement and compatibility with regulators. This role owns that technical story end to end - from the reservoir engineering that tells us how our wells will behave, to the UIC permit applications that will help us bring more wells online.

This is a hands‑on role for an engineer who wants to do both halves of the job. On the subsurface side, you'll build and maintain the injection strategy, reservoir models and forecasts that guide where and how we inject. On the permitting side, you'll draft and steward our Class V UIC applications - turning your own reservoir analysis into permit‑ready narratives that stand up to scrutiny. Efficient permitting keeps long‑term injection operations from ever being roadblocked, and doing it well requires someone who understands the subsurface deeply enough to defend it.

You’ll partner closely with our subsurface, land, operations and MSE (Materials science & engineering) teams.

Your Responsibilities

Permitting

• Draft, assemble, and steward Charm's Class V UIC permit applications for EPA regional and state programs in collaboration with other members of the development team.
• Translate reservoir engineering work directly into permit-ready technical narratives, and lead the response to regulator questions and deficiency letters.
• Coordinate with Charm’s Head of Development and subsurface consultants to keep applications moving on schedule so that Charm’s injection operations are never roadblocked by regulatory timelines.
• Develop and maintain relationships with key state, regional and federal regulators

Injection & reservoir management

• Monitor subsurface reservoir response to ongoing injection using pressure data, tracer surveys, and formation logs, identifying anomalies early.
• Build and maintain analytical tools that track injection performance, flag pressure deviations, and forecast potential reservoir problems.
• Analyze reservoir behavior to optimize injection rates, protect formation integrity, and prevent unintended fluid migration to shallower zones.
• Partner with Charm’s Head of Injection Development and the MSE team on designing and executing high‑impact subsurface studies including formation characterization, reservoir modelling inputs, and other laboratory projects.
• Evaluate opportunities to improve injection efficiency or expand the injection footprint as new sites come online.
• Design data collection and field studies to advance both subsurface understanding and permitting activities
• Travel as needed to support ongoing operations, new well development and permitting

Forecasting & asset life planning

• Build and update well‑by‑well and portfolio‑level injection forecasts to support capital allocation and business planning.
• Assess reservoir uncertainty and communicate end‑of‑life risk: expected injectivity decline, pressure limits, and mechanical constraints.
• Continuously refine forecast models as new field data (pressure tests, tracer returns, MIT results) become available.

You Bring

• Working knowledge of UIC permitting (Class I, Class II and/or Class VI) - you've drafted or meaningfully contributed to permit applications, area‑of‑review analysis, or pressure/plume modeling narratives - or you have deep reservoir expertise and a clear appetite to build permitting into your toolkit.
• A degree in petroleum or chemical engineering, or a closely related geoscience/engineering field.
• 5+ years of reservoir or subsurface engineering experience - injection/disposal (SWD), EOR, carbon storage, or reservoir management.
• Hands‑on fluency with reservoir modeling and forecasting including pressure‑transient behavior, petrophysics and formation characterization.
• Skills in adapting laboratory derived data into actionable optimization in the field
• Strong technical writing - you can turn quantitative analysis into narratives that regulators, finance, and non‑engineers can follow and trust.
• Strong stakeholder and cross‑functional communication skills; comfortable picking up the phone to work through a problem with a teammate, consultant, or regulator.
• A proactive, organized, self‑directed working style that thrives in a fast‑paced startup where you'll wear multiple hats.
• A demonstrated passion for contributing to our mission.

Bonus if You Bring

• Direct experience with carbon storage or Class VI / Class V injection.
• Design and interpretation of pressure‑transient tests, step‑rate tests, tracer surveys, or mechanical integrity tests (MIT).
• Familiarity with pore space, mineral rights, well bonding, and the land/regulatory interfaces of injection projects.
• Experience with reservoir simulation or subsurface software (e.g., CMG, Petrel, Kappa) and data/analytics workflows.
• Prior experience in a lean or early‑stage operating environment.

$130,000 - $160,000 a year

What We Offer

• Equity ownership through stock options
• 100% employee healthcare premiums covered
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with multiple plan options
• Employer‑funded HSA contributions for eligible HDHP plans
• Traditional and Roth 401(k) with a 50% match on contributions up to 6%
• Paid leave, including parental and medical leave
• PPE and workwear allowances
• Annual professional development stipend
• Employee recognition programs that celebrate impactful work and team contributions
• Opportunities for internal growth, career development, and transition into climate from a range of industries and backgrounds

Visa Sponsorship Policy

Since we are a small startup, certain accommodations for visa sponsorship may not be within our capability. At this time, Charm Industrial is only sponsoring E3 and TN visas.

Our Commitment

Charm Industrial is an equal opportunity employer. We hire based on skills, experience, and passion for our mission. Climate challenges require a wide range of perspectives and expertise, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We're excited to grow our team with people who bring unique strengths and help us improve as a company.

At Charm, we may use AI‑enabled tools to support certain aspects of the hiring process, including organizing candidate information and highlighting experience that may be relevant to a particular role. In a world where AI‑assisted resumes, synthetic content, and deepfakes are increasingly common, these tools help our team navigate the process thoughtfully and efficiently. Every application and resume is reviewed by a member of our hiring team, and hiring decisions are made by people, not algorithms. Our recruiting process is designed to ensure candidates are evaluated fairly, consistently, and in alignment with our equal employment opportunity commitments. AI tools support our team's work, but they do not replace human judgment or determine hiring outcomes.