Senior Drilling Engineer

Fervo Energy; Houston (TX); On-site; USD 140,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Fervo Energy is seeking a Senior Drilling Engineer to design and execute advanced geothermal drilling in a dynamic environment. The role focuses on well planning, design, and operations support with an emphasis on safety and cost efficiency.

The candidate should have a deep drilling background, hands-on field experience, and the ability to adapt traditional oil/gas playbooks for geothermal applications. Collaboration with partners and suppliers is essential.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering required.
• 10+ years drilling engineering/operations experience (US Onshore horizontal preferred).
• Competency in casing design, directional drilling, drill string/BHA design, drilling fluids, cementing, and contingency planning.
• Proficient with standard well engineering design software.
• Experience in risk assessment and well time/cost estimates.
• Strong planning of complex drilling operations.
• Experience with horizontal drilling in unconventional wells.
• Experience with supply chain and cost management.
• Excellent communication and teamwork skills.
• Hands-on field experience in drilling operations.

Responsibilities

• Detailed well planning including design, engineering, and drilling procedures.
• Provide drilling engineering support for all well operations within a cross-functional team and coordinate recovery plans during NPT events.
• Conduct risk assessments for all operations and prepare mitigation plans for safe delivery.
• Prepare detailed time and cost estimates and own tracking of plan vs actual.
• Coordinate and manage drilling contractors supporting planning and execution, including NPT resolution and technical reviews.
• Budgeting, AFEs, and managing cost throughout operations.
• Track performance with micro-KPIs and drive continuous improvement in well cycle time and cost.
• Post-well closeout and reporting including lessons learned for future wells.

Skills

Directional drilling

Cementing

Drilling fluids

BHA design

Risk assessment

Cost estimation

AFE budgeting

Field operations

Health and safety

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in engineering

Tools

Well design software

Job description

Description

Fervo is working to build the most cost-effective, repeatable geothermal power plants in the world. Delivering on this mission requires first-of-a-kind well designs, disciplined execution in the field, and continuous learning across the full well lifecycle. Joining Fervo’s Geoblock Factory organization means operating where subsurface innovation meets real-world execution, with safety, reliability, and capital efficiency as non-negotiables.

Job Type: Full-time

We are seeking a Senior Drilling Engineer who is excited by Fervo’s mission and motivated to design and execute advanced geothermal drilling in a highly dynamic environment. This role is ideal for an engineer with strong drilling engineering background, deep drilling experience, and the ability to operate effectively where standard oil and gas playbooks must be adapted—or reinvented—for geothermal applications.

The Senior Drilling Engineer is responsible for well planning, design, engineering, and daily operations support. The Senior Drilling Engineer will also support contract management and work with partners and suppliers to deliver continuous improvement in drilling performance.

Responsibilities

• Detailed well planning including design, engineering, and drilling procedure
• Provide drilling engineering support for all well operations within a cross-functional operations team and coordinate recovery plans during NPT events
• Conduct risk assessments for all operations and prepare mitigation plans to ensure safe and effective delivery
• Prepare detailed time and cost estimates and ownership of tracking plan vs actual
• Coordinate and manage drilling contractors supporting planning and execution activities, including NPT resolution and technical review
• Budgeting, building AFEs, and managing cost throughout operations
• Tracking performance with micro-KPI’s and driving continuous improvement initiatives in well cycle time and cost
• Post well closeout and reporting including lessons learned and best practices to implement in future wells

Required

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in engineering
• 10+ years of experience in drilling engineering / operations (minimum 5 years with an operator in US Onshore horizontal drilling)?
• Ability to demonstrate competency in core well engineering fundamentals, including casing design, directional drilling, drill string / BHA design, drilling fluids, cementing, and contingency planning
• Proficient in standard well engineering design software
• Experience in risk assessment and well time / cost estimates
• Planning complex drilling operations
• Experience in executing horizontal drilling in unconventional wells
• Experience with supply chain and cost management
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills (a team player)
• Ability to develop ideas and technical proposals with aligned organization intent.
• Strong problem solver committed to continuous improvement
• Hands-on field experience across drilling operations
• Unwavering commitment to protecting Health, Safety, and Environment in all aspects of design and operations

Preferred

• Experience mentoring or supporting early-career engineers
• Experience working on first-of-a-kind, non-standard, or technically complex well designs