What are the responsibilities and job description for the Development Geologist position at Blackjack Natural Resources?
Blackjack Natural Resources is seeking a highly motivated Development Geologist to join our fast-growing team in Oklahoma City. In this role, the Development Geologist will work closely with the Executive Team, Operations, Engineering, Land, and related disciplines to support development planning, well planning and execution, subsurface evaluation, and long-term development of the company’s assets.
This role will be a high-visibility position with exposure across all disciplines in the company and significant ownership of the geologic interpretation and development of Blackjack’s operated assets.
Responsibilities
- Work within a multi-disciplinary team to plan and optimize horizontal development while incorporating geologic, engineering, operational, and commercial variables into decision-making and recommendations
- Build and maintain detailed structural and stratigraphic interpretations using well logs, formation tops, seismic, production data, core, and other available subsurface datasets
- Generate maps, cross sections, correlations, type logs, and geological models to support development planning, well placement, and inventory evaluation
- Identify and characterize geologic risks including faulting, structural complexity, stratigraphic variability, reservoir thickness, landing-zone quality, and other subsurface uncertainties
- Work closely with drilling and engineering teams to develop well plans, select landing targets, and optimize lateral placement
- Prepare geological prognoses and other pre-drill documentation for operated wells
- Provide operations geology and geosteering support during drilling, including interpretation of MWD/LWD data, formation tops, landing decisions, and lateral placement
- Coordinate with third-party geosteering, mudlogging, petrophysical, seismic, and other technical vendors as needed
- Conduct post-drill evaluations and integrate new well results into the broader geologic interpretation and development plan
- Monitor offset activity and incorporate competitor drilling, completion, and production results into Blackjack’s development strategy
- Support acreage, acquisition, divestiture, and business development evaluations as needed
- Clearly communicate technical conclusions, risks, and recommendations to management and other disciplines
Required Qualifications
- Master’s degree in geology, geoscience, or a related discipline from an accredited University
- 5 years of experience in a development, operations, or subsurface geology role within the oil and gas industry
- Experience with well planning, landing-zone selection, and geosteering of horizontal wells
- Experience with horizontal development
- Experience interpreting well logs, stratigraphy, structure, and reservoir variability
- Experience with geologic interpretation and mapping software such as GeoGraphix, Kingdom, Petrel, or similar platforms
- Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to work across disciplines in a team setting
Preferred Qualifications
- 7 years of experience in development and/or operations geology, with experience supporting horizontal development programs in the Mid-Continent / Anadarko Basin
- Experience integrating 3D seismic into development planning and well placement
- Working knowledge of petrophysics, reservoir engineering, completions, drilling, and production concepts
- Experience with GIS-related software such as QGIS or ArcGIS
- Experience with A&D evaluations and asset-level business development work
- Experience working with large subsurface datasets and data visualization tools such as Spotfire or Power BI
- Ability to operate effectively in a small, fast-paced team with a high level of technical ownership and accountability