Bachelor's degree in engineering or a related technical field required.
5-7 years of experience in project development or execution planning.
Strong preference for upstream facilities experience with an oil and gas operator.
Experience with unconventional, onshore, or land-development projects preferred.
Familiarity with Midland Basin or similar unconventional development areas is a plus.
Responsibilities
Lead project development and scope definition for Midland Basin facilities.
Progress projects from concept through execution readiness.
Integrate subsurface plans, drilling schedules, and facility requirements.
Translate business objectives into clear project scopes and execution plans.
Support front-end engineering and feasibility evaluations.
Develop pre-Gate 3 deliverables and ensure project alignment.
Facilitate multidisciplinary reviews and stakeholder communication.
Benefits
Opportunity to work on high-value projects ($10-$20 million each).
Engage in a collaborative, multidisciplinary team environment.
Gain exposure to various aspects of upstream oil and gas operations.
Potential for professional growth within a leading company in the industry.
Work in a dynamic location with a mix of office and field responsibilities.
Full Job Description
Job Title Execution Planning Advisor II (Front-End) Compensation $127.03/hr No allowances Location Spring, TX - Houston Campus Approximately 10% travel to Midland Basin field locations Schedule Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Target Start Date ASAP Tentative End Date One year from start date Hiring Manager Robert Bardo - ExxonMobil Scope The Execution Planning Advisor II serves as a Project Development Engineer and front-end integrator supporting the Midland Basin development plan. This role integrates upstream unconventional development requirements across Development Planning, Surface Land, Regulatory, Wells, Operations, Facilities Engineering, Project Execution, Project Controls, and Supply Chain. The position is responsible for translating business objectives, subsurface development plans, operational requirements, and technical inputs into clear, aligned, execution-ready project scopes. The work primarily involves managing and integrating a portfolio of upstream facility and infrastructure projects generally valued at approximately $10 million to $20 million each. The successful candidate should bring previous upstream facilities experience with an oil and gas operator. Direct unconventional, onshore, or land-development experience is strongly preferred. Key Responsibilities Project Development and Front-End Planning
Lead early project development and scope definition for Midland Basin well pads, tank batteries, central production facilities, flowlines, gathering systems, water infrastructure, roads, power, compression, and related surface facilities.
Progress greenfield and brownfield projects from initial concept through design-basis and execution readiness.
Integrate subsurface development plans, well sequencing, drilling and completions schedules, facility requirements, land constraints, permitting requirements, and infrastructure availability.
Translate business and operational requirements into clear project scopes, technical bases, schedules, cost estimates, and execution plans.
Support front-end engineering and design activities, feasibility evaluations, concept selection, option screening, and development of project alternatives.
Develop and steward pre-Gate 3 deliverables, technical bases, project layouts, site requirements, planning assumptions, and alignment with standard designs.
Support Decision Quality Assurance Reviews, development roadmaps, Drill Unit Reviews, and other project-development milestones.
Ensure projects transition effectively from front-end development into detailed engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning, startup, and operations.
Development-Team Integration
Serve as the primary project-development integrator within the Midland Basin development team.
Coordinate across Development Planning, Subsurface, Wells, Global Operations, Surface Land, Regulatory, Facilities Engineering, Project Execution, Project Controls, Procurement, and Supply Chain.
Establish early stakeholder alignment regarding scope, schedule, cost, risk, land requirements, permitting, constructability, and execution sequencing.
Clarify roles, responsibilities, technical interfaces, decision points, and project handoffs.
Facilitate multidisciplinary reviews and communicate technical information, assumptions, risks, and recommendations to technical and nontechnical stakeholders.
Resolve competing priorities when scope, schedule, cost, risk, operational requirements, and stakeholder expectations are in tension.
Upstream Facilities and Infrastructure Development
Evaluate facility and infrastructure options supporting capital-efficient unconventional development.
Incorporate operability, maintainability, reliability, safety, environmental, and production requirements into the project basis.
Coordinate facility requirements with drilling and completions timing, well sequencing, production forecasts, and development priorities.
Support site-layout development, equipment selection, standard-design application, and identification of long-lead equipment.
Evaluate brownfield tie-ins, infrastructure capacity, constructability, operational constraints, and opportunities to use existing assets.
Surface Land, Regulatory, and Permitting
Coordinate closely with Surface Land and Regulatory personnel during site selection, layout development, access planning, and project sequencing.
Identify surface constraints, landowner requirements, rights-of-way, access limitations, environmental considerations, and permitting requirements early in project development.
Develop and support permitting strategies for well locations, production facilities, flowlines, gathering systems, roads, utilities, and related infrastructure.
Ensure land, regulatory, and environmental requirements are incorporated into project scopes, schedules, cost estimates, and execution plans.
Track permitting and land-related commitments that could affect project timing or execution readiness.
Portfolio and Capital Planning
Support the development and execution planning of multiple concurrent projects generally valued at approximately $10 million to $20 million each.
Develop or support project cost estimates, AFEs, schedules, forecasts, cash-flow requirements, and capital-planning inputs.
Evaluate project alternatives using cost, schedule, risk, constructability, operational, regulatory, and capital-efficiency considerations.
Coordinate project priorities and interdependencies across the broader Midland Basin development portfolio.
Provide clear project recommendations that support investment and development decisions.
Risk Management and Execution Readiness
Identify technical complexity, operational interfaces, land constraints, permitting risks, equipment requirements, and potential execution barriers during front-end development.
Support risk assessments, constructability reviews, design reviews, readiness reviews, and decision-quality activities.
Coordinate early input regarding execution strategy, contracting, procurement, logistics, commissioning, startup, operational readiness, and simultaneous operations.
Develop or support project workflows, stage-gate deliverables, QA/QC requirements, and documentation standards.
Confirm that approved scope, technical requirements, assumptions, risks, costs, schedules, and stakeholder commitments are documented before project handoff.
Provide continued stewardship and clarification during the transition from project development into execution.
Continuous Improvement
Identify process gaps, interface issues, recurring execution problems, and causes of downstream rework.
Capture and apply lessons learned from engineering, construction, commissioning, startup, and operations.
Support development of tools, workflows, templates, standards, and quality-control practices that improve scope quality and execution readiness.
Compare planned project performance against actual results and incorporate findings into future development planning.
Promote clarity, ownership, constructive challenge, and effective collaboration across the development team.
Key Relationships and Interfaces
Development Planning and Subsurface: Development concepts, well sequencing, production forecasts, economics, priorities, and infrastructure requirements
Wells - Drilling and Completions: Well timing, pad development, facility coordination, execution sequencing, and operational interfaces
Global Operations: Facility requirements, operational constraints, operability, maintainability, reliability, and startup readiness
Surface Land: Site planning, access, easements, rights-of-way, landowner requirements, and surface constraints
Regulatory and Environmental: Permitting strategies, regulatory requirements, environmental considerations, and project readiness
Facilities and Central Engineering: Technical basis, facility design, standard-design verification, engineering assurance, and equipment requirements
Project Controls: Cost estimating, AFE development, scheduling, forecasting, risk analysis, and capital planning
Procurement and Supply Chain: Equipment demand, long-lead items, contracting strategies, inventory requirements, and supply planning
Job Prerequisites
Bachelor's degree in engineering or a closely related technical field is required.
Previous experience in project development, front-end planning, project engineering, or execution planning is required.
Previous upstream facilities experience with an oil and gas operator is strongly preferred.
Direct experience supporting upstream unconventional, onshore, or land-development projects is strongly preferred.
Midland Basin, Delaware Basin, Permian Basin, Eagle Ford, Bakken, or comparable unconventional development experience is preferred.
Experience integrating projects across Development Planning, Surface Land, Regulatory, Wells, Operations, Facilities Engineering, and Project Execution.
Experience developing well pads, tank batteries, production facilities, flowlines, gathering systems, water infrastructure, compression, power, roads, or related upstream infrastructure.
Experience managing or supporting a portfolio of concurrent capital projects, preferably projects valued at approximately $10 million to $20 million each.
Working knowledge of project scope development, feasibility studies, concept selection, FEED, design-basis development, stage-gate processes, cost estimating, AFEs, scheduling, risk identification, and execution planning.
Experience supporting greenfield and brownfield projects.
Ability to evaluate project alternatives and clearly communicate technical, operational, cost, schedule, and risk tradeoffs.
Strong stakeholder-management, communication, technical-writing, analytical, and multidisciplinary coordination skills.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.
Experience with project-planning, engineering, project-controls, visualization, GIS, or well-management systems is beneficial.
What Success Looks Like
Functions as a trusted project-development integrator within the Midland Basin development team.
Produces clear, complete, and aligned scopes that reduce downstream rework.
Establishes alignment across Development Planning, Surface Land, Regulatory, Wells, Operations, Facilities, and Project Execution before projects move forward.
Identifies technical, land, regulatory, constructability, cost, schedule, and operational risks early enough to influence decisions.
Develops capital-efficient facility and infrastructure solutions supporting unconventional development.
Manages competing priorities and interdependencies across a portfolio of $10-$20 million projects.
Provides effective project handoffs with clearly documented scope, technical basis, risks, assumptions, costs, schedules, and stakeholder commitments.
Moves projects from uncertainty to executable plans.
