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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Oil & Gas Manager

💰 $100,000 - $180,000

Oil & GasEnergyOperationsManagementHSEProduction

🎯 Role Definition

The Oil & Gas Manager leads operational performance, asset integrity and commercial delivery for oil and gas assets. This role combines hands‑on technical oversight (production, wells, facilities), strategic planning (capex, lifecycle management), HSE and regulatory leadership, vendor/contract governance, and cross‑functional stakeholder engagement to maximize reservoir recovery, uptime and returns within budget and regulatory frameworks. The role requires proven leadership, data‑driven decision making, and experience across upstream and/or midstream operations.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Senior Production Engineer with field leadership responsibilities
  • Operations Supervisor or Field Operations Lead
  • Asset Engineer or Well Operations Lead

Advancement To:

  • Regional Operations Manager / Senior Asset Manager
  • Director of Operations – Oil & Gas
  • Vice President, Operations / Head of Production

Lateral Moves:

  • HSE & Assurance Manager
  • Project/Program Manager (capital projects or brownfield modifications)
  • Commercial or Joint Venture Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Own end‑to‑end operational delivery for assigned assets: drive daily production, minimize unplanned downtime, oversee facilities and well operations and ensure production targets and KPI achievement across production volume, uptime and unit OPEX.
  • Develop and execute annual operating plans (AOP) and multi‑year production and maintenance plans; translate strategic goals into measurable objectives, resource plans and timelines.
  • Lead asset integrity and reliability programs including preventive maintenance (PM), predictive maintenance (PdM), inspection regimes, turnaround planning and implementation to extend asset life and reduce risk of failure.
  • Provide technical leadership for well performance, workover planning and optimisation of artificial lift designs, completions, stimulation campaigns and well intervention programs in coordination with reservoir and drilling teams.
  • Manage budgeting, forecasting and cost control for operations: prepare capex and opex proposals, monitor spend against budgets, identify cost‑efficiency opportunities and produce monthly financial variance reporting.
  • Drive Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) excellence by embedding safety leadership, enforcing permit‑to‑work systems, conducting HSE risk assessments, leading incident investigations and ensuring ISO 45001 / ISO 14001 alignment.
  • Ensure regulatory and statutory compliance including environmental permitting, reporting to national regulators, timely submission of production declarations and adherence to local content/labour regulations.
  • Oversee procurement and contract management for operations and maintenance, negotiate service contracts, manage supplier performance, certify invoices and enforce SLAs to ensure value and timely delivery.
  • Direct capital projects from FEED through execution and commissioning: manage project scopes, interfaces, HAZOPs, schedules, PMOs, contractors and budget adherence for facility upgrades, brownfield modifications and debottlenecking.
  • Coordinate emergency response and business continuity plans: maintain spill response capability, crisis communications, and conduct tabletop and field drills with field teams and stakeholders.
  • Interface with reservoir engineers and geoscience teams to provide operations input into field development plans, well placement, production forecasting and enhanced recovery initiatives (EOR).
  • Lead continuous improvement and digital transformation initiatives: implement SCADA/PI historian analytics, CMMS, predictive maintenance tools and production optimization platforms to unlock efficiency and visibility.
  • Manage joint venture and stakeholder relations including regular technical and commercial updates, execution of joint operating agreements, cost allocation oversight and consensus building among partners.
  • Supervise cross‑discipline field teams and onshore support functions: recruit, coach and develop high‑performing operations staff, conduct performance reviews and succession planning.
  • Operate and maintain strong knowledge of national/local fiscal regimes, royalties, taxation, and commercial terms that impact field economics and guide decision making at the asset level.
  • Implement environmental stewardship initiatives: emissions monitoring, flare reduction programs, produced water management and regulatory reporting to minimize environmental footprint and permit risk.
  • Lead contractor safety and quality assurance programs: perform contractor pre‑qualification, enforce contractor safety leadership, manage scopes and ensure work execution meets company and regulatory standards.
  • Chair operational governance forums: daily production calls, weekly ops reviews, monthly performance review meetings and escalate issues with mitigation plans to senior leadership.
  • Conduct root cause analyses following operational incidents, implement corrective and preventive actions, update procedures and ensure lessons learned are institutionalized.
  • Ensure accurate operational data capture, validation and reporting for management, regulators and partners; maintain production accounting, reconciliation and handover records.
  • Champion cost optimization initiatives across logistics, spare parts inventory, and field consumables while protecting operational integrity and asset reliability.
  • Manage decommissioning planning and late‑life asset strategies including plug & abandonment oversight, cost forecasting and regulatory liaison where applicable.

Secondary Functions

  • Support cross‑functional programs for HSE culture change, digitalization and ESG reporting; contribute to corporate initiatives and working groups.
  • Provide technical input to tender evaluations and capital prioritization exercises, ensuring operational feasibility and life‑cycle considerations are embedded.
  • Mentor junior engineers and field supervisors, provide subject matter mentorship and drive capability development programs to upskill field teams.
  • Collaborate with legal and commercial teams on contract risk, site access agreements and vendor negotiations to protect company interests.
  • Contribute to corporate reporting and audits: prepare inputs for internal audits, external regulator inspections and investor reporting as required.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Proven experience in upstream or midstream operations management with strong understanding of production engineering, well operations, facilities and process systems.
  • Production optimization techniques including nodal analysis, well testing interpretation, artificial lift selection and surface network optimization.
  • Asset integrity and reliability management experience: CMMS (Maximo/IBM), PdM tools, vibration/thermography, corrosion monitoring and inspection regimes.
  • HSE systems knowledge: ISO 45001, ISO 14001, incident investigation methodologies (e.g., TapRoot, 5‑Whys) and risk assessment tools (HAZID/HAZOP).
  • Regulatory compliance and permitting expertise in oil & gas operations, environmental reporting and local content requirements.
  • Budgeting, financial analysis and cost control skills for OPEX and CAPEX management; familiarity with production economics and unit cost drivers.
  • Contract and vendor management including EPC, O&M and services contracts, SLA management and contractor safety oversight.
  • Familiarity with SCADA, PI Historian, PLCs, and basic process control concepts for remote monitoring and operations optimization.
  • Project management skills for capital projects delivery (schedule, risk, procurement) and familiarity with PMO governance; PMP or equivalent advantageous.
  • Knowledge of drilling, completions and well intervention planning; experience overseeing workovers and drilling operations is preferred.
  • Proficiency with production reporting tools, Excel modeling (advanced), data visualization (Power BI/Tableau) and SQL or scripting for analytics.
  • Experience with environmental monitoring, emissions reporting (GHG), produced water handling and waste management requirements.
  • Technical familiarity with pipeline operations, midstream processing, metering and custody transfer where relevant.

Soft Skills

  • Strong leadership and people management: ability to lead multidisciplinary teams, mentor staff and build high‑performing operational cultures.
  • Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills: ability to present to senior leadership, JVs, regulators and community stakeholders.
  • Strategic thinking with strong problem‑solving and decision‑making under pressure; prioritizes safety and long‑term asset value.
  • Negotiation and influencing skills for contracts, vendors and JV consensus building.
  • Change management and ability to drive digital and process transformation across legacy operations.
  • Resilience, adaptability and cultural sensitivity working in remote or multi‑national environments.
  • Time management and organizational skills to balance operations, projects and regulatory deliverables.
  • Analytical mindset with attention to detail and a data‑driven approach to continuous improvement.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Geoscience or related technical discipline.

Preferred Education:

  • Master's degree in Petroleum Engineering, Engineering Management, MBA or related advanced degree. Professional certifications (PMP, NEBOSH/IOSH, Chartered Engineer) are advantageous.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Petroleum Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Chemical / Process Engineering
  • Geosciences (Geology/Geophysics)
  • Engineering Management / Business Administration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 8–15 years of progressively responsible experience in oil & gas operations, with at least 4–6 years in team leadership or management roles.

Preferred:

  • 10+ years combined upstream and/or midstream operations experience.
  • Demonstrable track record managing field operations, capital projects and HSE performance.
  • Experience operating in the geographical region of posting and knowledge of local regulatory frameworks and stakeholder landscapes.
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