Drilling & Wells Manager

As Drilling & Wells Manager in ORLEN Upstream Norway you will be responsible for the safe, efficient and compliant delivery and integrity of our wells throughout the full life cycle, from planning and drilling to completions, interventions and Plug & Abandonment, on both operated and partner‑operated assets. You will lead a skilled Drilling & Wells team, set high standards for barrier management and operational performance, and represent the company with regulators, partners, and vendors.

Accountabilities:

• Well delivery & integrity: Act as Technical Authority for Drilling & Wells. Ensure barrier management in line with NORSOK principles, including verification and examination, Management of Change and maintenance of the well risk register. Approve well designs, programs and End‑of‑Well reports.
• Operated wells: Responsible for the full delivery process from the Concept phase, through Select, Define and Execute, and onward to Operate or Abandon. Accountable for HSE, quality, schedule and cost against Authorisation for Expenditure. Support learning through continuous improvement, learning loops and after-action reviews.
• Non operated oversight: Represent the company in license committees, reviewing and challenging operator proposals, costs and risks. Ensure alignment to our Well Management System and regulatory expectations. Attend Drilling and Wells Operations Programs and key risk reviews.
• Assurance & emergency preparedness: Lead audits, assessments, readiness reviews and SIMOPS interfaces. Participate in duty, on-call and emergency response. Lead incident investigations and promote causal learning across the organisation.
• People & capability: Lead and mentor engineers and supervisors. Maintain competence matrices and development plans. Promote coaching, collaboration and visible safety leadership.
• Contracts & supply chain: Set the category strategy, steward frame agreements and approve call-offs and variations. Manage vendor performance, compliance and capacity in liaison with the Procurement team.
• Regulatory & stakeholder: Secure consents and approvals, and manage interfaces with Havtil, NOD and other authorities. Ensure timely, accurate reporting and audit close outs.
• Performance & cost: Own Drilling & Wells KPIs, including Total Recordable Injury Rate, well delivery, Non-Productive Time, AFE variance. Implement cost and schedule controls, and support continuous improvement through digital real-time monitoring and data workflows.
  
  

Education

• Master’s degree in Engineering or relevant discipline is preferred.
  

Experience

• 15+ years’ well engineering/operations experience on the NCS, including drilling, completions/interventions and P&A. Solid Project Management experience and minimum 5 years in a leadership and/or TA capacity.
  

Language Requirements

• Fluency in Norwegian and English, both written and oral.

Technical Requirements

• Proven experience with both subsea and platform wells. HPHT, ERD and MPD experience is an advantage.
• Strong competence in barrier management and well integrity throughout the lifecycle, including programs, barrier schematics, testing and verification, and anomaly management.
• Practical experience with well engineering & planning tools such as casing design, torque & drag calculations, hydraulics, cementing, anti‑stuck‑pipe, completion design. Comfortable with challenging technical assumptions when needed.
• Experience with non‑operated asset governance, including participation in license committees, understanding Joint Operating Agreements, work programs and budgets.
• Demonstrated commercial acumen, including experience with Authorisations for Expenditure, Value of Work Done and commitments, cost control and change management, as well as familiarity with vendor pre‑qualification and performance management.
• Good knowledge of NORSOK requirements and interfaces with Havtil and NOD, along with experience with real‑time operations and data‑driven performance improvement.
• Relevant certifications such as IWCF Well Control at supervisory level, or the ability to obtain this promptly. Offshore survival training is considered a plus.
• Willingness to travel onshore/offshore occasionally as needed.
  
  

• Demonstrated ability to influence, coach and mentor teams.
• Able to prioritize tasks under tight time constraints.
• Capable of enforcing, clarifying and adhere company policies, standards, and procedures.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively communicate with staff, management, authorities, stakeholders and vendors.
• Self-motivated and able to deliver high-quality work with minimal supervision.
  
• A visible safety leader with a barrier‑first mindset, consistently setting clear priorities even under uncertainty.
• Builds capable teams by coaching, delegating and holding people and partners accountable.
• Decisive, structured and calm under pressure, with strong judgment on when to stop, adapt, or learn.
• An influential communicator with regulators, partners, contractors and management, able to simplify complex risk and technical trade‑offs.
• A continuous improver—data‑literate, curious about technology, focused on results and cost discipline.
• High integrity, collaborative and culturally aware.
  

• ORLEN Upstream Norway AS offers a sound professional environment with varied tasks
• Positive and supporting working environment 
• Relevant professional training
• Competitive employment terms
• Attractive insurance and pension plans

We strive for diversity and consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to ethnicity, religion, age, sex, national origin, or any other legally protected characteristics. 

Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis.

Please note that we will only contact candidates selected for interview. If you do not hear from us you should assume that your application has not been successful.

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