Ice Road Construction Specialist

JOB DESCRIPTION

• The Ice Road Construction Specialist is responsible for the planning, evaluation, and execution oversight of ice roads and ice bridge infrastructure required to support the NPRA exploration drilling campaign. The role leads the assessment of access strategies, including tundra travel versus ice road construction, evaluates routing options, costs, risks, and logistics dependencies, and supervises field execution to ensure safe, timely, and cost-effective delivery of winter access infrastructure.

 HIGH LEVEL PROJECT DESCRIPTION

• Onshore Campaign: Two (2) Firm Wells, located in NPRA block in Alaska with two drilling rigs. Starting from June 2026 with planning phase. Vertical, Exploration / Appraisal wells with planned Well TD in the range from 6,000 feet to 30,000 feet MD.
• Well Testing is planned in discovery cases. Single stage frac is planned for the exploratory wells.
• Wells shall be either permanently abandoned or temporarily suspended based on well objectives. 

 REPORT TO

• Drilling Project Manager / Logoistics Excellence Center.

 INTERACTS WITH

• Liaise closely with ice road construction contractors and subcontractors, ensuring alignment on scope, schedule, safety, and quality expectations.
• Coordinate interfaces with internal teams (Logistics, Drilling, HSE, Permitting, Camps, SCM) to ensure seamless execution.
• Ensure the Company is kept fully informed of current progress, emerging issues, and corrective actions.

DUTIES &  RESPONSABILITIES (include but not limited to) 1) Ice Road & Access Strategy Development (Primary Accountability)

• Analyze and develop ice road routing options, including alignment alternatives, river crossings, ice bridge locations, and staging areas.
• Evaluate access strategies, including tundra travel versus full or partial ice road construction, considering environmental, regulatory, schedule, cost, and operational constraints.
• Prepare comparative cost estimates and risk assessments for each access option and support management decision-making.
• Define access execution philosophy aligned with drilling schedule, logistics requirements, and permitting constraints.

2) Fall Readiness & Early Equipment Strategy

• Assess the need for fall stranding (pre-positioning) of equipment to facilitate river crossings and enable early winter mobilization.
• Coordinate with logistics, drilling, and construction teams to identify critical equipment requiring early placement.
• Develop contingency strategies to minimize schedule risk related to freeze-up timing and ice thickness development.

3) Ice Bridge & River Crossing Engineering

• Analyze and plan ice bridge construction requirements, including load cases, construction methods, monitoring requirements, and operational limitations.
• Coordinate with engineering, HSE, and contractors to ensure ice bridges are designed and constructed in accordance with applicable standards and best practices.
• Monitor ice conditions, load limits, and seasonal constraints throughout operations.

4) Construction Supervision & Field Oversight

• Supervise ice road and ice bridge construction progress, ensuring activities are executed safely and in line with the approved plan.
• Track daily construction productivity, weather impacts, ice growth, and quality of road structure.
• Conduct regular site visits for progress verification, technical audits, and construction inspections.
• Provide strong safety leadership and field visibility, promoting safe work practices and immediate resolution of unsafe conditions.

5) Schedule, Cost Tracking & Performance Management

• Establish and maintain construction progress tracking and cost control mechanisms.
• Identify early schedule deviations or cost overruns, investigate root causes, and escalate issues appropriately.
• Provide timely reporting on progress, risks, and forecast impacts to the overall campaign schedule.
• Support optimization of construction sequencing and resource allocation to protect critical path milestones.

6) Risk Management & Mitigation

• Proactively identify risks related to weather variability, ice development, river conditions, equipment availability, and contractor performance.
• Develop and propose mitigation measures and contingency plans, including alternate routes, sequencing changes, or execution methods.
• Support decision-making during dynamic field conditions with practical, experience-based recommendations.

7) Contractor & Interface Management

• Liaise closely with ice road construction contractors and subcontractors, ensuring alignment on scope, schedule, safety, and quality expectations.
• Coordinate interfaces with internal teams (Logistics, Drilling, HSE, Permitting, Camps, SCM) to ensure seamless execution.
• Ensure the Company is kept fully informed of current progress, emerging issues, and corrective actions.

8) Reporting & Documentation

• Prepare regular progress reports, cost summaries, risk logs, and deviation reports.
• Maintain records of construction activities, inspections, audits, and safety observations.
• Contribute to post-season lessons learned to improve future ice road and access planning.

9) Additional Key Responsibilities

• Provide technical input to access-related permitting and regulatory discussions.
• Support emergency response planning related to winter road operations.
• Participate in project readiness reviews and field execution planning workshops.
• Support development of access strategies for future NPRA phases and campaigns.

 EDUCATION / QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or related discipline (or equivalent field experience).
• Prior experience supporting exploration or drilling campaigns in NPRA or the North Slope of Alaska.
• Familiarity with Alaska winter road standards and best practices.
• Experience integrating access planning with drilling and logistics schedules.
• Strong cost estimating and cost control background.
• General experience with Microsoft Package, including Excel, Word, PowerPoint.
• Excellent written and oral command of the English language (mandatory).

 EXPERIENCE AND KNOWLEDGE

• 7+ years of experience in ice road and ice bridge construction, preferably in Arctic or North Slope environments.
• Demonstrated experience evaluating tundra travel versus ice road construction strategies.
• Proven field supervision experience with winter construction crews and contractors.
• Strong understanding of ice mechanics, winter logistics, and cold-region construction practices.

 REQUIRED SKILLS & BEHAVIORS

• Strong safety leadership and field presence
• Proactive risk identification and mitigation
• Schedule- and cost-driven mindset
• Clear and timely communication
• Ability to operate effectively in harsh and remote environments
• Decisive, practical problem-solving under changing conditions
• Must behave in a professional manner at all times sustaining and defending the reputation of the Company.

 WORK SCHEDULE

• Standard office-based schedule (Monday-Friday, 5
  •8 or 9
  •80), based in Anchorage.
• Increased workload and extended hours may be required during critical planning milestones and pre-season readiness activities.

Field Execution Schedule (Winter Season):

• During ice road and ice bridge construction, the role will transition to a field-intensive schedule, which may include:
• Rotation-based assignments (e.g., 3 weeks on / 3 weeks off or 21 days on / 21 days off, including travel), or
• Extended on-site presence aligned with construction progress and critical path activities.
• Work during weekends, holidays, and adverse weather conditions may be required to support schedule-critical operations.

Travel Requirements:

• Frequent travel to field sites within NPRA during fall preparation and winter construction.
• Field visits will be planned to support progress audits, inspections, safety visibility, and issue resolution.

Flexibility:

• The work schedule may be adjusted based on weather conditions, ice development, contractor performance, and operational priorities.

With over 90 years' combined experience, NES Fircroft (NES) is proud to be the world's leading engineering staffing provider spanning the Oil & Gas, Power & Renewables, Chemicals, Construction & Infrastructure, Life Sciences, Mining and Manufacturing sectors worldwide. With more than 80 offices in 45 countries, we are able to provide our clients with the engineering and technical expertise they need, wherever and whenever it is needed. We offer contractors far more than a traditional recruitment service, supporting with everything from securing visas and work permits, to providing market-leading benefits packages and accommodation, ensuring they are safely and compliantly able to support our clients.