Senior Landman - Contractor

Job Description

Job Description

About Us:

Vault 44.01 (“Vault”) is a leading carbon capture & storage (“CCS”) developer focused on the development, capitalization, and operation of carbon storage assets throughout North America. Vault’s team brings over 40 years of direct carbon sequestration experience, with involvement in carbon storage projects across North America since 2007, including three of the four currently operating saline aquifer storage projects on the continent.

Vault’s capabilities span feasibility, design, permitting, stakeholder engagement, land leasing and acquisition, construction, and operations. With our industrial partners, we are developing projects in the US Midwest, US Southeast, and Canada, from single-source, on-site sequestration projects to large multi-source CO2 storage hubs.

Summary:

• Position: Contract Senior Landman
• Start Date: Q4 2026
• Location: Denver, CO – Hybrid (minimum 2 days per week in office)
• Employee Type: Contract, with potential to convert to full-time employee
• Travel: Approximately 25%, primarily to US Midwest project areas
• Compensation: $70 – $80 per hour /$145,000-165,000 annualized, commensurate with experience

Opportunity:

Want to be part of a team actively acquiring pore space in a fast-paced, growing industry with a well-funded, project-heavy organization?

Reporting to the Vice President, Land and Stakeholder Engagement, the Senior Landman is the land team’s senior technical resource for pore space and right-of-way acquisition, title diligence, and agreement negotiation. The role directs field brokers, title abstractors, and local counsel; drafts, edits, and negotiates leases, easements, and related agreements; and mentors less experienced land staff. A proven ability to take a land program from strategy through negotiation and closing is required.

Working closely with Subsurface, Project Management, Regulatory, Legal, Business Development, and Finance, the Senior Landman translates technical project requirements – EPA Class VI well siting, area of review, and CO2 pipeline routing – into executable land plans, and must be able to understand technical information about CO2 storage and present it clearly and credibly to landowners, community stakeholders, and local officials. The position includes periodic face-to-face landowner engagement and participation in public open houses.

Specific responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

Agreements and Negotiation

• Draft, edit, and negotiate pore space leases, surface use agreements, pipeline and access easements, options, and amendments, coordinating with Legal on forms and non-standard terms
• Lead negotiations with key landowners to acquire seismic, pore space and right-of-way within project budgets and schedules, and foster durable landowner relationships
• Maintain agreement templates, negotiation parameters, and term guidelines for use across the land team
• Negotiate and settle damage claims associated with new or existing operations
• Manage the eminent domain process where good-faith negotiations are unsuccessful and statutory authority applies, including good-faith offer documentation, appraisals, statutory notices, and coordination with condemnation counsel

Direction of Brokers, Counsel, and Vendors

• Direct and manage field brokers, title abstractors, local counsel, surveyors, and appraisers; set scopes of work and review work product for quality, cost, and adherence to Vault standards
• Serve as primary point of contact for local counsel on title opinions, curative, and jurisdiction-specific pore space and easement issues

Title and Due Diligence

• Oversee and, where required, perform title examination of surface, mineral, and pore space ownership; resolve defects through curative instruments; and prepare or review ownership reports, runsheets, and lease/easement status reports
• Lead due diligence and risk assessment on acquisitions, including severed interests, encumbrances, and competing subsurface/surface uses
• Support formation of storage units under state CCS statutes, including ownership analysis, unitization applications, and non-consenting or unlocatable owner processes

Project Support, Siting, and Regulatory

• Advise Subsurface and Project teams on land considerations for Class VI (and state primacy) injection well siting, area of review, monitoring locations, and pipeline routing, identifying constraints early in design
• Provide landowner, ownership, and property rights information required for Class VI permit applications and other regulatory filings
• Interpret technical information from Subsurface and Engineering – storage geology, well design, injection and monitoring, pipeline operations – and present the project and its safeguards to landowners and local officials in clear, non-technical terms at open houses, landowner meetings, and one-on-one discussions
• Manage the land component of project development from landowner identification through acquisition and land administration

Team Leadership and Mentoring

• Review and edit agreements, correspondence, and title work prepared by less experienced staff, and provide guidance on best practices for negotiations, agreement terms, pipeline routing, and well siting
• Develop training, checklists, and reference materials that build land team capability and consistency
• Track and coordinate execution of documents securing property rights, and support land administration in Vault’s land systems
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned

Skills and Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree required; Petroleum Land Management, Energy Management, Business, or related field preferred
• 7+ years of progressively responsible land experience in oil & gas (upstream or midstream), carbon storage, or related energy development, including negotiating and closing surface and subsurface agreements
• AAPL Certified Professional Landman (CPL) preferred
• Demonstrated experience directing field brokers, title abstractors, and outside or local counsel
• Strong working knowledge of title examination and curative, including severed mineral, surface, and pore space ownership
• Familiarity with EPA Class VI regulations (40 CFR Parts 144 and 146), state primacy programs, and state pore space and CCS statutes; Midwest experience (e.g., Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan) strongly preferred
• Experience with pipeline right-of-way acquisition, eminent domain / condemnation (good-faith offer requirements, just compensation, coordination with condemnation counsel), and pooling, unitization, or storage-unit formation preferred
• Ability to understand technical subsurface, well, and pipeline information and convey it to landowners and other non-technical audiences in a clear, credible manner
• Excellent drafting and editing skills, with the ability to improve agreements prepared by others and explain recommended changes
• Proficiency in MS Excel, PowerPoint, Word, and Adobe; experience with mapping and land administration software (ArcGIS, LandVantage, etc.), and landowner contact tracking Monday.com CRM
• Legally authorized to work in the United States

Key Competencies:

• Self-starter who works independently, reaches closure within established time frames, and manages multiple projects at various stages of development
• Acute attention to detail and sound judgment, with pride in a high-quality work product
• Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to coach others and give constructive feedback
• Builds strong relationships with landowners, elected officials, regulators, and industrial partners
• Adaptable and candid, with a history of “walking the talk” on values and a willingness to mentor
• High level of personal and professional integrity

Vault is an equal opportunity employer; diversity and inclusion are important to us. We are committed to providing employment opportunities to all qualified individuals. Final candidates may be required to undergo a security screening, including a criminal records check.

Only those individuals selected for an interview will be contacted