Staff Drilling Engineer

Dallas, United States | Posted on 10/19/2026

CSI Recruiting is working with a privately owned exploration and production company focused on onshore U.S. oil & gas basins that are underdeveloped with drilling and development opportunities. Founded over 20 years ago, our client operates as a small, highly effective organization with a strong capital structure. The ownership team supports growth and champions new projects. New hires at this firm can expect a dynamic, agile environment with the opportunity to directly impact on the company’s exploration and development activities.

The Drilling Engineer is primarily responsible for providing drilling engineering and operational support for our client’s drilling programs, as well as planning and delivering detailed drilling projects. The company’s assets are combination of conventional and unconventional resource play projects, so the ideal candidate should have comprehensive knowledge of horizontal drilling design and operations within a diverse set of domestic, onshore oil & gas plays.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Develop scope, well designs and cost estimates during the early stages of a project
  
• Prepare final well designs and drilling programs for exploration, delineation and development wells, including but not limited to rig selection criteria, casing and drill string designs, mud and cement programs, wellbore evaluation programs, well control procedures, etc.
  
• Work closely with Geoscientists, Completion Engineers, Production Operations, Regulatory Analysts, Reservoir Engineers
  
• Monitor real- time and post- well costs; verifying and approving wells
  
• Keep senior management informed of all progress and incidents; consulting on higher risk problems and projects
  
• Liaise with Drilling Superintendents on program preparation, execution and performance analysis, trouble-shooting and forward planning
  
• Maintain strong working relationships with on-site Supervisors, contractors and service providers
  
• Design wells in support of field development
  
• Prepare cost estimates and assessing risk
  
• Reporting and optimizing operations
  
• Apply technology and innovation in directional drilling, mud systems, casing and drill string design, and completions
  
• Manage the logistics and reporting of operations
  

Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree in Petroleum Engineering or other engineering discipline
  
• 8 to 15 years of hands-on drilling engineering and operations experience, with prior horizontal, field development and exploration drilling project work
  
• Must have horizontal drilling experience, with a preference for experience with horizontal drilling in the Permian Basin
  
• Experience with extended lateral drilling, rotary steerable and other extended reach technologies is a plus
  
• Strong working knowledge of drilling hazards and mitigation
  
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc.); proficiency in related software required
  

THIS ROLE IS AN IN-OFFICE, MONDAY-FRIDAY POSITION WITH TRAVEL TO THE FIELD AS NEEDED