Project Manager-Surveying, Site Planning & Permitting (Oil&Gas)

*Remote work is acceptable, provided the employee is based in and performs their work within the United States*

Summary:

The Project Manager (PM) leads assigned DJ Basin oil and gas projects in Colorado from scope development through site planning, civil design, permitting, delivery, and closeout. Reporting to the Portfolio Manager, the PM serves as the primary client contact and coordinates Surveying, Remote Sensing, GIS, Drafting, Civil Engineering, and Permitting. The role translates client objectives into defined deliverables, project phases, tasks, budgets, and timelines, then manages the dependencies and critical path connecting each department’s work.

Working with department leaders, the PM coordinates the collection of field and client information, creation of deliverables, and handoffs needed to move projects forward. The PM tracks progress and remaining effort, manages changes, and brings the right people together to resolve missing information, delays, or competing priorities. Success requires enough understanding of the services and workflows to ask informed questions and recognize how an issue in one phase affects the rest of the project. Professional land surveyors, professional engineers, and other discipline leads own technical execution, quality review, and technical approvals within their areas of responsibility. The PM coordinates these efforts to meet overall scope, schedule, budget, and quality commitments.

Expected Results in the Role:

• Assigned projects meet scope, schedule, budget, and quality commitments, with risks identified early and recovery actions coordinated with the appropriate leaders.
• Field information, site plans, maps, exhibits, and permitting work progress through clear departmental handoffs, with dependencies and decisions managed to support the critical path.
• Clients receive clear updates, realistic commitments, and dependable follow-through, with technical questions resolved by the appropriate specialists.
• Hours, remaining effort, forecasts, and invoices reflect actual project progress; unexplained variances and scope changes receive timely review and action.
• Proposals and changes reflect realistic effort and delivery assumptions, with required approvals and technical reviews completed before commitments or delivery.
• Delays and scope changes are addressed through coordinated solutions, timely decisions, and updated plans that keep teams and clients aligned.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities:

Scope, Schedule, and Client Coordination

• Develop scopes, deliverables, assumptions, exclusions, and budgets with technical leads; confirm client and contract requirements and obtain proposal and pricing approvals.
• Break projects into phases and tasks with clear owners, effort estimates, milestones, dependencies, and a critical path; align timelines with department capacity.
• Serve as the primary client contact, lead status discussions, secure decisions, and communicate progress, risks, and revised commitments.

Survey, Mapping, and Field Coordination

• Coordinate survey and remote sensing work through department leaders, aligning collection needs, field access, resources, and delivery dates with project dependencies.
• Track the creation and transfer of survey data, maps, exhibits, and revisions between Survey, GIS, Drafting, and downstream teams.
• Confirm receiving teams have the information needed to proceed; coordinate follow-up on missing inputs or concerns raised by technical reviewers.

Civil Site Planning and Permitting Coordination

• Obtain client information, layout preferences, design criteria, and decisions for technical teams developing site plans, access, utilities, grading, and drainage.
• Track decisions and revisions affecting multiple departments, confirming that teams receive current direction and incorporate changes into their work.
• Integrate engineering deliverables and ECMC, local, and applicable federal permitting milestones and review cycles into the schedule with Civil Engineering and Permitting.

Project Controls, Change, and Problem Solving

• Review weekly hours, costs, progress, and remaining effort with technical leads; investigate variances and update budgets and forecasts.
• Complete time and expense reviews, resolve coding questions, and approve invoices within delegated authority; obtain required approvals for commercial exceptions.
• Assess scope changes with affected departments, document impacts, and secure required approvals before revising budgets, schedules, or client commitments.
• Identify delays and risks to the critical path; work with teams to develop alternatives, adjust sequencing or resources, and escalate decisions with recommendations.

Quality, Project Records, and General Duties

• Coordinate required technical reviews and track comment resolution before delivery; discipline leads retain responsibility for technical quality and approval.
• Maintain project records, complete closeout and final billing, and share lessons learned that improve planning and handoffs.
• Follow company safety, quality, and data-security requirements; maintain accurate time records and perform other related duties as assigned.

Supervisory Responsibilities:

No direct supervisory responsibilities; provides technical guidance, mentoring, and support for the development of other team members.

Required Skills & Abilities:

• Project planning and scheduling: Define scope, break projects into phases and tasks, and maintain schedules that reflect dependencies, resource needs, and the critical path.
• Service and workflow understanding: Working knowledge of survey/geospatial, civil/site, environmental, or permitting delivery sufficient to coordinate inputs, deliverables, and handoffs across related services.
• Problem solving and change management: Recognize threats to project commitments, assess impacts with technical teams, and develop workable options with clear decisions and follow-through.
• Client and team coordination: Clarify client requirements, manage concurrent assignments, secure decisions, and align commitments with department capacity and technical guidance.
• Collaborative leadership and influence: Build trust and gain agreement across departments without direct supervisory authority. Understand competing priorities, involve others in developing solutions, and use tact when providing feedback, resolving disagreements, and addressing missed commitments while maintaining productive working relationships.
• Financial and effort judgment: Interpret budgets, hours, progress, and remaining work; investigate variances with technical leads and apply scope and approval requirements.
• Organization and teamwork: Maintain reliable project records, use Microsoft 365 and project tools effectively, and collaborate across departments while demonstrating Ascent’s core values.

Preferred Skills & Abilities:

• Survey and remote sensing workflows: Familiarity with field access, data collection schedules, office processing, and delivery of survey and mapping information needed by other teams.
• Mapping and drafting workflows: Familiarity with how GIS and Drafting teams use project information to prepare maps, drawings, and exhibits, including coordination of source information and revisions.
• Civil site planning: Familiarity with civil site planning and design workflows for well sites, access roads, and related infrastructure, including the inputs and decisions engineering teams need.
• Permitting workflows: Familiarity with how permit applications, supporting deliverables, agency reviews, and decisions fit into project schedules, including ECMC and local permitting workflows.
• DJ Basin and oil and gas knowledge: Familiarity with upstream oil and gas operations, terminology, and the sequence of site development in the DJ Basin.
• Spatial review tools: Familiarity with GIS or CAD viewers for accessing shared project information and supporting communication about deliverables and revisions.

Required Education, Certifications, and Experience:

• 3+ years of project management or project coordination experience in surveying, engineering, GIS, environmental services, permitting, energy, or related professional services, including responsibility for scope, schedules, budgets, and client communication.
• Experience coordinating technical teams, field and office handoffs, and client-facing delivery of site, survey, mapping, permitting, or related project work.
• Experience preparing proposals, project budgets, and effort estimates, and tracking project performance and scope changes.

Preferred Education, Certifications, and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Surveying, Geomatics, GIS, Engineering, Environmental Science, Construction Management, Business, Project Management, or a related field.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) or similar project management certification.
• Experience delivering Colorado upstream oil and gas site planning and permitting projects, or other energy and infrastructure work involving multiple technical services.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements:

• Reliable internet access and a designated, quiet workspace are required.
• Ability to sit and work at a computer for extended periods, including regular use of a keyboard, mouse, and one or more monitors.
• Ability to review detailed drawings, maps, technical documentation, spreadsheets, or other role-specific materials for extended periods.

Other Need-to-Know Items:

• Remote work is acceptable, provided the employee is based in and performs their work within the United States.
• Standard work hours are Monday-Friday, generally aligned to Mountain Time, to support collaboration with clients and internal teams. Flexibility is supported within continental U.S. time zones, provided core team availability and communication are maintained.
• Evening, weekend, or additional hours may occasionally be required to meet project deadlines or business needs.
• Periodic travel may be required for project coordination, client meetings, site visits, and team collaboration.
• Employment is limited to candidates authorized to work in the United States and able to perform work within continental U.S. time zones.
• This job description describes the general nature and level of work performed. It is not an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and skills required.