Location: Edmonton, AB (preferred) or Calgary, AB

Employment Type: Full Time – Permanent

Salary Range: T5, Level 7, $151,980 - $178,800 per year. The final compensation for this position will be determined based on individual factors, including education, qualifications, experience, and internal equity.

Senior Subsurface Geologist - Hybrid

The Opportunity

The Alberta Energy Regulator (AER) is seeking an experienced Senior Subsurface Geologist to join our team as a key individual contributor and technical leader supporting project delivery and technical excellence. In this role, you will lead complex subsurface geological work and provide expert advice and mentorship in subsurface characterization and resource appraisal.

The position requires deep expertise in oil sands geology, along with broad experience across a diverse range of depositional systems, lithologies, and petroleum systems, both conventional and unconventional, throughout the Alberta Basin. The Senior Subsurface Geologist ensures that high-quality, robust geological interpretations underpin all subsurface characterization and appraisal products. Drawing on technical expertise and strong integration skills, you will deliver defensible oil sands interpretations and support integrated understanding across stratigraphy, reservoir characterization, containment risk, and basin-scale frameworks.

Working closely with technical leadership at the Alberta Geological Survey (AGS), you will help establish and apply robust geological workflows, interpretations, and best practices. The role integrates geological concepts with subsurface datasets (including maps, cross-sections, and petrophysical analyses) to reconstruct depositional environments, address complex subsurface challenges, and contribute to geological modelling across scales from basin analysis to detailed field-level reservoir characterization.

Success in this position requires the ability to integrate geoscience, engineering, and economic considerations into clear, defensible technical assessments for a range of technical and regulatory needs at different scales of investigation.

What your day-to-day will look like:

• Conduct advanced technical subsurface work that supports regulatory, economic, and environmental priorities in Alberta, guided by the AGS operational plan.
• Contribute technical expertise through specific projects, action requests, and communities of practice, and serve as a technical advisor and trusted resource across the organization on geoscience and subsurface matters.
• Advise on and lead complex subsurface projects, while also contributing hands-on technical work, primarily in Alberta’s oil sands, integrating reservoir characterization with depositional, petroleum, and groundwater systems across multiple scales.
• Actively support multiple teams by advising on a wide range of geological challenges and applying customized mapping and characterization approaches to address specific issues encountered.
• Mentor staff across all experience levels, strengthening capabilities in sedimentology, facies characterization in core and wireline log suites, natural fracture characterization, subsurface mapping, and sequence stratigraphy, while ensuring best practices are consistently applied in subsurface characterization workflows.
• Lead and oversee development of technically robust geoscience products, including cross-sections and maps for subsurface studies chartered by AGS, while collaborating with geomodellers to build 3D geological models at multiple scales and supporting staff to deliver outputs aligned with branch and enterprise priorities.
• Maintain awareness of Alberta’s energy sector activity using a range of public and non-public data sources, analyzing and advising on trends, risks, and issues related to energy development across the province.

What we’re looking for in you:

• 10-15 years of strong and progressive industry experience, with a strong knowledge of Alberta’s subsurface geology.
• M.Sc. or Ph.D. Degree in Geoscience.
• Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) designation with the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of Alberta (APEGA), or eligibility to be registered as such, is a requirement.
• Deep understanding of oil sands reservoir quality and appraisal.
• Knowledge of unconventional tight lithology plays.
• Advanced skills in subsurface characterization and resource appraisal, including extensive experience creating cross-sections, geological maps, core descriptions, depositional environment interpretations, petrophysical analysis and knowledge of risk assessment applied to evaluation of petroleum systems.
• Working knowledge of Kingdom geological software, Accumap, WellCAD and ArcGIS Pro.
• Proficiency with Petrel and at least one petrophysical evaluation software package.
• Demonstrated experience with 3D geological models and integrating data.
• Strong ability to communicate complex geoscience concepts to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Collaborative team player with a strong focus on relationship-building and knowledge sharing and technical mentorship.
• Required travel between Edmonton and Calgary, on an as-needed basis, for in-person meetings and work at the Core Research Centre and/or Mineral Core Research Facility, approximately once per month.
• Willingness to participate in occasional field mapping and sample collection, including remote fieldwork.

Additional Information:

• All applicants must be legally entitled to work in Canada at the time of application.
• Should an individual with the required qualifications not be available, applicants with closely related qualifications may be considered. As a result, the position may be redesigned and/or reclassified.
• This role has a business requirement to work from Edmonton (preferred) or Calgary, Alberta.
• Possess a fully valid class 5 driver’s license along with a positive driving record.
• Pre-placement Medical required.
• If you need accommodation during any stage of the recruitment process, please email PeopleServices@aer.ca. Information relating to the need for accommodation and accommodation measures will be addressed confidentially.

What we offer you:

• Great benefits from your first day of work
• Flexible Work Program - hybrid work and flexible hours
• Edmonton: Hybrid work - employees located in Edmonton will work in office two days per week
• All other locations: Hybrid work - employees may work remotely up to five days per calendar month, with a limit of two remote days per week
• Defined benefit pension plan(s)
• Flexible benefits program options, including Personal & Health spending account(s)
• Generous vacation entitlement and flex days

More information about working at the AER’s including our comprehensive Total Rewards package can be found in the careers section of our website.

Our Commitment to Diversity:

At the AER, our values of Accountability, Collaboration, Transparency, and Trust & Respect are foundational to our culture – a culture where every individual, regardless of race, colour, religion, gender, national origin, age, disability, or any other legally protected factors, thrives and contributes their unique perspectives.

Our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion fuels innovation, creating a brighter, more sustainable Alberta for all. Join us in shaping this dynamic future.

Application closing date: June 10, 2026, at midnight

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