Project Geologist, Partnerships

Zanskar • Salt Lake City, UT

5d • $120,000 - $140,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

Geothermal energy is the most abundant renewable energy source in the world. There is 2,300 times more energy in geothermal heat in the ground than in oil, gas, coal, and methane combined. However, historically it’s been hard to find and expensive to develop. At Zanskar, we’re using better technology to find and develop new geothermal resources in order to make geothermal a cheap and vital contributor to a carbon-free electrical grid.

The Partnerships Project Geologist plays a critical role in enabling this mission by supporting collaborative geothermal projects with external partners from early exploration through development readiness. This role sits at the intersection of geoscience, project coordination, and external collaboration helping ensure that partnership projects are technically sound, well-defined, and positioned for successful advancement and investment.

In this role, you will help Zanskar and its partners de-risk geothermal opportunities across the full project lifecycle, from early-stage exploration through development planning and diligence. You will support partnership projects by providing high quality subsurface interpretation, coordinating technical workflows, and translating geoscience into actionable development insights, including drill targets and drilling oversight.

You will help ensure that partner projects:
Are grounded in robust, defensible subsurface models
Progress efficiently from exploration to development decision points
Are technically ready for internal reviews, external diligence, and investment decisions
Benefit from Zanskar’s in-house tools, standards, and best practices

Requirements

• Strong foundation in geology and geothermal system fundamentals
• M.S. in Geology, Geophysics, or a related discipline
• Strong client-facing experience, including identification of prospective projects and prospects with a trusted advisor approach
• Experience integrating multidisciplinary datasets (geology, geophysics, geochemistry) into coherent conceptual models
• 3D geologic modeling experience (Leapfrog, Petrel, Move, or similar)
• Proficiency with GIS and strong map/figure creation skills for clear technical communication
• Ability to manage and coordinate projects across multiple stages and stakeholders
• Strong communication skills, particularly in explaining technical concepts to mixed technical and non-technical audiences
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to work effectively across internal teams and external partners
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, evolving startup environment
• Strong risk identification and mitigation skills, with the ability to propose alternative technical or operational pathways

Nice To Haves

• Geothermal resource assessment and reservoir conceptualization
• Well planning, targeting, and drilling support
• Field mapping and wellsite geology
• Data analytics, geostatistics, or geothermal resource modeling
• Experience integrating several of the following data types: gravity, magnetics, MT, fluid geochemistry, LiDAR, image logs, alteration mineralogy

Responsibilities

• Support partnership-led geothermal projects across exploration, appraisal, and early development phases
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with partners’ and prospective partners’ technical leadership teams
• Collect and integrate geologic, geochemical, and geophysical datasets to build and refine conceptual and 3D geothermal system models for partner projects
• Evaluate partner-provided data and studies, identifying data gaps, risks, and opportunities for improvement
• Prepare and review geologic targets, well paths, and geologic prognoses for exploration and development wells
• Support drilling and testing programs by overseeing logging, sampling, and wellsite geology as needed
• Coordinate closely with Zanskar’s Exploration, Drilling, Development, Permitting, and Land teams to align technical workstreams
• Contribute to technical diligence, resource assessments, and development-readiness evaluations for partnership opportunities
• Assist in standardizing workflows, data integration, and documentation across partnership projects
• Represent geoscience perspectives in discussions with external partners, consultants, and stakeholders
• Travel to partner field sites as required (up to ~40%, primarily within the western U.S.)

Benefits

• Paid holidays
• 18 days PTO + PTO accrual increase based on tenure
• Medical, Dental & Vision coverage
• 401k
• Paid Parental Leave
• A direct impact in displacing carbon emissions, and growth opportunities in a growing startup environment

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level