Field Operations Lead

About the Company

KoBold Metals is a mineral exploration company using AI to explore for the metals we need for our transition to a low-carbon economy. KoBold’s business is discovering, defining, expanding, and developing mineral resources, and KoBold’s objective is to achieve a step-change improvement in exploration success: we aim to discover more tier 1 resources, faster, and with fewer failures.

KoBold has a global portfolio of more than 50 exploration properties targeting nickel, copper, cobalt, and lithium, which range from 100%-owned to partnerships with both majors, junior explorers, and prospectors.

Our team includes the best of the industry in exploration geoscience, data science, software engineering, operations, and business personnel. Prior to joining KoBold, KoBold team members have made nearly 20 discoveries. Our exploration programs are co-led by our geoscientists and data scientists, who develop exploration hypotheses, rigorously quantify uncertainty in our understanding of the subsurface, and design data collection programs that most effectively reduce uncertainty, drawing upon a large suite of proprietary exploration technology built by our data scientists and software engineers. Our field programs validate and improve the system and have demonstrated material improvements over conventional exploration methods

KoBold is privately held and our investors include: institutional asset managers T. Rowe Rice and Canada Pension Plan Investments; technology venture capitalists Andreessen Horowitz, Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, BOND Capital, Standard Investments, and Sam Altman’s Apollo Projects; and leading natural resources companies Equinor, Mitsubishi, and BHP.

About the Position

In the role of Field Operations Lead, you will plan and execute our field activities to meet our business objectives without causing harm to our people, our contractors and partners, or the communities and environments where we operate. You will report to our Field Operations Manager for North America, and also work closely with the COO, the leaders for our field programs, and other members of the operations team. Your primary responsibility will be to serve as the leader of field operations for 1-3 projects per year.

Responsibilities

 For 1-3 projects per year, the Field Operations Lead will be responsible for:

• Operations Control Center: Maintain daily contact with and monitor the status of KoBold personnel and contractors while in the field. Maintain close communication with the Project Geologist, Project Data Scientist, and the Senior Project Planner

• Reporting: Execute and maintain KoBold’s system for tracking health & safety incidents and provide periodic reporting

• Compliance: Understand applicable local laws and regulations and the practices of our joint venture partners and ensure that we follow them in all our operations

• Field Service Contractors: Identify, evaluate, contract with, and manage  contractors and vendors for a wide range of field operations, from camp construction to helicopter transport to emergency medical services

• Logistics: Arrange for the shipment of equipment and material to and from KoBold’s project sites

• Local Management: Deploy to remote project locations as required to implement and manage programs

• Process Improvement: Creating ways of working that allow us to continue to work more effectively and to be nimble so that we can support machine-learning-driven dynamic field programs, where we adapt our plan based on the data we collect at each stage

• Stakeholder Engagement: WIth leadership direction and support, help represent KoBold Metals with local stakeholders

Qualifications

You must have:

• At least 5 years of experience conducting field operations in mineral exploration & mining, oil & gas or a related industry

• Demonstrated commitment to and familiarity with developing and implementing high standards of health & safety in the workplace

• The ability to problem-solve in remote environments

• The ability to work in remote and isolated locations for extended periods of time

• Must speak, read, and write in French and English

• A high degree of independence and the ability to work effectively with limited supervision

• Familiarity with Project Management principles and managing projects remotely

• Enjoyment in working with people in a wide variety of disciplines and different parts of the world

• Interest in contributing broadly to the success of the company and eager to pitch in where needed

• Valid First Aid Certification (Level 3 or Wilderness First Aid is preferred)

It is helpful but not required to have:

• Run programs in different countries and/or remote environments

• Worked in a small company or as a member of a very small team with a broad mandate working in a fast paced project environment. 

• Project Management Professional (PMP) designation, CRSP designation, Red Seal designation (electrical, carpentry, plumbing), trained or experience operating heavy equipment 

KoBold Metals is an equal opportunity workplace and an affirmative action employer. We are committed to equal employment opportunity for people of any race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, marital status, national origin, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, or veteran status.

This position is full-time, exempt.

Location: Location: KoBold is a remote first workplace, we are open to candidates currently residing anywhere in the United States or Canada. All candidates must be authorized to legally work in either the United States or Canada.