Early Exploration Manager
Zanskar
Salt Lake City, UT, USA
USD 100k-120k / year
Posted on Nov 13, 2025
Role Overview
Title: Early-Stage Exploration Manager
Hours: Full-Time; Salaried
Location: Salt Lake City, Hybrid
Pay: $100k-$120k annually
Benefits Eligible: Yes
Leader: COO
Mission – Why we exist and why we need you 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.
This Early Stage Exploration Manager manages staff, budgets, and workflows to identify, acquire and study leads to develop them to Prospect Stage. This position works closely with R&D and Early Stage Drilling to create innovative workflows to quantify potential, prioritize areas of interest/sites and build conceptual models to hand off to Late Stage Exploration. This leader will report to the COO to help coordinate personnel and manage projects.
Outcomes - Problems you'll solve
- Build a culture of safety and accountability: Strengthen field safety practices, identify and mitigate key risks, and empower staff to take ownership of safety improvements.
- Lead and develop the Early Exploration team: Manage geologists and support staff through coaching, technical reviews, and performance feedback that drive professional growth and technical excellence.
- Deliver a high-performing exploration portfolio: Oversee early-stage exploration projects to meet KPIs, schedule, and budget goals, ensuring progress toward drill-ready prospects.
- Drive strategic exploration decisions: Recommend acquisitions, pre-drilling programs, and early-stage drilling opportunities based on data-driven evaluation and peer review.
- Establish efficient workflows: Improve organization, prioritization, and coordination across projects to streamline early-stage drilling objectives and decision-making.
- Oversee resource and data programs: Ensure collection, analysis, and integration of geologic and geophysical data that strengthen conceptual models and resource assessments.
- Manage budgets and reporting: Develop annual budgets, track spending, and report monthly progress to leadership with transparency and financial discipline.
- Measure and communicate progress: Develop and track metrics demonstrating goal achievement, efficiency gains, and exploration success rates.
- Lead by example in the field: Maintain a strong safety record, operate vehicles responsibly, and travel regularly to support mapping and drilling campaigns (including occasional weekends/holidays). Success in this role includes field teams operating safely and efficiently under clear processes, exploration portfolio is advancing on schedule and within budget & leadership is receiving accurate, actionable progress reporting.
Competencies - What we're looking for
- Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering, Geology or closely related field required, Master’s Degree in same or MBA preferred
- Demonstrated success in Project Management and budgeting preferred
- Previous experience managing a resource-exploration team preferred
- Strong interpersonal, coaching and team-building skills preferred
- Strong organizational and time-management skills
- Must be able to present project goals, progress, and budget concisely to management
- Proficiency or ability to quickly acquire knowledge of a variety of software applications for work process, spreadsheets, databases, and presentations.
- Valid driver’s license with no major infractions in the past three years
- Strong commitment to personal and team safety
- Excellent communication, problem-solving skills, and professionalism
- Physically able to perform strenuous tasks, including bending, kneeling, lifting, pushing, and pulling up to 50 pounds
- Skilled in GPS use and navigation in remote environments
- Proficient with computers, especially within the Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Directories).
Physical Requirements
- Fieldwork: Navigate remote sites and work outdoors in difficult weather; hike and operate on steep, rough terrain for extended periods.
- Vehicles & licensing: Safely operate 4WD light vehicles on highways and off-road; must have and maintain a valid driver’s license.
- Safety & physical demands: Ability to wear required PPE
- Office & travel: Work in an office environment with prolonged computer use; travel up to 30% for limited periods.
Location, Salary & Benefits
- The position is located in Salt Lake City and requires up to 20% travel, primarily in the western US
- Full-Time; Salaried
- Paid holidays, and 18 days PTO
- Medical, Dental & Vision Coverage
- 401k
- Parental Leave
- A direct impact in displacing carbon emissions, and growth opportunities in a growing startup environment
Equal Opportunity Employer
Zanskar is an equal-opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practice laws.