Director of Geology

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 this role, you will set the standard of practice in exploration geology and provide technical guidance to project teams on exploration hypotheses and field programs, from generative opportunities to advanced projects. You will coach and mentor early- to mid-career geologists and be responsible for their professional development. And you will help shape the strategy of the company through leading-edge thinking on exploration methods, the science of ore deposit formation, and priority areas and deposit styles.

Responsibilities

Technical guidance and oversight:

• Establish and maintain high standards of practice in exploration geology at the company through guidance and coaching to joint geoscience/data science project teams on:
• Data aggregation, curation, and generating exploration hypotheses
• Design, planning, and execution of exploration field programs
• Explore and promote new ways of integrating advanced data science methods and new technologies with leading practice geoscience to advance the state of the art in mineral exploration
• Contribute to exploration strategy and project reviews as a member of the leadership team of the company
• Standardize geoscience practice across the organization
• Demonstrate and encourage safety leadership throughout the company.

Mentorship and professional development:

• Provide coaching and feedback to project geologists on a continuous and ongoing basis as well as periodic formal reviews
• Keep track of geologists’ development of core skills and create opportunities and assignments to enable each geologist to achieve their and the company’s professional development objectives

Qualifications

Exploration experience and technical knowledge:

• Excellence in generative analysis and data aggregation
• Experience running field programs in a variety of settings and project stages
• A deep understanding of one or more ore deposit types, and broad expertise in the geochemistry, geophysics, and geology of ore genesis

Other key skills and work practices:

• Demonstrated leadership skills including the ability to motivate and inspire others, to share ownership and responsibility for project outcomes, and to work effectively in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams
• A strong track record of coaching and training geoscientists of varying experience, educational backgrounds and cultures in leading-practice mineral exploration
• Demonstrated commitment to high standards of health and safety in the workplace
• An orientation to first-principles thinking and rigor in generating and testing exploration hypotheses

Training and work experience:

• A minimum of 15 years experience in the mineral exploration industry
• Professional Geologist registered in Canada (or eligible to register)
• An M.Sc. or higher degree in a geoscience field or in a related physical science
• Insatiable intellectual curiosity

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.

The US base salary range for this full-time exempt position is $175,000-$250,000.

Location: US or Canada is preferred, but we are open to candidates anywhere in the world.