Principal Geologist
San Diego, CAJobPosted 1 day agoStill listed 1 day ago
Most applications go out cold — see where you stand first. No sign-up to start.
You apply on the employer's site, with no Olive account needed.
Watch jobs like this. New roles like this one near San Diego, CA, by email.
Don't just apply. Show up ready.
Olive works from this exact posting.
At a glance
Olive lists jobs from US employers, including remote roles you can work from the United States.
Job overview
Explore Tech is hiring a Principal Geologist to lead the team delivering mineral-discovery projects for mining customers. The role owns project quality, timelines, and outcomes; develops geologists; sets delivery standards; and personally leads high-stakes engagements. The Principal Geologist advises customer executives, partners with commercial and product teams, and works with founders to scale delivery. Customer field campaigns and site visits are part of the role as needed.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
We’re accelerating the pace of mineral discovery. Our AI drill targeting software has gone 8 for 8 hitting mineralized targets, a significant improvement over industry standards. Now the biggest mining companies in the world want results on their ground, and we deliver them as a service. We’re hiring a Principal Geologist to lead the team that delivers them. You’ll lead our Project and Senior Project Geologists and own the quality, timelines, and outcomes of every customer project our commercial team brings in. You’ll hire and develop geologists, set how we scope and deliver work, and stay hands-on by personally leading our highest-stakes engagements. You’ll be a senior technical voice with customers’ chief geologists and executives, and you’ll work directly with the founders to scale delivery as the business grows. What You’ll Do
- Lead, mentor, and grow our team of Project and Senior Project Geologists, including hiring and performance development
- Own delivery across all customer projects: staffing, timelines, quality, and customer satisfaction
- Personally lead our highest-stakes and most technically complex customer engagements
- Partner with the commercial team on technical discovery, scoping, pricing, and proposals for new work
- Review and sign off on drill targets, technical reports, and other customer deliverables
- Set the standards, templates, and workflows for how we deliver projects
- Act as a senior technical advisor to customer chief geologists and exploration executives
- Bring customer and delivery insights to the founders, product, and research teams
- Join customer field campaigns and site visits as needed
About You
- Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD in geology, economic geology, or a related earth science field
- 12+ years of mineral exploration experience, including leading exploration programs from target generation through drill testing
- Experience managing and developing geologists or exploration teams
- A track record of delivering drill-ready targets or discoveries
- Credible with chief geologists and executives; you can discuss ore deposit models, drill targeting, and data quality at a peer level
- Comfortable owning budgets, timelines, and customer relationships across multiple projects at once
- Comfortable with, or motivated to learn, Python, scripting, and 3D modeling and GIS tools
- Able to travel to customer sites and remote parts of the US and world
Bonus Points For
- Professional registration (P.Geo, CPG, or equivalent) or Qualified Person status
- Consulting or services experience, including scoping and selling technical work
- Experience building a team or practice from the ground up
- Startup or mining technology experience
How this job compares
Set against the 887 open Geologist jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 10, 2026.
- Pay
- This postingNot listed
- California median$91–159K/yr45 salary ranges
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 56 open Geologist jobs in California and 887 across the US. Under 1% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- This posting asks for at least 12 years of experience — more than three in four Geologist postings that state a minimum ask for (median 5 years, across 823 postings).
- Education
- 776 of the 887 open Geologist jobs (87%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 10, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
Prepare for this role
You've read the whole posting — now see how you match it.
