Job Description
Job Description
The Corporate Reserves Manager owns SM Energy's end-to-end corporate reserves process and is accountable for the integrity, defensibility, and timeliness of the reserve estimates used in SEC filings, the standardized measure and supplemental disclosures, the year-end third-party reserves report, and the reserve-based lending (RBL) borrowing base. Reporting to the VP of Corporate Planning & Reserves, the role is the central link between the technical reserves function and the Accounting, Tax, Treasury, Internal Audit, and Investor Relations teams — and is expected not only to steward the process but to modernize it through stronger controls, better data, and the responsible adoption of analytics, automation, and emerging technologies.
Role & Responsibilities
- Reserves process & SOX governance. Run the full corporate reserves cycle (year-end SEC case, mid-year, and interim/sensitivity cases); maintain internal SOX controls and a defensible audit trail; perform bi-annual volume reconciliations; and keep reserve definitions, categorization (PDP/PDNP/PUD), and methodology consistent across all operating areas per SEC rules and SPE-PRMS.
- Technical reserves evaluation. Direct and review technical reserves and resource work — staying personally proficient to evaluate hands-on when needed; advise on the reservoir-engineering toolkit (DCA, RTA, volumetrics, modeling, history matching) and on corporate pricing, sensitivity, and development assumptions; peer-review booking strategies; and maintain the ARIES reserves database.
- SEC compliance & external reporting. Prepare the reserves content of the Form 10-K (reserves tables, PUD disclosure / Item 1203); coordinate the SPEE-conforming year-end third-party reserves report; support the SMOG calculation; lead annual EIA filings; deliver bi-annual reserves presentations to executives and the Board; and respond to SEC comment letters.
- Cross-functional coordination & RBL. Partner with Accounting and Tax on impairment, DD&A, ARO, and tax estimates; feed reserves and economics into Planning, Budgeting, and FP support Investor Relations with reserve metrics; and prepare the semiannual bank case and RBL models for the borrowing-base redetermination with Treasury and the bank group.
- Decision support, optimization & technology. Turn reserves and economics into decision support — full-cycle development economics, capital-efficiency screening, A&D and financial-transaction evaluation, and scenario analysis; modernize databases and automate workflows; and responsibly deploy emerging tools (advanced analytics, ML-assisted type-/decline-curve workflows, reporting automation) without compromising controls.
- Leadership & team development. Lead, mentor, and develop the reserves engineering and technician/analyst team; run annual ARIES and SPE-PRMS training and reserves-manual updates; and keep the process decision-useful, not merely compliant.
Core Competencies
- Technical depth balanced with executive-level communication and disclosure judgment.
- A forward-thinking optimization mindset that adopts emerging technology without compromising control.
- High integrity in a controls and audit intensive public company environment
- Strong cross-functional influence
- People leadership and the ability to develop technical talent.
Qualifications
- Required
- Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering or a closely related engineering/geoscience discipline.
- 10+ years of progressive oil & gas experience, with substantial reservoir-engineering and reserves-estimation work.
- Mastery of SEC reserves reporting (Reg S-K Items 1202–1203, Reg S-X Rule 4-10) and FASB ASC 932, including the standardized measure and PV-10; working knowledge of SPE-PRMS and SPEE standards.
- Hands-on ARIES and reserves-database expertise; command of core reservoir-engineering methods (DCA, RTA, volumetrics, probabilistic and deterministic estimation).
- Strong computer and data-analytics skills (SQL, Access, Spotfire) — able to model large datasets and automate workflows.
- Proven cross-functional coordination across accounting, tax, finance, and external evaluators under tight close and filing deadlines.
- Preferred
- Prior reserves manager/lead at a publicly traded E&P with direct ownership of the year-end SEC process and 10-K; 3+ years leading a team strongly preferred.
- Prior hands-on technical engineering roles; RBL/borrowing-base experience; multi-basin and unconventional/shale experience.
- Track record of process modernization; prior coding experience and demonstrated use of AI / data-analytics tools; PE license and/or SPEE membership.
SM Energy offers competitive compensation and benefits programs which include, but are not limited to, variable pay, health care coverage, retirement plan, protection coverage, time off and leave programs, training and development opportunities and a range of allowances connected to specific work situations. Details are available at Careers :: SM Energy Company (SM) (sm-energy.com).
Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis until the position is filled.