SeniorFull TimeEN
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Job Description:
What’s the role
The role operates within a complex and high impact R&D environment, accountable for a multiyear portfolio of geophysics focused projects funded under Brazil’s ANP R&D Levy, with material financial and strategic importance to Shell Brasil. It requires significant autonomy in technical and project level decision making, operating within established governance frameworks while influencing research direction, partnership selection, and technology priorities. The incumbent interfaces with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders—including Shell assets and global technology centers, joint venture partners, and Brazilian academic and industrial institutions—necessitating strong stakeholder management and communication skills. The role combines deep geophysical expertise with sufficient technical breadth to integrate across subsurface disciplines, manage research uncertainty, and balance innovation with robust safety, quality, and compliance standards, primarily leading through technical authority and influence rather than formal line management.
Accountabilities:
1. Technical & Project Leadership
Lead and technically steer a portfolio of geophysics‑intensive R&D projects with universities, research institutes, and industrial partners, ensuring scientific rigor, operational relevance, and value creation for Shell.
Act as the Shell technical focal point for geophysical aspects of projects, integrating input from Shell Subject Matter Experts and asset teams to guide scope, methodologies, and decision‑making.
Ensure research outcomes are relevant, transferable, and scalable, with clear pathways to adoption in Shell assets or integration into global technology programs.
2. R&D Governance & Compliance
Be accountable for end‑to‑end project management, ensuring compliance with Shell internal standards, ANP R&D regulations, and contractual obligations.
Oversee project planning, progress tracking, risk management, and delivery against agreed milestones, budgets, and success criteria, supported by commercial, finance, and portfolio teams.
Ensure proper documentation, reporting, and audit readiness of R&D activities under the Brazilian R&D Levy framework.
3. Partnership & Ecosystem Engagement
Build and maintain trusted, long‑term partnerships with Brazilian academic and industrial institutions, fostering win‑win collaborations aligned with Shell’s strategic priorities.
Proactively identify and formulate new R&D opportunities, partnerships, and concepts that enhance Shell’s competitiveness.
Represent Shell professionally within Brazil’s R&D ecosystem, reinforcing Shell’s reputation as a high‑quality, ethical, and collaborative innovation partner.
5. Innovation & Capability Development
Drive innovation in geophysical monitoring and reservoir characterization, including (but not limited to) on‑demand and frequent 4D seismic, low‑cost acquisition and processing concepts, and the integration of AI‑enabled workflows where impactful.
Contribute to the development and deployment of best practices, lessons learned, and technical standards across projects and laboratories.
Support the development or upgrade of laboratory and fieldwork capabilities, where relevant, ensuring technical excellence and long‑term value.
6. Safety, Quality & Culture
Actively promote and embed a strong HSSE culture within all external R&D activities, laboratories, and field operations.
Ensure research is conducted to high standards of quality, integrity, and reproducibility, with safety and ethical considerations fully integrated into project execution.
Role‑model Shell’s Learner Mindset by seeking feedback, embracing continuous improvement, and fostering an open environment where challenges and learnings are shared constructively.
Skills Requirements:
What you bring
Must have legal authorization to work in Brazil on a full-time basis for anyone other than the current employer
Postgraduate degree in geophysics, physics, or a related subsurface science or engineering discipline preferred
5–10 years of relevant experience in geophysics across industry, applied research, or technology development
Familiarity with Brazilian oil & gas basins and the national R&D ecosystem is an advantage
Strong foundation in geophysics with experience across multiple domains (e.g., seismic acquisition, processing, quantitative interpretation, 4D seismic), ideally applied to deepwater pre‑salt reservoirs
Proven ability to translate complex subsurface and business needs into focused R&D and technology solutions across the full project lifecycle
Experience leading technical work through influence and collaborating effectively with multidisciplinary, internal, and external stakeholders
Demonstrated capability managing technically complex projects within governance, budget, regulatory, and HSSE requirements
Strong communication skills in Portuguese and English, with the ability to engage both technical and non‑technical audiences
It is required frequent travel (25%)
What we offer
You bring your skills and experience to Shell and in return you work with talented, committed people on one of the most important challenges facing our planet. You’ll have the opportunity to develop the skills you need to grow in an environment where we value honesty, integrity, and respect for one another. You’ll be able to balance your priorities as you become the best version of yourself.
Progress as a person as we work on the energy transition together.
Continuously grow the transferable skills you need to get ahead.
Work at the forefront of technology, trends, and practices.
Collaborate with experienced colleagues with unique expertise.
Achieve your balance in a values-led culture that encourages you to be the best version of yourself.
Benefit from flexible working hours, and the possibility of remote/mobile working.
Perform at your best with a competitive starting salary and annual performance related salary increase – our pay and benefits packages are considered to be among the best in the world.
Take advantage of paid parental leave, including for non-birthing parents.
Join an organisation working to become one of the most diverse and inclusive in the world. We strongly encourage applicants of all genders, ages, ethnicities, cultures, abilities, sexual orientation, and life experiences to apply.
Grow as you progress through diverse career opportunities in national and international teams.
Gain access to a wide range of training and development programmes.
We'd like you to know that Shell has a bold goal: to become one of the world’s most diverse and inclusive companies. You can get to know more about how we're working towards that goal, click here.
Shell in Brazil
Who We Are
Shell is a global group of energy and petrochemical companies, employing 85,000 people and with operations in more than 70 countries. We use advanced technologies and take an innovative approach as we seek to help the world build a sustainable energy future.
Shell is a customer-focused organisation, serving more than 1 million commercial and industrial customers, and around 33 million customers daily at more than 47,000 Shell-branded retail service stations.
Our approach
Shell’s strategy is to deliver more value with less emissions as we work to become a net-zero emissions business by 2050.
As we navigate the energy transition through the next decade, we will leverage our global footprint, the trust in our brand, and our innovation and technology capabilities to be the energy company that customers and countries choose to be their partner. We are positioning Shell to become the investment case and partner of choice through the energy transition.
Our values
At Shell, we share a set of core values – honesty, integrity and respect for people – which underpin all the work we do. The Shell General Business Principles, Code of Conduct and Ethics and Compliance Manual help everyone at Shell act in line with these values and comply with relevant laws and regulations.
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