Operations Accounting Advisor

Department/Division: Operations

Location: Houston, TX

Reports Directly To: Chief Operating Officer

FLSA Status: Exempt

SUMMARY:

This position reports directly to the Chief Operating Officer and works closely with both operations and accounting & finance teams to provide visibility and accountability on both capital and expense-related matters. The Operations Accounting & Financial Analyst Advisor will assist with a wide range of efforts and projects to better understand all expenditures managed by the Operations team (office and field) at a granular level that can be used to enhance understanding and help make more informed decisions. This enhanced visibility will involve capital spend at an AFE/cost category level, as well as detailed field OPEX spend detail: address invoices, track material transfers, cost allocations, etc. This person will work closely with the accounting department to understand, assist, and provide necessary details and assist with monthly and quarterly financial close process. The position is an individual contributor role with tremendous responsibility requiring strong communication skills, planning & coordination, and deep understanding of accounting principles including accrual accounting.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Establish a process to track monthly spend details for Operations team, including AFEs, LOE, and OPEX; major cost categories spend levels
• Educate field personnel and office team as appropriate on how to properly code and approve invoices for payment; establish process and provide training as necessary
• Track and measure actual spend rates, cum spend to AFE level as well as vs budgets and generate FY forecasts; work closely with asset managers on any specific cost tracking or analysis project needed
• Work directly with Chief Operating Officer to establish Operating KPI dashboards to help communicate capital and expense spend levels vs budget, along with key operational inputs that are tied to budgets (e.g. production, well counts, timing inputs)
• Establish and oversee monthly accrual process to estimate actual spend using work in progress techniques (WIP estimates)
• Work with Supply Chain Director to help ensure invoices accurately reflect agreed upon terms and assist to identify outliers and resolve non-compliance issues
• Coordinate and communicate effectively with other MEPUSA departments to ensure they have the operational information they need from Operations to perform their tasks and generate financial performance outlooks
• Work with Accounting organization and participate in monthly and quarterly financial performance reviews as appropriate and assist asset managers in any action items from those reviews
• Operations point-of-contact to help lead Quorum rollout & implementation efforts
• May assist with non-op assets, if needed

QUALIFICATIONS:

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Mathematics, or Data Science
• Minimum of 10 years of operations accounting experience in the oil and gas industry (upstream preferred), along with good working knowledge of upstream operations
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, as well as Spotfire and PowerBI for data analysis
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship

POSITION CRITERIA:

• Detailed oriented with strong data mining, critical thinking, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Established point of contact between Operations department and Accounting & Finance department; act as liaison/ambassador/mentor when necessary
• High end communication skills, including visual aids and presentations
• Good working knowledge of operational and accounting aspects of oil and gas operations
• Experience rolling out new projects/process/technologies, cost & schedule experience, project management skills would be highly desirable although not an essential part of the role
• Ability to work independently and within a multi-functional team with good collaboration skills
• Demonstrated ability to interact with all levels in the organization including senior management
• Patience and ability to work through complex and tedious issues
• Strong work ethic, capable of self-monitoring and being self-directed; good listener able to follow direction without excessive guidance
• Willingness to occasionally go the field to work with field operations personnel

LANGUAGE SKILLS and LICENSES/CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, must be concise and effective speaker and presenter
• No licenses, certifications, or registrations required.

WORK ENVIRONMENT & PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

• This job operates in a professional office environment and routinely uses standard office equipment and subject to prolonged periods of sitting in personal workspace and meetings.
• Occasionally, work duties will call for field visits or visits to other company offices.

Disclaimer:

This position description is not to be construed as an exhaustive statement of duties, responsibilities, or requirements. Employees may be required to perform any other job-related instructions as requested by their leader, subject to reasonable accommodation.

MEPUSA is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability.