Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Oil & Gas Supervisor

🎯 Role Definition

The Oil & Gas Supervisor is an experienced operations leader responsible for safe, efficient and compliant day-to-day field operations across production, drilling/completions or midstream assets. This role directs crews and contractors, enforces HSE and regulatory standards, optimizes production and reliability, manages budgets and work schedules, and acts as the primary on-site liaison for engineering, maintenance and stakeholders. The ideal candidate combines hands-on technical knowledge (well control, equipment integrity, process operations) with proven supervisory and continuous improvement experience.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Field Technician / Production Operator
Wellsite/Drilling Assistant or Rig Hand
Maintenance Technician or Instrumentation Technician

Advancement To:

Senior Field Supervisor / Senior Operations Supervisor
Operations Manager / Production Manager
Area Manager / Asset Manager

Lateral Moves:

HSE Supervisor / HSE Advisor
Maintenance Supervisor / Reliability Supervisor
Drilling or Completions Supervisor

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead and supervise daily field operations for oil and gas production, drilling/completions or pipeline assets, ensuring targets for safety, production, uptime and cost-control are met and continuously improved.
Enforce all company HSE policies, regulatory requirements and permit-to-work systems on site; conduct pre-job briefings, toolbox talks and daily safety audits to maintain zero-harm performance.
Plan, schedule and coordinate crews and contractor activities across multiple shifts to execute planned maintenance, turnarounds, drilling/completions jobs, well interventions and routine operations with minimal production impact.
Monitor production KPIs (flow rates, uptime, well performance, pressures, temperatures) and respond proactively to deviations by initiating troubleshooting, optimization or escalation to engineering.
Supervise well operations including well testing, flowback, choke and valve manipulations, well control procedures and any staged interventions, ensuring adherence to well-control standards and BOP procedures.
Oversee integrity inspections and routine mechanical checks for critical equipment (pumps, compressors, separators, pipelines, valves) and coordinate timely repairs to prevent unplanned downtime or environmental release.
Manage emergency response and incident investigation: lead on-site response, ensure prompt notification, preserve evidence, complete root cause analysis and drive corrective action plans.
Control operating budgets and site-level cost tracking; approve purchase requests within delegated authority, optimize resource allocation, and identify opportunities to reduce consumable and contractor cost without compromising safety or compliance.
Implement and enforce process safety management and asset integrity programs including permit systems, lockout/tagout, isolation procedures and pressure-test regimes.
Maintain accurate operational records and prepare daily/weekly/monthly operational reports, incident reports and regulatory submissions requested by operations leadership.
Coordinate with drilling, completions and reservoir engineers to implement production enhancement plans, artificial lift changes, chemical programs and well stimulations; provide field input and feedback.
Lead contractor selection, onboarding and performance management; ensure scope, competency and compliance of third parties working on site.
Ensure environmental compliance: monitor produced water, gas flaring, waste handling, emissions and spill prevention measures; support environmental audits and remediation where required.
Drive continuous improvement initiatives by identifying bottlenecks, leading kaizen activities, implementing best practices and capturing lessons learned to improve reliability and efficiency.
Ensure spare parts and critical inventory management for rotating equipment and safety-critical spares; collaborate with procurement to avoid stockouts that could affect production.
Supervise and mentor multi-discipline teams (operators, technicians, electricians, instrument technicians), set performance expectations, conduct performance reviews and create training plans.
Oversee start-up and shut-down sequences, ensuring documented procedures are followed and that handovers between shifts and contractors are complete and accurate.
Verify calibration, certification and testing status for pressure vessels, relief systems, meters and instrumentation; coordinate external inspection and certification as required.
Coordinate with regulatory bodies and stakeholders during inspections, audits and permitting processes; present operations status and implement corrective actions when needed.
Maintain and improve operational dashboards and digital field tools (RTUs, SCADA, CMMS) to support data-driven decision making and real-time performance monitoring.
Manage wellsite logistics including site set-up, access control, HFSE facilities, site welfare and environmental controls to ensure operational readiness and community relations.
Lead reliability-centered maintenance initiatives by collaborating with maintenance and engineering to convert reactive maintenance to planned preventive and predictive programs.
Oversee pigging, pipeline integrity operations and routine pipeline maintenance where applicable; ensure safe scheduling and coordination to minimize disruptions.
Drive operator competency verification programs and ensure all personnel maintain required certifications (first aid, H2S, confined space, crane/hoist operation).
Ensure adherence to company policies on drug & alcohol testing, fatigue management and drug-free workplace standards for all field personnel.

Secondary Functions

Support cross-functional projects such as implementation of new digital monitoring tools, production optimization pilots and asset lifecycle initiatives.
Develop and maintain on-the-job training content, standard operating procedures (SOPs) and checklists tailored to field operations and regulatory requirements.
Participate in budget forecasting exercises, provide field-level cost estimates for projects and advise leadership on trade-offs between cost and reliability.
Contribute to contractor bid evaluations and technical scopes to ensure commercial and technical alignment with operational objectives.
Assist in stakeholder engagement with landowners, local communities and regulatory agencies to maintain a positive social license for operations.
Prepare post-job reports and handover documentation for long-duration projects or handbacks to engineering and maintenance groups.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Well control and well operations (BOP familiarity, choke management, kill/mud procedures)
Production operations and optimization (artificial lift systems, ESP/rod pump operations)
HSE and regulatory compliance (permit-to-work, process safety, environmental compliance)
Asset integrity and mechanical systems (pumps, compressors, separations, filtration)
Familiarity with SCADA, RTU, PLC systems and remote monitoring platforms
CMMS and work-order systems experience (SAP PM, Maximo or equivalent)
Basic hydraulic/pneumatic and instrumentation troubleshooting skills
Pipeline integrity and pigging operations knowledge (where applicable)
Emergency response planning and incident investigation (root cause analysis, RCA)
Project coordination and contractor management for well interventions and maintenance campaigns
Technical reporting and KPI monitoring (production reporting, downtime analysis)
Budget tracking, cost control and procurement coordination
Permit and regulatory submission processes (local/state/federal oil & gas regulations)
Use of digital tools for data-driven operations (Excel advanced, dashboards, basic data analysis)

Soft Skills

Strong leadership and crew-management capabilities with proven ability to lead multi-shift teams
Clear verbal and written communication; able to produce concise reports and brief senior leadership
Decisive problem solving and calm crisis management under pressure
Effective coaching and mentoring to develop operator and technician skills
Strong organizational and time management skills; capable of prioritizing concurrent tasks
Collaborative team-player with ability to work across engineering, maintenance and HSE functions
Attention to detail and a quality-first mindset
Cultural sensitivity and ability to maintain positive stakeholder relationships
Adaptability to rapidly changing field conditions and operational priorities
Continuous improvement mindset and data-driven decision orientation

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma or GED with relevant technical certifications (e.g., well control, H2S, confined space).

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's degree in Petroleum Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Process Engineering, Operations Management or related technical discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Petroleum Engineering
Mechanical Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Process Safety / HSE
Operations or Industrial Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5 to 15 years in upstream production, drilling/completions or midstream field operations.

Preferred:

8+ years of oil & gas field experience with at least 2–4 years in a supervisory capacity; demonstrated experience managing multi-disciplinary crews, contractor oversight, and HSE-critical operations.