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Oil, Gas & Energy Recruitment

Oil, gas & energy recruitment — conventional production and the transition beyond it.

PHM recruits the engineers and leaders who find, move, and process energy — and increasingly those building what comes next. Upstream, midstream, and downstream oil and gas, process and facilities, pipeline, and the transition into renewables, hydrogen, and carbon capture. Specialist search on an exclusive, fee-on-hire basis.

Why this hire is hard

The federal rule everyone cites does not apply where most of the work is.

Ottawa tightened its upstream methane rules at the end of 2025, phasing in from 2028 — quarterly leak inspections, fixed repair windows, tighter venting limits. What gets left out of most summaries is that equivalency agreements remove those federal rules from Alberta and British Columbia, where the great majority of Canadian production sits. So an engineer’s compliance experience is provincial, not federal, and the two are not interchangeable.

What it costs while the seat is open

In a capital-disciplined business a delayed turnaround or a mis-hired project lead is measured in production, not payroll. The number is large and it arrives quickly.

How we run it instead

Our energy recruiters know which regime a candidate has actually worked under, and place engineers and project leadership across conventional and transition work with an honest read on where someone wants to be.

What we recruit for

From project engineers to practice leaders.

We run oil, gas, and energy searches on the same exclusive-contingency basis and with the same rigour — and where a mandate needs specialist depth we don’t have, we’ll tell you plainly. A sample of the work and the projects we recruit for:

Skills we recruit
CommissioningFacilities engineeringHSEInstrumentation & controlsMechanicalPipeline integrityProcess engineeringProject engineeringRegulatory & complianceReliabilityRotating equipment
Project types
Carbon capture (CCUS)Downstream & petrochemicalHydrogenLNGMidstreamUpstream

Recruiting on the electricity side rather than hydrocarbons? That work sits with our power and grid engineering team.

Levels from project and intermediate engineers through senior and principal engineers, discipline leads, project and engineering managers, and directors.

How we engage

Exclusive contingency.

Retained-level rigour, on an exclusive basis, for a fee paid on the hire — no upfront retainer and the delivery risk on us. We also work standard contingency where a role suits it. How we engage →

Because we don’t run volume, an exclusive energy mandate gets our full bandwidth — and we’re driven to deliver in less time than industry norms.

Where energy engineers work

Conventional energy, and the transition beyond it.

Oil & gas

Upstream, midstream, and downstream — process, facilities, pipeline, and rotating-equipment engineering and leadership.

Energy & utilities

Generation and utilities that overlap the grid — pairs closely with our power & grid engineering practice.

Energy transition

Renewables, hydrogen, and carbon capture — the talent building the lower-carbon energy system.

Common questions

Oil, Gas & Energy recruitment, answered.

What oil, gas, and energy roles do you recruit for?

The specialties and levels are listed above. We recruit them for consultancies, owners, contractors and industrial employers across Canada and the USA.

Do you recruit for the energy transition too?

Yes. Alongside conventional oil and gas, we place talent across renewables, hydrogen, and carbon capture — the roles building the lower-carbon energy system. For grid and generation, see our power & grid engineering practice.

Do you work on a retained or contingency basis?

Exclusive contingency. You get the reach and rigour of a retained search, invoiced only when you hire — so an unsuccessful search costs us, not you.

Can you advise on energy sector salaries and compensation?

Yes. We provide real-time compensation insight for the specific role, region, and seniority you’re hiring for — so an offer is competitive without overpaying.

Where do you recruit energy talent?

Across Canada and the United States. We’re headquartered in London, Ontario, Canada and work on-site where it counts and remote-fluent by design.

Are the best energy roles even advertised?

Often not. Many of the strongest energy roles are filled discreetly, through direct search — filled before a posting exists, often before the role is announced internally.

Related disciplines

Explore where else our expertise runs deep.

Get in touch

Hiring an energy professional? Tell us the role.

An advisory conversation about the energy hire ahead of you — and where the right person is likely to come from. Not a commitment.