Vice President, Exploration
California, USA · San Diego, CA, USA · Remote
USD 250k-250k / year + Equity
Posted on Nov 3, 2026
Careers
Vice President, Exploration
About the Company
Our mission is to discover the raw materials needed to create a prosperous world for the next 1000 years. With modern software and hardware, we aim to reduce mineral discovery timelines from 10 years to 1 year. Founded in 2023 by lifelong geoscientists, ExploreTech is a venture-backed business that develops technology and uses it to explore for minerals all over the world.
About the Role
We’re accelerating the pace of mineral discovery. Our drill targeting software has gone 8 for 8 hitting mineralized targets, a significant improvement over industry standards. We are now applying it across critical minerals and building our own exploration portfolio. In this role, you’ll lead that effort: setting our exploration strategy, building the team, and making the discoveries.
You’ll own the exploration pipeline from target generation through drill testing and resource definition, using our software and computational tools to speed up exploration and characterization and make faster, smarter decisions in the field. You’ll report to the CEO, work directly with the founders, our scientists, and our engineers, and decide where ExploreTech explores and where it drills.
What You’ll Do
- Set our exploration strategy, including target commodities, regions, deposit styles, and project priorities
- Lead exploration programs from target generation through drill testing, resource definition, and handoff
- Build and lead the exploration team of geologists, geophysicists, and field staff
- Evaluate and acquire properties, and build relationships with prospectors, junior companies, and majors
- Own exploration budgets, contractors, permitting, and field logistics
- Work with our scientists and engineers to apply our computational tools to target generation, ranking, and real-time field decisions
- Set safety, environmental, and community engagement standards for all field programs
- Report results and technical findings to the executive team, board, investors, and partners
About You
- Bachelor’s in geology or a related field; Master’s or PhD in economic geology preferred
- 10+ years of mineral exploration experience, including significant time on one or more critical minerals or base and precious metals commodities
- A record of discovery or major resource growth, and of leading exploration teams and budgets
- Strong command of ore deposit models across multiple deposit styles, plus structural geology, geochemistry, and geophysics
- Comfortable with 3D modeling, data-driven exploration, and adopting new technology
- Able to travel extensively to remote parts of the US and world
Bonus Points For
- Master’s or PhD in economic geology
- Professional registration (P.Geo, CPG, or equivalent)
- Experience in both greenfields and brownfields exploration
Location
San Diego, California, or remote near target regions
Extended field deployments
Salary
Starting at $250,000
+ equity
Benefits
100% healthcare coverage
(medical, dental, vision)
Our Hiring Process
- Intro call: a conversation with a founder about your background and what you want to work on.
- Role conversation: a deeper discussion of the work itself with the people you’d work alongside.
- Final conversation: meet the founders and the team, and ask us anything. If it’s a fit, we’ll make an offer.
If you’re ready to accelerate critical mineral discovery across the world, we encourage you to apply!
ExploreTech is an equal opportunity employer. We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.