--- title: 'Senior Geologist at Terra AI' canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/senior-geologist-terra-ai-redwood-city-vh6xke8pccp4' type: 'job' last_seen: '2026-09-17' --- # Senior Geologist at Terra AI - **Company:** Terra AI - **Location:** Redwood City, CA - **Employment:** full-time - **Work type:** onsite - **Posted:** 2026-05-22 - **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-17 - **Apply:** https://jobs.ashbyhq.com/terraai/fde452fb-ed32-40a9-a55e-30af93c60d9e ## Job description Terra AI is building a new category at the intersection of artificial intelligence, geoscience, and critical resource development. As global demand for copper, lithium, nickel, rare earth elements, geothermal energy, and other strategic resources accelerates, the mining and subsurface industries face a growing challenge: traditional exploration methods remain slow, expensive, and highly uncertain. Terra AI was founded to help solve this problem by redefining how critical resources are discovered, evaluated, and developed. By combining advanced machine learning, probabilistic modeling, and deep geoscience expertise, Terra AI helps exploration and mining companies make faster, more informed subsurface decisions with greater confidence and capital efficiency. The company’s platform integrates geological, geophysical, and drilling data into intelligent systems designed to improve targeting accuracy, accelerate discovery timelines, and reduce exploration risk. Backed by leading investors including Khosla Ventures and working alongside strategic industry partners including Rio Tinto, Ero Copper, and Ramaco Resources, Terra AI is emerging as one of the more closely watched AI-native companies operating within the mining and critical minerals sector. Terra AI’s mission is to define the new global standard for data-driven critical resource development — breaking the cost and time curve required to support electrification, energy security, and the global energy transition. The company operates with a strong partnership mentality, combining technical rigor, candid communication, continual learning, and environmental stewardship to help modern exploration teams solve some of the world’s most important resource challenges. ## Role We are seeking a Senior Geologist to help lead geological interpretation and mineral systems modeling efforts that support Terra AI’s exploration workflows. In this role, you will work closely with geologists, geophysicists, and machine learning engineers to integrate complex geological datasets into modern exploration models supporting critical minerals discovery. - Interpret and integrate geological, geochemical, and geophysical datasets across multiple scales - Build robust mineral systems and exploration models supporting probabilistic targeting workflows - Support geological feature engineering and modern computational exploration workflows - QA/QC historical and modern exploration datasets to improve modeling confidence - Collaborate closely with internal and external technical teams across geology, geophysics, and engineering - Produce technical reports, visualizations, and exploration recommendations for global projects - Provide geological expertise to support the automation and improvement of exploration workflows ## Qualifications - Experience in economic geology, mineral exploration, or mine development - Strong experience in critical minerals and base metals geology - Proficiency with GIS and 3D geological modeling software - Experience integrating geological and exploration datasets into cohesive exploration models - Strong understanding of geochemistry and mineralization systems - Exposure to computational geology, geostatistics, remote sensing, or AI-enabled exploration workflows is considered beneficial Candidates from both traditional exploration and emerging computational geology environments are encouraged to apply. We recognize that exceptional candidates may come from a variety of professional, technical, and industry backgrounds. If your experience aligns closely with the spirit of the role, we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet every listed qualification. ## Compensation $185,000- $250,000 + Equity In accordance with California law, Terra AI provides a good faith base salary range for roles that may be performed in California. Actual compensation will be determined based on experience, qualifications, skills, and market considerations. In addition to base salary, total compensation may include performance bonus opportunities, equity participation, and a comprehensive benefits package. Terra AI is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to building a diverse and inclusive team. We consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. ## About Terra AI ## Company Overview - **One-liner**: Terra AI uses patented, purpose-built AI to model subsurface uncertainty and optimize drill planning for mining, geothermal, and carbon storage projects, accelerating the discovery of critical natural resources. - **Entity Type**: Private (early-stage, founded 2023; funding stage not publicly disclosed) - **Headquarters**: Palo Alto, California, USA (with an office in Sunnyvale, CA and remote options) - **Founded**: 2023 - **Founders**: John Mern (CEO, Co-founder), Markus Zechner (CTO, Co-founder), Anthony Corso (Co-founder), and a General Manager of Reservoirs (Co-founder, name not publicly listed) ## Core Business - **Primary industry**: Natural resources exploration (mining, energy, geothermal, carbon storage) powered by artificial intelligence - **Target customers**: Mining and energy companies (B2B, enterprise), including mine developers, reservoir engineers, and investors in critical mineral supply chains - **Mission or purpose statement**: “Accelerating exploration to meet energy transition needs” and “turn subsurface uncertainty into better decisions” to bring critical resources to markets faster ## Products & Services - **Terra AI Platform**: A SaaS/AI platform that characterizes deposits, quantifies uncertainty, and optimizes drill planning. It answers questions like “Where should we drill to reduce the most resource uncertainty?” and “What is the possible range of net present values?”. The platform claims to deliver a 2.5x increase in resource definition vs. traditional methods and 50-60% fewer drilling meters throughout exploration. ## Market Standing - **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available - **Key Metric**: Total Funding – Not disclosed (company is private, no funding rounds reported in public sources) - **Notable Investors/Partners**: Not listed in available sources (likely early-stage, no investor details public) - **Growth Signals**: Founded in 2023 and already actively hiring across multiple senior roles (ML Engineer, Geologist, Geophysicist, Business Development, etc.). The company targets a critical bottleneck in mineral supply – post-discovery exploration – which is seeing increased demand from clean energy, defense, and AI-driven growth. ## Competitive Advantages - **Patented, purpose-built AI** for subsurface uncertainty modeling, not generic data visualization - **Decision-focused platform** that quantifies financial risk (e.g., net present value ranges) and reduces drilling costs by 50-60% - **Founding team with deep domain expertise**: PhDs from Stanford in Aeronautics & Astronautics, Petroleum Engineering, and AI; experience at Kobold Metals, Boeing, and Stanford Center for AI Safety - **Bridges academia and industry**: CTO Markus Zechner is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford; Anthony Corso is a visiting scholar at Stanford ## Strategic Focus - Accelerate and de-risk post-discovery exploration for critical minerals, geothermal, and carbon storage - Expand adoption among mining and energy companies to reduce the “exploration bottleneck” and boost downstream industries - Grow the team of geoscientists, AI researchers, and engineers to build the subsurface foundation for a clean energy future - Target both mining and reservoir (oil & gas, geothermal, carbon storage) verticals ## Why Work Here - **Culture highlights**: Mission-driven to solve a critical climate challenge; team of AI PhDs, geophysicists, and engineers; flat structure with a focus on innovation - **Remote/hybrid/office policy**: Mostly remote (US-based) with some roles labeled “hybrid” or “on-site” in Palo Alto/Sunnyvale. The company has two locations (Palo Alto HQ and Sunnyvale) and offers remote flexibility. - **Notable perks** (from careers page): - Company-subsidized medical, dental & vision insurance - 401k plan with company matching - Flexible PTO plus company holidays - Annual company-wide winter break (December 24 – January 1) - Paid parental leave - One-time home-office set up stipend - Professional development budget (conferences, events) - Mental health support (if not covered by insurance) - **Engineering culture**: Emphasis on AI/ML, scientific computing, and geoscience; open roles for Senior/Staff ML Engineers, ML Researchers, Computational Scientists, and Software Engineers ## Sources 1. [Terra AI Website](https://www.terraai.com/) 2. [Terra AI About Page](https://www.terraai.com/about) 3. [Terra AI Careers Page](https://www.terraai.com/careers) 4. 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