Management Team

Darrin Henke

Darrin Henke

President, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Darrin Henke has served on the Board and as President and CEO of Ranger Oil Corporation since August 2020. Prior to joining Ranger Oil, Mr. Henke served nearly five years as the CEO of Gary Permian LLC, a private oil and gas acquisition and development company. He was previously employed by Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc. for eleven years in various roles, including President of the US Division, overseeing Encana’s entrance into the Eagle Ford and Permian Basins. With over thirty years experience in the oil and gas business, Mr. Henke was also employed by Tom Brown Inc., Venoco Inc. and Burlington Resources.

Mr. Henke graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Texas Tech University and completed Duke’s Advanced Management Program. He is a past recipient of the Denver Business Journal’s Power Book Award for outstanding business leadership, currently sits on the board of Colorado’s State Chamber of Commerce and is a registered Professional Petroleum Engineer.

Russell T Kelley, Jr.

Russell T Kelley, Jr.

Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

Mr. Kelley has served as Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) and Treasurer of Ranger since November 2019.  Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Kelley was Chief Financial Officer for Extraction Oil & Gas, Inc.  Previously, he ran the Oil & Gas practice of Moelis & Company, a global investment bank, where he was a partner and managing director covering upstream and integrated oil & gas companies.  Prior to that, he worked at Goldman, Sachs & Co., where he was a Senior Vice President.  In such roles, Mr. Kelley has executed over $70 billion of M&A/advisory assignments and has led capital market transactions raising over $15 billion for clients.  He has been in the energy and financial sector since 1998, with experience in commodities trading, corporate development, and investment banking.  He holds an MBA from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar, and a BA from Vanderbilt University.

Julia Gwaltney

Julia Gwaltney

Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

Prior to joining Ranger, Ms. Gwaltney was the Chief Operating Officer for Gary Permian, LLC, from November 2015 to January 2020, where she led the entry into the Delaware Basin and the development of the property. Previously, she was with Samson Resources as Vice President of Western Operations from April 2014 to November 2015, overseeing the Williston, Powder River, San Juan and Green River Basin assets. She was previously employed with Encana for 14 years, where she assumed increasing roles of responsibility with her last role as Vice President and General Manager of the Northern Operations. She started her career at Burlington Resources. Julia received her B.S. from Colorado School of Mines and is a registered petroleum engineer.

Kayla D. Baird

Kayla D. Baird

Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller

Ms. Baird served as the Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller of EnVen Energy Corporation from September 2017 through April 2020. She was previously Chief Accounting Officer at Permian Resources, LLC from September 2014 until August 2017. Prior to Permian Resources, LLC, she served in various executive positions at ConocoPhillips, including Director of Lower 48 Strategy & Portfolio Management and Reserves Reporting & Compliance; Manager of Commercial Gas, Crude & NGL; and Manager of Upstream & Corporate Accounting Policy. Ms. Baird has 24 years of experience in the oil & gas industry. Previously, she worked for 13 years in public accounting, primarily for Ernst & Young, LLP, auditing large public oil and gas companies. Ms. Baird holds a Bachelor Degree in Accounting from Langston University and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Katherine Ryan

Katherine Ryan

Vice President, Chief Legal Counsel and Corporate Secretary

Ms. Ryan joined Ranger in October 2014 as its in-house corporate counsel and was promoted to Chief Legal Counsel and Corporate Secretary in October 2016 and Vice President in February 2017. Ms. Ryan has nearly fifteen years of experience advising oil and gas companies. Prior to joining Ranger, she was an associate at Baker Botts L.L.P. Ms. Ryan received a B. A. in Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin in 2004 and graduated from the University of Houston Law Center in 2007.

Jill T. Zivley

Jill T. Zivley

Vice President, Land and Marketing

Ms. Zivley is currently Vice President, Land and Marketing, having been with Ranger since May 2010. She has over forty years of experience with energy companies, having held leadership positions in land, midstream, and oil and gas marketing. Prior to joining Ranger, Ms. Zivley served as Sr. Regional Director of Producer Services at DTE Energy Trading, Inc., and in oil and gas marketing or producer services management roles at Occidental Energy Marketing and Enron North America. Ms. Zivley received her BBA in Petroleum Land Management from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a CPL (Certified Professional Landman). She held land positions with Sun Oil Company, Southland Royalty Company and Phillips Petroleum Company prior to her move into marketing at Enron. Ms. Zivley's role includes managing Ranger's land, marketing and midstream efforts.

Camilo Arias

Camilo Arias

Drilling Manager

Mr. Arias joined Ranger Oil in August 2019 as the Drilling Manager.  Prior to Ranger, from 2017 to 2019, Mr. Arias worked for Marathon Oil, where his last role was Drilling Manager for the Anadarko Basin. Before Marathon Oil, Mr. Arias worked for Equinor and Occidental Petroleum where he held positions of increasing responsibility in drilling and operations. Mr. Arias has over 20 years of experience drilling development and exploration wells in a multitude of basins, both domestic and international. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Petroleum Engineering from Universidad Industrial de Santander in Colombia.

Jaime Ramirez

Jaime Ramirez

Completion Manager

Mr. Ramirez joined Ranger in September 2018 and was promoted to Completion Manager in September 2019.  Prior to Ranger, from 2013 to 2018, Mr. Ramirez worked for Equinor, where his last role was Completion Team Lead – US Onshore responsible for all completion operations in the Bakken, Eagle Ford, and Utica Basins. Before Equinor, Mr. Ramirez worked for Apache Corporation and BP America, where he held a series of positions of increasing responsibility supporting drilling, completion, and workover operations. Mr. Ramirez has over 20 years of engineering and operational experience in the oil and gas industry. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from Texas A&M University-Kingsville.