Dubai, United Arab Emirates
I am a Global Finance and Governance Leader with 30+ years of multinational experience across 78 countries, currently serving as Finance Director, Head of Global Business Services (GBS), and Executive Director at Petrofac, a UK-listed EPC and energy services company. My career has been defined by one mission: turning complexity into clarity whether transitioning 150+ processes across continents, leading enterprise-wide SAP and Oracle Fusion implementations, or designing governance frameworks that withstand SOX and regulatory scrutiny. During more than two decades at Halliburton ($30B revenue, 65,000 employees), I progressed from Lead Accountant to General Manager (Finance) and Head of GBS, overseeing shared service centres in Dubai, KL and Aberdeen. I was honoured with both Problem Solver of the Year and Outstanding Leader of the Year awards from a global finance community of ~3,000 professionals — recognition of my ability to deliver results while building high-performing teams and sustainable systems. I bring boards deep expertise in financial governance, audit readiness, and digital transformation. A US CPA and Chief Digital Transformation Officer (IIM Indore), I have led SOX compliance programmes, implemented enterprise reconciliation platforms, and served as statutory director for 15+ UK entities and Indian subsidiaries. I have built and scaled GCCs across three global hubs, delivered over $1M in recurring savings, and improved processing efficiency by ~30% through AI, RPA, and large-scale ERP deployments. My experience spans end-to-end finance operations across 78 countries, including P2P, global bank reconciliations, cash management, payroll, employee data governance, and R2R close cycles. I was key member of corporate restructuring and global transfer pricing projects with the support of Big Four. Led regulatory implementations such as the UK Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (ECCTA). I also hold full accountability for GBS financial performance, including budgets, forecasts, and variance management. As I prepare for my next chapter, I am seeking Independent Director and Board Advisory roles where I can provide a practitioner’s perspective on financial oversight, digital modernization, and operational resilience, grounded in decades of building and running global finance organizations. Interested in serving on Audit Committees, IT/Digital Strategy Committees, Risk Management Committees Open to: Independent Director appointments, Board Advisory roles, Audit Committee positions, and Digital Transformation advisory engagements.
My key accomplishments of this role were: - Revamped SSC processes, effectively lowering costs and boosting operational efficiencies, leading to significant financial gains. - Led process improvement initiatives that focused on cost reduction, quality enhancement, and increased speed, including the deployment of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to streamline high-volume tasks. - Implemented critical SSC processes, driving improved financial outcomes through strategic, data-driven recommendations. - Oversaw financial operations for 16 UK legal entities and served as Finance Director for Halliburton Swiss Company, ensuring rigorous financial oversight. - Engaged as a key member of the Halliburton Eastern Hemisphere Internal Control Committee, leading SOX assessments and compliance reviews to maintain the highest governance standards. - Executed the transition of AP processes across 78 countries to a Dubai hub, achieved enormous amount of process efficiency digitalisation and process consolidation. - Centralised payroll processing and statutory reporting for countries of multiple regions into Dubai, realising millions in savings by integrating RPA and AI, whilst enhancing efficiency and employee satisfaction. - Directed the SAP upgrade from 3.1 to 6.0 for FI/CO and Payroll and spearheaded the Eastern Hemisphere implementation of SAP Real Estate and Treasury modules. - Automated global bank reconciliations, streamlining FTEs from 15 to 5 and halving bank reconciliation costs. - Migrated statutory accounting for 25 entities from the UK to Dubai, yielding 50% reduction in overall cost. - Contributed to significant restructuring and tax planning initiatives, whilst supporting key M&A activities. - Merged operations from Kuala Lumpur into Dubai, cutting headcount by 50 without increasing the workforce at the Dubai hub. - Facilitated the transfer of Global Business Support activities to Accenture Bangalore, ensuring seamless knowledge transfer and stable operations.
American Hospital Dubai is a JCI accredited multi-specialty hospital. I joined American Hospital as a pre-opening member and was involved in setting up the F&A organization. My role was to assume overall responsibility for the F&A function, reporting to the Financial Controller. This is where I was exposed to the complete set-up of the ERP package and set up the ERP for Hospital which included billing module, General ledger, AP, AR, MM, Payroll and HR.