Global Programmes Lead, Shell August 2021 – mid April 2025
• Oversaw global marketing & employer brand strategy, digital transformation, contracts, operations, finance and global projects, with 10 direct reports & 80-100 project members (10 projects per year)
• Global contract owner and lead negotiator for suppliers and partners, with contract values worth several million dollars; saved approximately over $12 million since Aug'21
• Led Shell’s global employer value proposition development and a multimillion-dollar campaign deployment across 4 continents, securing "Top Brand" for 10 consecutive quarters
• Led training on strategy, agile project management, negotiation and operations management for the teams in Qatar, Oman and UAE to ensure best practice adoption
• Led centralised consultation for and execution of Strategy, Operations and Contracts for the Middle East (primarily Qatar, Oman and UAE), within the global function
• Managed 10 global projects per year through agile methodology; project scopes spanned digital transformation, brand strategy, team capabilities in AI & Data and cost optimizations, resulting in unlocking high dollar value, operational agility and high-quality output
• Spearheaded digital transformation projects aimed at integration of AI with Advertising, CRM, Social Media Marketing, Agile Project Management, Content Creation, Operational Automations and Data Integration
• Designed, evaluated, and managed contracts, Service Level Agreements (SLAs), and vendor performance reviews across a multimillion-dollar annual portfolio
• Achieved highest and most consistent leadership scores across Shell (99, 95, 92)
Global Projects, Programmes, and Portfolio Manager, Shell August 2019 – August 2021
• Oversaw global marketing & employer brand strategy, analytics, advertising, contracts, operations, finance and global projects, with 10 direct reports & 80-100 project members (10 projects per year)
• Established three Global Centres of Excellence for the function to centralise a. Content Development and Agency Contracts, b. Strategy, Operations and Channel Contracts, and c. Performance Monitoring through Analytics
• Led centralised consultation for and execution of Strategy, Operations and Contracts for the Middle East (primarily Qatar, Oman and UAE), within the global function
• Official global contract owner and lead negotiator for suppliers and partners, with cumulative contract values worth several million dollars, partnering with Legal, IT, Supply, and Risk teams to drive governance, contract compliance, and change management; saved approximately over $14 million since Aug '19
• Developed and implemented the 3-year Global Digital Roadmap
• Managed 10 global projects per year through agile methodology; project scopes spanned contracts & vendor strategy, digital transformation, data integration & reporting, organisational restructuring, D&I and in-housing media publishing
• Automated budget and operations tracking systems for global marketing in 2021–2022, tangibly improving transparency, accuracy, and decision-making
• Spearheaded adoption of agile project management methodology across the global team; developed new frameworks for strategy creation, quarterly reviews, & annual planning cycles
• Achieved highest and most consistent leadership scores across Shell (97, 97)
Global Marketing Manager, Shell April 2018 – August 2019
• Directed branding and recruitment marketing strategy across Shell Business Operations (SBO)offices in India, Poland, Malaysia, and the Philippines; led a team of 3 direct reports and 50 project team members (5 projects)
• Led contract & procurement negotiations with oversight of several million dollars resulting in favourable SLAs, sustained annual savings and more than 50% reduction on delivery speed
• Developed and launched the employer value proposition for Shell Business Operations, securing over 20 industry awards
• Reduced cost-per-acquisition by 80% and campaign cost by 60%
• Co-developed Shell India Masterbrand in collaboration with 3 marketing heads, the Corporate Relations team and the Global Brand team
Global CX and Web Marketing Advisor, Shell September 2017 – April 2018
• Lead negotiator and contract holder for the global team, leading a team of 5 professionals and 40 project team members
• Key member of the core-team that launched a multi-million-dollar Shell's global employer value proposition globally, exceeding campaign targets by 250%
• Led 4 cross- functional Digital Transformation and MarTech Projects:1. CRM strategy and optimisation project: CRM delivered the 2nd largest contribution to customer acquisition (~25%), 2. Website transformation project across 70+markets delivering improved engagement metrics, reduced bounce rate by 15%, and reduced page count by 30%, 3. Pilots with Adobe Target, Adobe Audience Manager, and Chatbot -First ever pilots with these tools/ technologies across Shell, 4. Spearheaded the GDPR compliance project
• Strategic Project Operations Management partner for Shell's initiatives towards Qatar National Vision in Economic Development and Human Development through The Enterprise Challenge
• Consultant for the Project Steering Committee for the Qatari SME Business Opportunities initiatives, Qatarization and TAFAWOQ Project Management Center for large capital projects
Global Web Marketing Advisor, Shell November 2015 – September 2017
• Established performance measurement framework, defining KPIs and building dashboards, while managing a $2 million performance marketing budget, leading a team of 3 professionals and 50 project team members
• Delivered 50% YoY growth in organic traffic and 20% CTR uplift through content and SEO
• Saved $1M in digital ad spends through campaign audits and precision targeting
• Led 5 cross-functional MarTech and Social Media projects resulting in over $2 million in sustained annual savings –1. SEO, 2. End-to-end CX, 3. Migration from Adobe Social to Sprinklr, 4. YT Optimisation, and 5. End-to-end tracking projects
• Led the multi-functional project to streamline and ensure effective delivery by the Qatarisation, Omanization and Emiratisation programmes and establish local partnerships through contracts in in Qatar, Oman and UAE respectively
• Led project workstream for Graduate AMR project digitalising the Graduate Recruitment journey, cutting down resourcing time by 75%
Founder, Slam Dunk Consultants April 2014 – November 2015
• Founded a marketing and education consultancy, managing clients such as the European Union, Shell, and 2 e-commerce startups (including an Indo-UAE start-up); achieved $250K in revenue and $69K in profit
• Led the EU marketing strategy and its implementation surpassing targets by 230% in 2014
• Drove digital transformation for EU education outreach in India to a virtual model in 2015, expanding reach from 3 to 50+cities and increasing attendance over 10x YoY
• Mentored the founding team of two e-commerce startups on brand positioning, value propositions, buyer and supplier ecosystem, payment gateways, go-to-market strategy and e-commerce portal development
• Established analytics capabilities for Shell's global marketing team cutting expenses by 20% and reducing CPC by 25%
• Spearheaded the redesign and CMS migration of Shell's careers section across 100+sites
• Boosted Shell’s social media engagement by 15% & increased LinkedIn followers by 400,000
General Manager: Brand and Marketing, EGE Global Education November 2012 – April 2014
• Head of Brand and Marketing -Led the brand repositioning, operational expansion, strategic transformation, brand and marketing strategy with a budget of $700K per annum, overseeing 8 marketing managers, 20 marketing executives, and 30 salespersons
• Led the brand refresh, propelling the company to top 3 in the market nationally
• Introduced CRM for sales management and forecasting at EGE Global Education, resulting in improved conversion and pipeline tracking
• Drove product innovation and established new institutional partnerships, increasing value-per-customer by 200% YoY
• Led the marketing strategy, reducing cost-per-acquisition by 60%, exceeding sales targets by 300%, and achieving break-even in less than 2 years
• Opened 2 company-owned retail offices, 2 franchise outlets, and a central finance and operations office, expanding the company’s footprint and streamlining operations
• Led contract negotiation for IT, Real-Estate, Logistics, Marketing & Institutional partnerships
Assistant General Manager: Brand and Marketing, EGE Global Education November 2011 – November 2012
• Head of Brand and Marketing - led the brand & marketing strategy for an education start-up with a $300K budget, managing a team of 5 marketing managers, 12 marketing executives, and 18 salespersons
• Created the brand identity, developed and executed the national marketing and sales strategy, surpassing sales targets by 150% and achieving break-even in two key markets
• Developed an SEO-driven website, which contributed 60% of the pipeline
• Achieved 30% of total sales through organic traffic and word-of-mouth
• Set-up the company's digital marketing capability and led digital marketing, reducing customer acquisition costs by 30% in the first year
• Led contract negotiation for IT, Real-Estate, Logistics, Marketing & Institutional partnerships
Senior Account Manager, Imprimis Life Public Relations October 2008 – March 2009
• Managed 3 key accounts while leading a team of 3 account executives
• Managed accounts and media relations for 2 NGOs (IAVI and PATH), 1 QSR client (Dominos) and led media relations for a biotech major (Genzyme) at the World Economic Forum
Account Manager, Weber Shandwick Public Relations January 2008 – March 2008
• Managed 3 key accounts and crisis communication while leading 3 account executives
• Led crisis communication for a major non-banking financial corporation
• Achieved the highest media ad value amongst peers for Honda during the Auto Expo 2008 and for Raytheon during the Defence Expo 2008
Account Executive, Adfactors Public Relations July 2005 – December 2007
• Managed media and investor relations for 9 key accounts (including Emaar), leading 5 account executives and overseeing print media relations for North India operations
• Spearheaded PR efforts for over 120 IPOs, 100 product launches and crisis communication initiatives for two listed companies
• Drove business development efforts generating approximately $300,000 annually
• Co-managed government and media relations for Infineon-HSMC JV & Vodafone's India entry
• Led PR for launch of the cricket Indian Premier League and T20 Cricket World cup
Intern, Adfactors Public Relations December 2004 – April 2005
• Supported media relations for Mahindra & Mahindra, and Bollywood Telethon & Concert for Tsunami victims
EDUCATION
• MBA - Dual major in Marketing & Strategy, Indian School of Business (2010 -2011)
• Post-Graduate in Communications - PR and Events, Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad (2004 -2005)
CERTIFICATIONS
Digital Transformation & Data: Google Cloud Digital Leader Specialisation | GenAI in Social Media Marketing (Meta) | Agentic AI and AI Agents for Leaders (Vanderbilt University) | Building Gen AI Agents with Vertex AI and Flutter (Google Cloud) | AI for Business (University of Pennsylvania) | Power BI | TIBCO Spotfire | Adobe Analytics | GA4
Project Management: Microsoft Project Management Professional Certification | L&T Project Management in Construction Specialisation | Planning and Control with Oracle Primavera PPM Professional Specialization | Google Project Management: Professional Certificate | Agile with Atlassian Jira | Construction Project Management (Columbia University)
CRM, MarTech & Automation: Salesforce Lead Management & CRM | Sprinklr Brand Manager Pro, Sprinklr Reputation Management | Google Ads | YouTube Academy | Facebook Blueprint | Adobe Creative Cloud | CX Pro: CX-I & II (Forrester)
Leadership: Marketing Leaders Programme (The Marketing Society) | Squared Online (Google and Avado) | LEAD (OKR International)
Contracting and Procurement: Oil & Gas Industry Operations and Markets (Duke University) | Negotiations (University of Pennsylvania) | Global Procurement and Sourcing Specialization (Rutgers University)
TOOLS AND PLATFORMS
Salesforce, Microsoft Project, Primavera P6 EPMM, Atlassian Jira, SAP Ariba Contracts, Asana, Power BI, Spotfire, GA4, Adobe Analytics, Adobe Experience Manager, HubSpot, Adobe Target, Adobe Creative Cloud, BrightEdge, Sprinklr, Synthesio, Avature, SEMrush, Hootsuite
SKILLS
Brand & Digital Strategy, CRM, HSE, Project Lifecycle Delivery, Sales, Leadership & Team Building, Compliance, Account Management, Analytics & Insight, Business Development, MarTech Integration, Contracts & Negotiation, Value Protection Planning, Contract Lifecycle Management, IRM & GDPR Compliance, Budget & Vendor Management, Artificial Intelligence, UX/UI/CX, Campaign Performance & Optimization, Agile Project Management, Project Control: Planning, Scheduling, Resource & Enterprise Management, Digital Transformation Roadmaps,
AWARDS
20+ industry brand awards, Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards: Gold Dolphin Winner (2018), Shell Global Brand Excellence Awards (3x), 16 Internal Performance Awards (2015–2024)