Principal Director — Upstream Oil & Gas

urgent requirement for leading MNC.

Principal Director – Upstream Oil & Gas

Location: Delhi / Mumbai / Bangalore

Experience: 14–20 years

  • Must have skills: 14–20 years of experience, with a strong core in upstream Oil & Gas — gained in operating companies, NOCs/IOCs, oilfield services and/or top-tier consulting.
  • Demonstrated depth in one or more upstream domains: reservoir/petroleum engineering, field development planning, production operations, integrated/digital oilfield, or upstream business planning and asset economics.
  • Proven track record of selling and delivering large transformation programs (multi-crore engagements) and managing P&L / sales targets.
  • Strong executive presence — able to challenge and influence C-suite stakeholders and lead difficult conversations with credibility.
Experience leading and developing large, multidisciplinary teams.
  • Good to have skills: Hands-on familiarity with upstream digital and AI use cases — production forecasting, predictive maintenance, reservoir simulation, and generative AI applications.
  • Exposure to the energy transition agenda for upstream players — emissions reduction, methane management, CCUS and operational decarbonization.
  • Working knowledge of major upstream platforms (e.g., reservoir/production software, OSDU data ecosystem) and cloud/data foundations.
Established network across India’s upstream operators and the broader energy ecosystem.

Job Summary: Principal Director in our Upstream practice, you will be a senior client-facing leader responsible for shaping and selling high-impact transformation programs for India’s leading National Oil Companies, integrated majors and E&P operators. You will own executive relationships, originate and close large pursuits, and lead multidisciplinary teams that deliver measurable value across the upstream value chain — from exploration and reservoir management to field development, production operations and asset decommissioning. You will be the bridge between deep petroleum domain knowledge and operating-model capabilities

Roles & Responsibilities:

Business development & client relationships

  • Own and grow a portfolio of upstream client relationships at the C-suite and asset-leadership level, acting as a trusted advisor on strategy, operations and transformation.
  • Originate, shape and close large consulting pursuits — build the pipeline, lead proposal development, defend commercials and convert opportunities into signed engagements; carry a sales/origination target.
  • Develop point-of-view assets and thought leadership on upstream priorities such as production optimization, subsurface digitalization, decarbonization of operations and capital project excellence.
Delivery leadership
  • Lead delivery of complex, multi-workstream upstream engagements — operating model design, digital field / integrated operations, production surveillance, reservoir and well performance, and cost & capital efficiency programs.
  • Provide subject-matter assurance on technical content spanning reservoir engineering, production engineering, field development planning, and upstream economics and business planning.
  • Ensure quality, risk management, profitability and on-time delivery across the portfolio; safeguard client outcomes
People & practice building
  • Build and lead high-performing teams; coach managers and consultants, and act as a career counsellor and role model.
  • Strengthen the upstream capability — recruit specialist talent, develop assets and accelerators, and grow the practice’s domain depth.

Must have :

  • India Market Experience
  • reservoir/petroleum engineering, field development planning, production operations, integrated/digital oilfield, or upstream business planning
  • selling and delivering large transformation programs
  • Managing P&L
Mandatory MBA (Preferably Tier only)
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