Finance DirectorCharles D’Costa
CMA, MBA (Finance)
Available now for Finance Director roles in the UAE and GCC
CharlesD’Costa
Finance Director. Twenty years turning offshore drilling and marine operations into numbers a Board can act on.
Finance Director
Twenty-two years inside the economics of offshore drilling, oilfield services and marine operations. Budgets, forecasts, consolidation, audit and cash, delivered across three regions and two accounting standards, for CFOs and Boards who need numbers they can act on.
Finance built for asset-heavy, multi-country operations.
Charles has spent his career inside the economics of rigs, vessels and oilfield services: at SLB, at Seadrill across Africa and the Middle East, and at Vantage Drilling, where he rose from Finance Manager to Director of International Finance.
He runs the full cycle, from budgets and rolling forecasts to consolidation, audit and cash, under both US GAAP and IFRS. He is at his best when the stakes are high and the timeline is short: separating divested rigs cleanly, closing a joint venture transaction in two months, or building a finance team from scratch in a new country.
- Years in oil and gas finance
- 20+
- Legal entities consolidated
- 30+
- Accounts under governance, AFME
- 100+
- Offshore rigs divested
- 6
- Rig-upgrade close, TotalEnergies JV
- $64m
- Time taken to close it
- 2 months
- Countries across his remit
- 6
What he runs
The whole finance function of an asset-heavy business, from the board pack down to the rig.
Planning and analysis
Budgets, rolling forecasts and quarterly reforecasts for global rig and vessel fleets, with variance commentary that leadership can act on.
Group reporting and controllership
Consolidation of 30+ entities, US GAAP reporting under SOX, IFRS statutory audits in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and a close that lands on time.
Cash and transactions
13-week cash forecasting, working capital and liquidity planning, and the financial side of divestments and joint ventures.
Systems and shared services
SAP FI/CO, Oracle HFM and OpenText AP automation, plus the shared services model that makes them stick.
Teams and partnering
Nationally staffed finance teams, finance training for rig managers, and a seat beside commercial teams on every bid.
Twenty-two years, three companies, one industry.
Vantage Drilling International
Offshore drilling contractor operating jackup rigs and drillships.
2024 - 2026Director, International Finance (Assistant Controller)
- Led the financial separation and reintegration of the Soehanah, Topaz and Tungsten rigs as non-consolidated assets in SAP, under multi-year service arrangements.
- Owned regional working capital and liquidity planning, including the 13-week cash forecast.
- Delivered the financial close of the $64m Tungsten rig upgrade within two months, as part of the JV with TotalEnergies.
- Set up field accounting in new operating regions and partnered with commercial teams on bid economics.
2023 - 2024Senior Manager, Shared Services
- Unified AR, AP, inventory and intercompany into one Shared Services model.
- Implemented OpenText AP automation integrated with SAP, with an approval-matrix workflow, ending manual invoice handling and duplicate payments.
- Accelerated vendor settlement and made cash flow forecasting more reliable.
2017 - 2023Finance Manager
- Led group planning, consolidation, budgeting, forecasting and Board reporting for global rig operations.
- Owned IFRS statutory audits in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, delivered clean and on time.
- Financial lead on the 2022 divestment of three rigs in Qatar.
- Drove month-end and year-end close and internal controls across multiple jurisdictions.
Seadrill
One of the world’s largest offshore drilling contractors.
2015 - 2016Regional Controller, Africa and Middle East
- Financial governance for 30+ legal entities and 100+ accounts across Africa and the Middle East.
- Led implementation of the electronic balance sheet module in Oracle HFM.
- Partnered with regional tax teams on complex deferred tax schedules.
2013 - 2015Lead Financial Controller, Africa
- Financial oversight of five offshore rigs from Luanda.
- Moved the Africa finance function from Dubai to Luanda and built a nationally staffed team.
- Integrated the West Setia rig with SapuraKencana as part of a strategic partnership.
- Ran finance-for-non-finance training for rig managers to build budget ownership.
2011 - 2013Financial Controller, Angola
- End-to-end financial operations for West Setia, West Vencedor and West Eclipse.
- Asset tracking, WIP management, tax compliance and SOX controls.
SLB (formerly Schlumberger)
The world’s largest oilfield services company.
2009 - 2011MENA Financial Analyst
- Consolidated revenue, P&L, headcount and cash reporting for the MENA region.
- Led forecasting, budgeting and variance analysis across business units.
2008 - 2009Senior Management Accountant
- Cost analysis, forecasting, cash flow variance reviews and monthly financial reporting.
2004 - 2008Senior Intercompany Accountant
- Intercompany governance and cross-entity accounting for the global consolidation centre.
Selected work
Four pieces of work that show how he operates.
$64m
Tungsten JV with TotalEnergies
2025
Delivered the financial close of a $64m rig upgrade inside a two-month window, then carried the rig in SAP as a non-consolidated asset under a multi-year service arrangement.
6 rigs
Divestment programme
2022 - 2025
Financial lead on six rig divestments across Qatar, Malaysia, Indonesia and the TotalEnergies JV, each with clean separation, close-out reporting and audit-ready financials.
Dubai to Luanda
Finance localisation in Angola
2013 - 2015
Moved Seadrill’s Africa finance function to Luanda and built a nationally staffed team that runs rig-level finance on its own, after training, onboarding and process set-up.
4 into 1
Shared Services and AP automation
2023 - 2024
Merged AR, AP, inventory and intercompany into one Shared Services team and put OpenText automation on top of SAP: no manual invoice handling, an approval matrix for every invoice, and a more reliable 13-week cash forecast.
Finance run from Dubai, across three regions.
- Dubai, UAEHome base for SLB, Seadrill and Vantage roles
- Luanda, AngolaController for Seadrill’s Africa rigs, 2011 - 2015
- Singapore, Malaysia, IndonesiaIFRS statutory audits and 2024 rig divestments
- Doha, QatarThree-rig divestment, 2022
Credentials
- 2024Executive LeadershipExecutive Leadership Programme, Cornell University, USA
- 2017CMACertified Management Accountant, Institute of Management Accountants, USA
- 2007MBA, FinanceSP Jain Center of Management, Dubai
- 2003BBA, FinanceSharjah College, UAE
Systems SAP FI/CO, Oracle HFM, OpenText AP automation, Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint
Hiring a Finance Director?
Charles is based in Dubai and available now. Email or call him directly.