‘A leap of faith’: S’porean shares how her 18-year career with ExxonMobil has taken her around the world

Charlene Pereira’s 18-year career at ExxonMobil has taken her around the world — from Singapore to Indonesia, the United States, and now India. Each move was an opportunity for her to grow professionally, but she also had to learn how to re-adapt to new settings and cultures. She shares how she dealt with her concerns about working abroad and navigated the transitions. 

Pereira is one of many Singaporeans who have built a career in global enterprises here. Her interview was first published on the Economic Development Board (EDB)’s website.

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By Charlene Pereira

I’ve been with ExxonMobil for 18 years.

The company is one of Singapore’s largest foreign-backed manufacturing investors with over S$30 billion in fixed asset investments here. Our manufacturing facilities include an integrated world-scale refining and petrochemical complex, as well as a lubricant plant.

Most of what we make in Singapore, including lubricants and greases, is then exported to markets and customers in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.

In my current role as South Asia-Pacific Marketing Director for our lubricants business, I translate the needs of our regional customers and consumers into differentiated solutions that solve real-world problems in the market.

Adjusting to working abroad

My career has spanned marketing, sales, and planning roles in Singapore, Indonesia, and our global headquarters in the U.S., with each move designed to stretch my capabilities and build cross‑cultural leadership depth.

To be honest, an overseas posting wasn’t initially on my radar but when the opportunity came to move abroad, I decided to take a leap of faith despite never having lived away from home long‑term.

Managing a steep learning curve in my new role while settling into a new culture and way of life was challenging.

As with anyone relocating to a new city, I had practical worries around daily life — commuting, healthcare, and everyday comforts.

I raised specific considerations early on with the company so we could address them proactively. Over time, many of those concerns either became manageable or turned into positives.

While adjustments are inevitable, they also make these overseas experiences so enriching.

These moves accelerated my learning and exposed me to a wide range of business and organisational contexts.

The highlight of my career

In 2023, I landed my current position and about a year later, in December 2024, I relocated to Bengaluru, India, where I’m based today.

Setting the vision for the lubricants marketing organisation and seeing my team embrace the challenge of attaining this vision turned out to be the highlight of my career.

As a bonus, I’ve had a once‑in‑a‑career opportunity to work closely with the India Leadership Council to help build up ExxonMobil’s global capability centre here in India.

This has allowed me to extend my impact beyond my immediate role by building organisational culture and developing early-career talent, particularly female talent who can support the country’s growing energy demand.

It’s been a unique and deeply fulfilling opportunity.

Learning from different work cultures in the U.S., Indonesia and India

In the U.S., I worked with globally diverse teams. What I picked up from the Americans is their communication style, where everyone is encouraged to speak up and openly challenge ideas.

Influence comes from confidently articulating a clear point of view and developing broad, cross-functional networks.

In Indonesia, I observed that a more indirect communication style with a greater emphasis on mutual respect and maintaining harmony resonates better. Leading effectively meant building trust and psychological safety first.

Now that I’m based in India, I’m experiencing diversity on a more granular level. With 22 official languages and multiple religions within the country itself, there are distinct micro-cultures across states.

Here, leadership needs to be highly contextual and adapted.

India is also an opportunity-rich market. As leaders, we must listen closely to our people with the best ideas and local knowledge, and use these insights to make smart choices about where to focus our efforts.

I believe overseas experiences offer a depth of learning that short-term business trips can’t replicate.

They build cultural intelligence, stronger relationships, and prepare Singaporean leaders to adapt locally while connecting teams back to the wider global organisation.

The overseas assignments I’ve undertaken have had a significant influence on my personal and professional journey and have challenged me to move beyond a single cultural lens.

Keep an open mind

Today, I’m far more intentional about adapting how I lead across contexts while staying authentic to my leadership principles.

I also share my background and experiences openly with my team to help them better understand my motivations.

I’d encourage more locals to keep an open mind and tap on their networks to pick up tips and learn about how to address potential concerns they may have about working abroad.

Don’t turn down any overseas opportunities before doing some homework!

Not limiting myself to one path

I’ve largely developed my global leadership skills through experience, observation, and mentoring relationships, as there’s no single programme that teaches global leadership.

In 2024, I joined the Singapore Leaders Network (SGLN) Fellowship programme to gain external perspectives.

My mentor, Debbie Nova, Chief Information Officer at Coca-Cola Bottling Investment Group — The Coca-Cola Company, was instrumental in helping me to reflect on my leadership approach and how I shaped my regional marketing vision.

In terms of my career trajectory, not limiting myself to a specific path has served me well.

I’ve learnt that senior leaders often have a broader view of valuable career experiences, beyond what you can see for yourself.

Rather than mapping out a fixed path, I focus on continuously honing my skills, maintaining a growth mindset, and giving back to others. I’ve found that when you do that well, many paths open up.

Overall, the key highlight has been the network I’ve built. I’m continuing to work on staying connected, which requires greater intentionality when you’re overseas.

Keep learning and stay open to opportunities

When I graduated, I thought I would work in FMCG marketing, but I ended up in a retail role at ExxonMobil, initially on a yearly contract.

It wasn’t what I had planned, but I was learning a lot and enjoyed the culture, so I stayed on, and that experience opened doors I couldn’t have predicted.

My advice is not to fixate on the ‘perfect’ role or industry. Instead, focus on learning, build transferable skills, and stay open to unexpected paths.

Careers are rarely linear, and opportunities often come from places you might not anticipate.

Inspired to build a career in one of Singapore's key economic sectors? You can read about more Singaporeans carving out careers in global enterprises here. 

Top image from EDB