Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) major Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) announced Rohit Jawa as the new Managing Director and CEO of the company taking over from June 27, 2023. The present managing director & CEO Sanjiv Mehta will retire after a tenure of 10 years by the end of June the company stated

Rohit Jawa will join as CEO designate and whole-time director for HUL from April 1, 2023, and take over as the president of Unilever South Asia from the present Chief of Transformation based in London. He will join the Unilever Leadership Executive (ULE) on April 1, 2023.

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Jawa who studied at Harvard Business School has been associated with the company for over 34 years and joined the company as a management trainee in June 1988 in Mumbai. He considers Harsh Manwani former chief operating officer of Unilever as his mentor and believes that Manwani’s insights helped him to look at complex business in context.

Graduated from St.Stephen’s College in Delhi Rohit has worked his way up the corporate ladder in the FMCG giant across Vietnam, Thailand, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia, and China for the company.

Rohit who is a fitness enthusiast enjoys listening to music while working and considers his iPad an asset. He believes that the ability to ‘see around the corner’ and predict what is coming next further leading the business in line with the forecast is crucial for a leader

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With regular on-ground interactions with consumers, Jawa adapted his work practices and strategies to the local culture and the market conditions he served for Unilever. He also believes in exercising the ‘emotional muscle’ which is expressing clear and real concerns to connect with the people he is leading.

He worked as Vice President at Unilever Vietnam wherein he headed the home care business and marketing functions for the company, in Singapore, he served as the leader for the laundry category for South Asia and Southeast Asia with main market regions including India, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam.

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As EVP for North Asia & Chairman for Unilever China, he led a significant transformation of Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business that is now Unilever’s third biggest globally. As the Chairman of Unilever Philippines, he led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally HUL stated.

After serving as the chairman of China and EVP North Asia Region, Rohit took over as the Chief of Transformation of the company in 2022. He is responsible for the change of global organization and portfolio transformation for the company

“Sanjiv with his foresight has led HUL to become a high-performing and future-fit business. He has been an integral part of the Unilever Leadership Executive and has driven the South Asia growth agenda as the president of the market cluster. I am delighted to welcome Rohit back to India. He has a deep understanding of the business landscape, particularly in Asia, and has led the transformation of Unilever businesses in China and the Philippines. I am certain that with his astute business acumen, and growth mindset Rohit will take HUL to the next level of performance,” said Nitin Paranjpe, Non-Executive Chairman, HUL.

 

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