Top-level rejig at HUL

Personal care head Samir Singh to take up global role at Unilever

A year and a half after taking over as the vice-president (V-P) and executive director (ED) of Hindustan Unilever (HUL)’s personal care division, Samir Singh, 42, has been elevated as the global executive vice-president, skin cleansing at Unilever. Replacing him will be Sandeep Kohli, currently V-P — Myanmar, Cambodia & Laos. While the company did not specify the timeline of the management changes, it is expected to happen soon.

The elevation acquires significance, as Singh will overlook operations of one of Unilever's key categories — skin cleansing. An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management — Lucknow, who joined HUL as a management trainee in 1997, Singh is expected to use all his expertise gathered over the years in his new role.

Singh was among the youngest members of HUL's management committee, when he took over as V-P & ED of personal care in October 2014. Prior to this, he was global brand V-P for Lifebuoy and V-P, personal care lead, South Asia cluster, Unilever.

Sanjiv Mehta, CEO and managing director of HUL, said, “The new appointments reflect the company’s commitment towards leadership development and our tradition of leveraging talent across markets. This also emphasises the importance of HUL and of India for Unilever.”

In the past few years, about 200 HUL managers have been placed in international roles and positions within parent Unilever. According to human resources experts, this highlights not only the importance but the ability of Indian managers to adapt to global environments and situations.

While HUL was among the early adopters of the trend of exporting talent abroad, it is now fairly widespread among the most international consumer goods companies based in India.