Corporate Crossings | SUGAR Cosmetics appoints former Nykaa CHRO Nirav Jagad as Chief People Officer

Nirav Jagad

Direct-to-customer (D2C) beauty brand SUGAR Cosmetics, on January 3, appointed former Nykaa Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO) Nirav Jagad as the new Chief People Officer (CPO) to oversee all aspects of SUGAR’s talent and culture initiatives.

This comes at a time when SUGAR's losses have widened to Rs 75 crore in FY22 from Rs 21.1 crore in the previous fiscal even as its operating revenue jumped 75 percent to Rs 221.1 crore from Rs 126.4 crore in FY21.

In a statement, the company said in his new role Jagad will work closely with the leadership of the company and its cross-functional team across India. SUGAR Cosmetics added that his role would include overall people operations, employee wellbeing, and culture building.

“During these exciting times, supporting SUGAR’s employees and prioritising a strong, inclusive culture is more important than ever… I look forward to working closely with Vineeta Singh, Kaushik Mukherjee, the leadership team, and our people team to help SUGAR seize this outsized opportunity and create sustained value for our workforce, consumers, partners, and investors,” said Jagad.

Co-founded in 2015 by husband-wife duo Kaushik Mukherjee and Vineeta Singh, the D2C brand sells lipsticks, eyeliners, face, and eye brushes, and recently expanded into the skincare segment, selling moisturisers and sheet masks. The brand said it has also been growing its offline presence and currently has over 45,000 retail touchpoints across over 550 cities.

“...While the brand has emerged as a cult favorite among Gen Z and millennials, it is critical to constantly innovate and build an organizational culture that values independence, creativity, and growth at the same time. With an extensive experience in talent acquisition and people operations, Nirav will work closely with the leadership to shape the overall organizational culture and talent pool in the company,” said Singh, who is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of SUGAR Cosmetics.

SUGAR Cosmetics said that the new CPO comes with an experience of over 19 years spanning various sectors like eCommerce, consulting, manufacturing and infrastructure. Before joining SUGAR Cosmetics, Jagad was a part of the leadership team that scaled Nykaa, the company added.

Jagad also counts other companies like Randstad, Cerebrus Consultants, and IL&FS as his previous experiences and has also been an advisor to assist early-stage startups with scaling, said SUGAR Cosmetics.

According to SUGAR Cosmetics’s statement, Jagad will lead a people-first agenda to drive employee empowerment, growth, and retention, while remaining committed to SUGAR’s key business drivers and values.