Rohit Jawa to take over as MD and CEO of HUL after Sanjiv Mehta retires today

Rohit Jawa, 56, started his career with HUL as a management trainee in 1988

Rohit Jawa is all set to take over the corner office at Hindustan Unilever tomorrow - a day after Sanjiv Mehta retires as managing director and chief executive officer.

Known for transforming the consumer goods major's China and Philippine business, Jawa serves as the chief of transformation in his London-based role. The 56-year-old Unilever veteran's career has spanned over 35 years since he joined as a management trainee in 1988.

In his new role as the MD and CEO of Hindustan Unilever, Jawa is likely to get an annual remuneration of Rs 21.43 crore, according to the company's annual report. He will also receive a sum of Rs 4.83 crore as mobility-linked allowances in FY24.

According to the annual report, Mehta’s salary was 164 times higher than that of an average HUL employee. Now, Jawa’s pay package will exceed what Mehta had received in FY23. He took home Rs 22.36 crore in annual remuneration last fiscal.

Education and Management Career

The St Stephen's College graduate from the 1986 batch did his MBA in marketing from Delhi University’s Faculty of Management Studies and joined HUL as a management trainee in 1988.

As the chairman of Unilever Philippines, Jawa led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for the multinational, the company said. As the EVP for North Asia and chairman for China business, he transformed Unilever China into a competitive, profitable, and consistent business. It is now Unilever’s third biggest venture worldwide.

"Within six months of Jawa’s regime, Unilever China introduced 75 percent of innovative launches across categories. Streamlining distribution in China was a key focus area for Jawa along with investments of €13 billion over 2017-21 towards making digital content to influence consumer buying behaviours through social media platforms,” a report by global financial services group Nomura said.