Rohit Jawa, management trainee to HUL CEO: 7 points about top business leader

Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) has approved the appointment of Rohit Jawa, presently the company's chief of transformation, as its next managing director and chief executive officer (CEO). Jawa’s appointment, for a five-year period, will come into effect from June 27, the FMCG giant informed the stock exchanges. "The appointment of Rohit Jawa as a whole-time Director and MD & CEO will be subject to approval of shareholders and other statutory approvals as may be applicable," HUL said in a regulatory filing.

Here are 7 things to know about Rohit Jawa, the new MD and CEO of HUL:

• Jawa, 56, will succeed incumbent MD and CEO Sanjiv Mehta, who has been at the helm of Hindustan Unilever since 2013.


• He currently serves as the Chief of Transformation for Unilever. Based in London currently, he was given the role in January last year.


• Jawa has spent 35 years at Unilever, joining the company in 1988 as a management trainee. He has spent the last three decades in various managerial roles at the company in India, Singapore, Philippines, Shanghai and London.


• After graduating from Delhi’s St Stephen’s College in 1986, Jawa earned an MBA in marketing from Delhi University.


• Last year, he did a short management course from Harvard University.


• As the chairman of Unilever Philippines, Jawa led the business to become one of the top 10 markets for Unilever globally, the company said.


• In a 2017 blogpost during his stint in China, Jawa spoke about the challenges he faces as a leader. “By understanding that as a leader, my learning is never truly complete, that to succeed I must evolve and adapt to a constantly changing landscape,” he wrote.