HUL appoints Madhusudhan Rao, Deepak Subramanian in management committee

Rao joined HUL in 1991 and worked across marketing, customer development, and brand development roles in various geographies

Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has appointed Madhusudhan Rao as the executive director, beauty and wellbeing and personal care segment, and Deepak Subramanian as the executive director for the home care segment.

Rao takes over from Priya Nair, who will move into a global role as chief marketing officer for beauty and wellbeing and Subramanian will take over from Prabha Narasimhan, who has decided to leave the company to pursue an external opportunity, HUL said in a release.

Rao is currently the executive vice-president for home and hygiene. He joined HUL in 1991 and worked across marketing, customer development, and brand development roles in various geographies.

Subramanian is currently vice-president of home care, Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and global head for the fabric enhancers segment. He joined HUL in 1995 as a management trainee. He was the marketing manager for Kissan in India and regional brand director for Vitality Foods. He went on to become the vice-president for foods and refreshment for central and eastern Europe.

“I am delighted to welcome Madhusudhan and Deepak to the HUL management committee. Madhusudhan has a successful track record in a variety of operational and strategic roles. He has brought in a strong performance edge in his teams and has pioneered several innovations that uphold Unilever’s high science and technology credentials. Deepak has championed innovation and sustainable strategies to significantly improve brand equity and deliver growth,”  Sanjiv Mehta, chairman and managing director, HUL, was quoted as saying in the release. 

He added that Subramanian has demonstrated superior business acumen in building new categories, primarily in start-up business verticals.

On Nair’s appointment to a  global role, Mehta said, “It brings me immense joy and pride to see our leaders move on to helm businesses both in Unilever globally, and in India Inc. I wish Priya all the success in her new global role and Prabha the very best for the new phase of her career.”

In January, Unilever proposed reducing senior management roles by 15 per cent and junior management roles by 5 per cent as part of a new organisation model. This will result in 1,500 job cuts.

The company then said it will move away from its current matrix structure and will be organised around five distinct business groups: Beauty and wellbeing, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice cream.