Srinivas Phatak: From ITC To HUL And Now Unilever Permanent CFO — Tracing His Career

Unilever Plc. appointed Srinivas Phatak as its permanent Chief Financial Officer on Tuesday, months after he was temporarily assigned the role. A seasoned finance and business leader, Srinivas brings over 25 years of experience to his role at Unilever.

He previously served as Deputy CFO and Controller, overseeing performance and stewardship for the leading multinational FMCG player.

“He played a key role in our recent enterprise-wide transformation projects, including the productivity programme, integrated operations and tech transformation,” the company had noted while appointing him as the acting CFO.

As part of his new role, Pathak will receive a fixed annual salary of €1.2 million ($1.4 million), along with eligibility for annual bonuses and performance-based share awards. 

In a board reshuffle in February, Unilever appointed Srinivas Phatak as the acting CFO after the finance chief Fernando Fernandez was elevated as the Chief Executive Officer, replacing Hein Schumacher.

Phatak will now be the second Indian on the Unilever board, alongside Hindustan Unilver Ltd. CEO and Managing Director Priya Nair.

The India-born CFO is a qualified Chartered Accountant and Cost Accountant. He began his career with the diversified Indian conglomerate ITC Group in 1996. From 1999 to 2012, he held multiple finance and commercial positions across Unilever India. In 2012, he was appointed as the VP of Finance for the Deodorants category. 

In 2017, he became CFO of HUL and Vice President, Finance for South Asia. That same year, he also took on the role of Head, Financial Shared Services. In 2014, he moved to the Americas as VP, Finance for the Supply Chain.

He was appointed as the Deputy CFO and Controller of Unilever in 2022 and as the acting CFO in February 2025.

Srinivas Phatak was awarded CFO of the Year by Financial Express newspaper in March 2019. The same year, he also received the Best CFO – FMCG award from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. 

The FMCG veteran holds a professional degree in Finance and Commerce from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, completed in 1996. He also earned a Master’s degree from the Institute of Cost Accountants of India in the same year.

According to Unilever’s website, he is married, but not much is known about his personal life.