HUL's First Female CEO: Priya Nair's Three-Decade Journey Breaks The Ceiling

Hindustan Unilever Ltd. announced on Thursday the appointment of Priya Nair as the chief executive officer — the first woman to take up the role in the FMCG major.

Nair takes up the role as incumbent Rohit Jawa steps down, effective July 31, as per a press release.

Nair, a veteran in the consumer goods industry, brings nearly three decades of experience across building brands and driving category growth across geographies. She was previously the business group president of the beauty and well-being segment.

Nair began her journey with Hindustan Unilever in 1995, taking on various roles in sales and marketing across home care, beauty and personal care. She rose to leadership roles over the years, steering the turnaround of the homecare division and driving sustainability-led portfolio transformation. She later led the BPC business in South Asia and served on the HUL management board.

Widely recognised as one of India's most influential women in business, she has also held board positions in listed companies and served on several industry and government bodies, including the Advertising Standards Council of India and MMA India.

Now based in London, Nair is married and has a daughter. Nair's appointment follows the stepping down of Jawa, who has been with HUL for 37 years and is leaving on mutual agreement.

"Rohit Jawa did try to take HUL towards a more higher trajectory in his short tenure and did good acquisition like Minimalist. However, Priya Nair, the new MD, has excellent credentials and understanding of HUL and India. She is likely to be an aggressive MD in our view. We expect gradual recovery in volume growth for entire sector and HUL," said Said Abneesh Roy, executive director of Nuvama Institutional Equities.