ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

BSc: D.G. Ruparel College

MBA/PGDM: IMD, Lausanne

PROFILE SUMMARY

A global management professional with experience across change management, people development, marketing & communication, business and channel development, innovation, complex project & program management, & business strategy.

CONSULTING EXPERIENCE

5 years

EXPERIENCE HIGHLIGHTS

A global management professional with diversified experience in:
- leading change management
- leading complex projects across
functions/countries,
- developing the business strategy
- shaping compelling marketing
propositions & creative communication
based on insights and data analysis
- distilling insights from data
- driving strategic business development
- leading innovation
- leading profitability improvement
- leading digital transformation
- aligning & engaging teams across the
board including C-Suite leaders
- leadership coaching and development

Worked in:
• Unilever India/UK/Thailand/NZ
• Danone – The Netherlands,
• Roche – India
• Consulting assignments for 3M
South Africa, Nestle Professional
Dubai, D.E. Master Blenders Europe
• Indorama - Thailand
• Health diagnostic startup - India
• Packaging manufacturing SME - India

Jan 2021 - Ongoing Global Change Management & Communications Lead (Digital Transformation) – Indorama Ventures PCL, Thailand
• Conducted complexity and life cycle analysis to assess the impact, scope, and scale of change. Led the strategic direction and roadmap for Transformation, Change Management and Communication and introduced “people centric” interventions to appeal to the hearts and minds, drive engagement and catalyze desired change behaviors.
• Introduced tools and training to develop “Change Leadership Skills & Capability ” by identifying and emphasizing Coaching, Mindset and Communication as key change levers after thorough assessments in line with strategic business goals • Conceptualized, defined, designed, developed, and conducted high impact, interactive leadership sessions for senior business leaders to encourage a culture of #PeopleFirst based on recognizing and appreciating team members (#CLAPCLAP) and using self- assessment methodology. • Developed guidelines for the role of a Change Leader along each phase of the change journey & introduced creative ways for “Change Leaders” to support & inspire each other in driving change.
• Improvised the purpose of stakeholder/leader’s interviews as a channel to not just collect feedback but also brainstorm, coach and counsel them to take ownership, understand the value of change and introduce new/best practices/tools to embrace, drive and embed change.
• Partnered and integrated the Accenture consulting team into the largest greenfield multifunctional/country transformation project S/4HANA and SuccessFactors in the chemical industry with a “One Team” mindset, invested time in coaching and leading them effectively to deliver on the project. This project spans across 125+ sites, 33 countries and 15000+ people.
• Instilled a customer mindset in the team and emphasized “what can we do differently” to identify new opportunities on a continuous basis for change initiatives based on stakeholder need analysis and change impact analysis, enhanced the SOW and developed team capability and intellectual capital with innovative initiatives.

Jan – April 2020 Summer Job – Customer Development - Unilever, New Zealand
• Redefined the SC digital strategy, linked the company ERP process to the Customer ERP including forecasting, demand planning, supply chain, promotional planning/evaluation, sales reporting, and CRM – this enabled seamless stock supply even during the peak of COVID crisis despite panic buying and propelled the sales.

2018 – 2019 Business Head/VP – Unihealth India (Startup Diagnostic Centre)
• Led the change from a diagnostic clinic model to a consumer-oriented health and wellness brand positioning. Conceived and developed the predict-prevent-prehabilitate value proposition based on extensive consumer & market research, and competition analysis. Developed media campaigns, communications, and consumer engagements in print/radio/digital/OOH and used predictive google analytics to increase key brand metrics by 5-10%.
• Led the change in organizational culture/development, and brand perception by implementing effective coaching, training, CRM, ways of working, new communication campaigns, digital media, LIMS systems, tools, rewards, and processes for a team of 50+
• Rationalized the portfolio and customer mix (revenue/margins), introduced new high value and high impact programs to increase footfall and led business development to acquire new corporate clients along with business model innovation/new channel development to achieve a 15% ROI after one year & doubled the turnover to $5mn.

2016 – 2018 Business Consultant – Triweni, India (Packaging Company)

• Reviewed the entire value chain to adopt new tools and processes to reduce the development and production cycle and accelerate the time to supply.
• Increased the revenue by 30% using a mix of new business development - customer acquisition, existing customer sales, new branding, marketing communication & new products.

2015 – 2016 Category Marketing Manager – Roche Diabetes Care, India (Consumer Division)
•Led the change from a product oriented to a consumer-oriented brand positioning and communication/media strategy for the $27mn Accu-Chek Active brand in India. Identified and targeted a new segment of consumers.
•Achieved a 30+% increase in sales ($4mn) in H1 2016 versus H1 2015 & 15+% increase in key brand metrics due to the media, advertising campaign, predictive google analytics and #RealHero Facebook campaign which broke cultural myths. This was also corroborated by a similar increase in enquiries at the customer care center, views of you-tube video and substantially higher than average click through rate of digital ads.
•Restructured the trade margins for retailers on meters and strips after understanding shopper buying habits, retailer mindset/motivations and competition activities to optimize the profitability of the portfolio and achieve a progressive gross profit improvement of 5%. Led the implementation of Vistex pricing and promotion tools.
•Pilot tested new online sales channels to nurture leads and convert them into immediate transactions with a potential to increase sales by 3+% despite giving consumers a discount and protecting margins at the same time.
•Initiated co-branding & strategic business development with dieticians, fitness centers and nutritionists to include regular testing as part of the fitness regime. This also served as a proxy endorsement from the healthcare fraternity without violating the medical council guidelines & helped to circumvent the issue of lack of prescriptions from doctors.

2014 – 2015 Head of International Marketing/AVP – Lodha Property Developers
• In a span of four months, created the brand strategy and annual plan to double the revenues to $1bn over 5 years, promote the Lodha brand internationally and lay the foundation for the London business.
• Identified purchase motivation and segmented consumers into end users and investors to create a differentiated brand and sales proposition which led to twice as much faster conversion.
• Led the change from a generic mass media approach to a sharp targeted market & consumer specific communication (digital & traditional) for UAE, USA, & UK by using predictive google analytics, identifying the media habits, influencers & path to purchase of consumers resulting in a higher ROI of 25%.

2013 – 2014 IMD MBA Consulting
•Developed an online selling proposition for L’OR coffee in Europe based on consumer segmentation & brand positioning.
•Built the go-to-market strategy including segmentation, targeting, brand positioning, pricing, and new product portfolio in HORECA for Nestle professional in Dubai.
•Improved profitability for 3M in Johannesburg by developing a sales rate card to optimize revenue/margins for customers based on lifetime value, ordering patterns and market dynamics.
• Gerson Lehrman Group & other consulting.

2011 – 2013 Regional & Category Manager – Danone Baby Nutrition, Netherlands
•Assumed the additional responsibility of leading the "consumer co-creation” initiative to build the global innovation roadmap and pipeline (product, pack, promotion & price), and business case to achieve an annual incremental turnover potential of $200mn for the $3.5bn Infant Milk category.
• Identified 2 new segments of consumers and lobbied to convert their needs into a new value and brand proposition, marketing mix and change the vendor and technology platform.
• Conducted ideation and other workshops to align & engage teams for the change.
• For the first time, organized a study with key retailers on shelf space utilization and turnaround on the shelf to drive new business development of retail accounts, improve trade margins and order volumes. This also led to the best practice of optimizing shelf space utilization and display as KSF for design along with pallet efficiency for sustainability.
• Commended for exceeding expectations in driving development and performance of 3 direct reports and team.

2009 – 2011 Regional Category Manager, Capability Group Leader, Cross-functional Project Leader – Unilever Bangkok
• Assumed the additional responsibility of leading the business and value chain analysis for Knorr seasoning category in S.E.Asia, conducted extensive consumer and market research, conceived and initiated projects to double the turnover from $250mn to $500mn and achieve 7-10% GM improvement over five years while boosting the sustainability agenda.
• Developed and promoted 5 direct reports and championed to revamp the roles, KPI and evaluation of the project team.
• Led the implementation of the Blue software for artwork management and LIMS for the R&D/packaging lab.
• Volunteered to lead a business-critical sustainability change project championed by the CEO, across 11 categories, 8 functions and 10 countries; framed the success vision, revamped strategy, set KPI’s, aligned team of 100+, outlined ways of working and accelerated elimination of vinyl in product lines.
• Conducted Design Thinking workshops to empower leaders to develop real life solutions for their teams facing challenges during transformation and embrace change.

2006 – 2009 Assistant Global Project Manager – Unilever UK
• Led global innovation for Axe/Rexona/Dove brand with a turnover of $1Bn. Implemented MS office & Trello for PMO.
• Led the implementation of the mold management/qualification software for end-to-end integration with vendor.
• Translated a unique ball-roll test into key consumer brand communication for the launch campaign.
• For the first time in the category, created the in-store research plan to pre-empt shopper behaviors to optimize color/SKU mix and capture learnings into the launch plan to avoid issues

2003 – 2006 All India Officer – Unilever India
•Listed as high potential and qualified in the Competency Evaluation Workshop within 2 years of joining the company.
•Drove the entry and repositioning of the Vim brand - dishwash liquid and Domex brand - toilet cleaner in the market by facilitating consumer habit change with cost effective but superior packaging/ product functionality and aesthetics.
•Developed the first go-to-market strategy for the Water Purification Device launch based on consumer and healthcare fraternity insights.