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AMEA Management Team
Our President
Deepak Iyer is EVP & President Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) for Mondelēz International, a global snacking leader with 2022 net revenues of approximately $31 billion driven by iconic brands such as Oreo, Ritz, LU, Clif Bar and Tate's Bake Shop biscuits and baked snacks, and well as Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate. He also sits on the Mondelēz International Management Leadership Team.
A veteran in the FMCG industry, Deepak brings 30 years of management experience spanning roles in Sales, Marketing and General Management with P&L responsibilities.
Based in Singapore, Deepak is currently responsible for the business operations of more than 70 markets in the region, across 13 time zones.
Deepak joined Mondelez India as President in 2016 and successfully led the business to sustained double digit growth, navigating several disruptions over the years. He has led the India business to scale new heights in creative excellence, strong execution in the market, supply chain resilience and crossing new frontiers on sustainability and digitizing the business.
Prior to joining Mondelez India, Deepak served as the CEO and Managing Director for both Bharti AXA General Insurance Company and Wrigley India. Deepak also spent 17 years at PepsiCo in different roles in India, South Asia, Middle East, and Africa. He also worked in Marico Industries, Coats Viyella, and Tata Telecom.
Deepak holds an MBA from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai and is an Engineering Graduate from Sardar Patel University, Gujarat.
Business Units
Hemant Rupani is the Business Unit President, Southeast Asia (SEA) for Mondelēz International. He’s responsible for the SEA cluster of markets including the Exports business in the broader Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Africa (AMEA) region, leading growth and end-to-end business.
He was most recently the Managing Director of Mondelez Kinh Do Vietnam for the past five years, successfully enabling its consumers to snack right with a portfolio of brands made the right way and designed to serve the right moments.
Hemant is a seasoned leader with over 20 years of work experience in India, US, and Vietnam, covering different industries including Food & Beverages, Telecom, and Consulting. He has worked with several leading global organizations, including PepsiCo, Vodafone, Britannia & Infosys Technologies. Over his career journey, Hemant has enabled multiple business turnarounds, driven operational excellence, accelerated Brand building, and has built high impact teams that have delivered market-leading performance.
Hemant holds an MBA degree from the Faculty of Management Studies, New Delhi, India.
Kate Goodman is the President for Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP) for Mondelēz International. She is responsible for leading the growth and end-to-end business in these dynamic and emerging markets. Kate is based in Dubai and is a member of the AMEA Leadership Team.
Kate joined Mondelēz International in 2020 from Kimberly-Clark, where she built a diverse and successful career over 24 years. Most recently, Kate served as Vice President for Middle East & Africa for Kimberly-Clark’s consumer business leading a strong consumer-led growth agenda with brands such as Huggies®, Kotex® and Kleenex®. Prior to this, Kate was the Vice President for UK and Ireland and before that held general management positions in South Africa and Vietnam.
Throughout her career, Kate has held diverse roles in General Management, Finance, Sales and Strategy. She is an accomplished global leader having lived and worked in Australia, USA, Asia, Africa, UK and the Middle East.
Kate is originally from Australia. She holds an Executive MBA from the Australian Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Accounting degree from the University of Technology in Sydney.
Samir Jain is President of Mondelez India Foods Pvt. Ltd and is responsible for leading the India business of Mondelēz International in this dynamic and emerging market. Samir is also part of the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) Leadership Team for Mondelēz International and reports into Deepak Iyer, EVP and President, AMEA.
Samir has a broad range of experience in strategic and operational roles, including marketing, sales, finance, supply chain, procurement, and general management in the FMCG space.
Prior to joining Mondelez India, Samir was the Managing Director of Bunge India, where he played a pivotal role in transforming and driving the growth of the company. Samir has also worked with Hindustan Unilever Ltd where he spent close to two decades across categories and functions before leaving the company in 2012 as the Vice President of the laundry category. During his time in Unilever, Samir also served as global finance director for the hair category in the UK.
A qualified Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accounts of India, Samir enjoys wildlife safaris, traveling, playing badminton and tennis, and keeping abreast of current affairs.
Darren O’Brien is President for Australia, New Zealand and Japan (ANZJ) and is a member of the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) Leadership Team. Darren is responsible for driving the operational strategy and long-term growth of the ANZJ markets and leading its 2200 strong team members.
Darren has held numerous senior leadership roles in Mondelēz International since 2008 including being President of the Cheese and Grocery business in Asia Pacific and most recently President for Meals Europe and President Philadelphia globally based in Zurich.
Darren has extensive experience in the FMCG industry, having worked at CCA Snackfoods, Mars Petcare, Diageo and Fonterra prior to joining Mondelēz International. He has led organizational change, mergers and acquisitions including the acquisition and merger of Bonlac Foods, Peters, Brownes and Norco Milk into the Fonterra Group and Kraft Foods’ acquisition and integration of Cadbury in 2010.
Darren holds an Executive MBA from Singapore Management University, a Master of Enterprise (Leadership and Management) from Melbourne University, and a Bachelor of Business from University of Technology Sydney. He is based in Melbourne and is Chair of the Australian Food and Grocery Council Board.
Darren has been married to Roxanne for over 20 years, has three teenage children and Labrador Winston.
Owen Cressey is President for Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and is a member of the Asia, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) Leadership Team. Owen is responsible for driving the operational strategy and long-term growth of the SSA markets.
Owen joins Mondelēz International from AVI Limited, a South African FMCG company listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. As the group Chief Financial Officer since 2006, Owen was part of a very effective executive team with a successful track record in South Africa and the rest of the continent. Owen brings deep experience across a range of FMCG categories including snacks. Prior to AVI, he was with the Anglo-American group.
Owen holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Natal and is a Chartered Accountant CA (SA). He is based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Joost Vlaanderen is Mondelēz International's President of Greater China and sits on the Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) Leadership Team. He is responsible for the overall business operations of Mondelēz International in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan markets.
Joost has been with Mondelēz International for 21 years in leadership roles with increasing responsibility across multiple geographies. He was appointed Country Director in his native Netherlands in 2006 and then General Manager for Cadbury Northern Europe in 2009.
After leading the Perfect Store initiative in Europe from Switzerland, Joost became the Managing Director of Turkey in 2015. He was then appointed Managing Director of Southern, Central and Eastern Africa in 2016. Vlaanderen successfully merged and transformed the Southern, Central and Eastern Africa business units and led the region to double digit growth. In 2018, he was appointed President of Greater China.
Joost graduated from University of Groningen in the Netherlands with a Master’s in Business Administration. He is based in Shanghai.
Functions
Rajesh Ramanathan is Senior Vice President and Regional People Lead for Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at Mondelēz International. He leads the development and implementation of strategic capabilities and business transformation through fit for purpose operating models across Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa markets. He is passionate about making organizations fitter with emerging skills and future proofing for exponential growth with a focus on right costs and overheads.
Prior to his current role, Rajesh was the Global People Leader for Commercial, R&D and Strategy functions where he was instrumental in evolving the role of the center, setting up Global Brand teams and standing up new Centers of Excellence including Snack Futures, eCommerce and Revenue Growth Management. As a strategic partner, he has collaborated with the Global Mondelēz Leadership Team in elevating capabilities and introducing new-age skillsets across Marketing, Insights & Analytics, Sales & Strategy and accelerating the company’s digital agenda.
Rajesh joined Mondelēz International in 2001 in the India business and has since helmed key roles such as Executive Director of Human Resources in India, and Regional Head of Capability and Talent for Asia Pacific businesses.
Rajesh holds a Master of Business Administration in Human Resources Management from Xavier School of Management (XLRI) Jamshedpur and a Bachelor’s in Economics from the Hindu College, Delhi University. Rajesh is currently based in Singapore.
Kris Giswold is the Senior Vice President of Finance in Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) for Mondelēz International. She is responsible for all aspects of the finance function in AMEA and is a member of the AMEA Leadership Team.
Kris is a globally experienced finance professional with a broad understanding of consumer product organizations. She joined Mondelēz International in 1995 as a Senior Financial Analyst for Kraft Foods in the United States and has held various roles leading the finance function for categories and regions in North America, Europe and Asia.
More recently, Kris was the Chief Audit and Control Officer based in Zurich. Prior to that, she was Senior Director for Chocolate in Europe, and prior to that she was the Finance Director for the Biscuits category in AMEA, responsible for driving business results and growth in the category across 27 markets.
Kris is a strategic business leader with extensive experience across developed and emerging markets. She has expertise driving results across many facets of the business and extensive experience partnering with Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, Tax, Treasury and Legal functions.
Kris is originally from the United States. She holds an MBA from the Wisconsin School of Business and a Bachelor of Economics degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Tomás Centeno is the Vice President of Strategy and Commercial Excellence, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) for Mondelēz International and a member of the AMEA Leadership Team.
Tomás brings almost two decades of consumer business experience and most recently served as President for APAC Region at Dyson. In this role, he delivered exceptional business results and led the growth cycle for Dyson's Asia business. He was also instrumental in leading the turnaround for Dyson’s Korea Business. Tomás also held the role of Managing Director for the Benelux region driving expansion and business model transformation.
Prior to Dyson, Tomás spent over six years at Philips, where he demonstrated deep commercial acumen, drove pricing levers, led customer P&L, and developed a strong leadership bench. He started his career at P&G and was primarily responsible for building deep foundations within the customer function through sales and account leadership roles in Europe.
Tomás is an Advisory Board Member for Enabling Leadership, a global non-profit fostering leadership skill in children.
Tomás is originally for Portugal and is married with two children. He holds a Master of Science in Civil Engineering from Instituto Superior Técnico. Outside of work, Tomás is active in sports, literature, and social activities.
Cloris Zhang is Senior Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain (ISC), Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMEA) at Mondelēz International. Based in Singapore and a member of the AMEA Leadership Team, Cloris is responsible for Manufacturing, Engineering, Customer Service and Logistics and the application of best practices in supply chain and manufacturing across the region.
Cloris joined Mondelēz in 2015 and led the supply chain excellence agenda across AMEA. She was a key driver in shaping the Greater China Supply Chain strategy, building a high-performance organization, and leading the IL6S cultural transformation across AMEA.
Cloris brings with her extensive experience in lean product management and supply chain operations. Before joining Mondelēz, she worked with Procter & Gamble from 2002 to 2015, serving as Director of Demand and Business Planning in Greater China, and the Director of Lean Production at Beauty Department in Asia Pacific, with other roles spanning across supply chain network operations, and integrated business planning.
Cloris graduated from Zhejiang University and holds a Master’s in Business Administration in Supply Chain Management from the University of Tennessee. She is a mother of two.
Sree Patel is Vice President and Chief Counsel for Mondelez India and Legal Lead for the Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) region at Mondelēz International. She is responsible for all aspects of the legal function in AMEA and is a member of the AMEA Leadership Team.
Sree supports the development and execution of effective corporate strategy and helps the business navigate the complex Legal and Regulatory environment across India and AMEA. Sree is a globally experienced legal professional with a broad understanding of business with extensive experience across Food, Pharmaceutical and FMCG industries.
Prior to joining Mondelēz International in 2011, Sree was Vice President, Legal and Corporate Affairs at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Limited in Mumbai.
Sree is originally from India. She holds a Bachelor degree in Commerce and a Bachelor of Law degree from the University of Mumbai.
Ophira Bhatia is Senior Director, Corporate and Government Affairs (CGA), India and CGA Lead, Asia, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) at Mondelēz International. She is a member of the India and AMEA regional leadership teams. Ophira is also a member of the Global CGA Leadership Team and Mondelēz International Extended Leadership Team.
In addition to leading the function for India, Ophira is the Lead for the Corporate and Government Affairs function for AMEA, which comprises six business units including China, India, Australia, New Zealand and Japan (JANZ), Southeast Asia, Sub Saharan Africa and Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP). Earlier at Mondelēz International, Ophira also led CGA for Southeast Asia and the Asia Pacific Chocolate Category, in addition to India.
Ophira has been in the corporate communications industry for over 25 years and has consulted and worked with a range of both Indian and multinational clients in multiple markets. In her current role, she oversees the company’s corporate reputation programme, public and government affairs, internal and external communications, community and sustainability, issues and crisis management.
Prior to joining the company, Cadbury Kraft Foods in 2011, Ophira was Director, Mumbai and Lead of the Corporate Practice at Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm, and was responsible for the agency’s growth and development in India.
Ophira was identified as one of the ten global Rising Stars by The Holmes Report. She has also been recognized by Reputation Today as the 2020 Top 25 Most Important Professionals in Indian Public Relations and Corporate Communications; by exchange4media as Top 100 Influential Game Changers in Public Relations and Corporate Communications; and by Ad Gully India TV Powerful Influencer in Public Relations.
Sanjay Gurbuxani is the Vice President for Mondelēz Digital Services (MDS), Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa (AMEA) and Global Digital Innovations. He represents MDS on the AMEA Leadership Team and the region on the Global ITS Leadership Team.
Sanjay is a Digital Enterprise Leader with over 24 years of experience working across North America, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa in a variety of Global and Regional leadership positions of Mondelēz International, focused on Digitally Transforming Sales, Marketing (Consumer) and Supply Chain organizations.
Sanjay has delivered large-scale business and technology transformational programs including breakthrough business innovations that have positively impacted profitability of the business. Most recently Sanjay has been responsible for establishing Low Code / No Code, AR / VR, NLP, Computer Vision & Blockchain Centres of Excellence at Mondelēz International.
Sanjay is an engineer by training and has a M.S. in Engineering Management from Marquette University, Milwaukee and an MBA from Loyola University, Chicago.