Moonmoon Varma has joined Coda as chief people officer, taking charge of the company’s global people & talent organisation as it enters its next phase of growth.
Varma brings more than two decades of HR leadership experience across Asia Pacific and Europe, with a career spanning people strategy, organisational transformation, talent, culture and leadership development.
She joins Coda from Yum! Brands, where she served as chief people officer from January 2022. During her tenure, she led the people agenda at the quick-service restaurant company, bringing experience in business transformation and strategic negotiations alongside broader people leadership.
Before Yum! Brands, Varma spent more than three years with Visa as Asia Pacific leader for talent & culture and head of HR – corporate & business functions. Her role covered the people agenda across the region and corporate and business functions.
Earlier, she spent nearly eight years with Credit Suisse in a series of HR leadership roles. She was vice president – HR leader for technology, Asia Pacific, and previously served as vice president – regional HR leader for finance. She also worked on an HR transformation project and began her Credit Suisse tenure as HR business partner for Product Control in Finance.
Varma began her career in HR in India, serving as head of recruitment & senior HR business partner at Johnson & Johnson and head-talent acquisition, AZ India & HRBP at AstraZeneca. She also worked as an HR manager at Encompass Events.
Alongside her corporate career, Varma has served as an advisor at Antler and worked as a consultant in the education and social sector with Aflatoun International.
Her experience has taken her across key markets in Asia Pacific, including China, India, Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, as well as Switzerland and the Netherlands. She has worked across banking and financial services, QSR and healthcare, with experience leading people agendas through disruption, M&A, franchise complexity and digital transformation.
At Coda, Varma will lead the global people & talent organisation, with responsibility for shaping people strategy, talent and culture as the company expands across Asia, Europe, the US and the Middle East.
The move marks another step in Varma’s career from regional HR and functional leadership into global chief people officer roles, with her experience in transformation, leadership and culture forming the foundation of her new mandate at Coda.
