upGrad, the integrated learning, skilling and workforce-development company has roped in Amit Mehta as the chief human resources officer (CHRO). Mehta moves to upGrad after a very long and successful stint of over 14 years at Unilever.
An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, where he studied personnel management and industrial relations, Amit Mehta also holds a BTech in information technology from Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute (VJTI).
Interestingly, Mehta did his summer training with Hindustan Unilever for three months during his PGDBM at XLRI, in 2009. After passing out, he joined HUL full time as a business leadership trainee for a year, before being appointed manager-learning and talent in 2011. As the learning and development (L&D) lead for Unilever in South Asia, for the next 22 months, he designed and implemented a holistic curriculum at HUL’s learning centre, before being promoted to global lead-talent and organisation assessment. He was also HRBP for the marketing teams across beauty & personal care division, leading brands in skin care, hair care, Lakme, skin cleansing and oral care categories.
March of 2014 saw him being elevated to OD lead and EA-HR director, independently leading organisation design and workforce planning for HUL. Less than three years into this role, he was elevated yet again, to HRBP-customer develoment (sales).
From January 2020 to April 2021, he served as head-employer brand and talent channels, strengthening HUL’s employer brand across B-schools and premier engineering institutes, and leveraging tech and data for innovation in talent acquisition for experienced professionals at mid and senior levels.
Another promotion put him in the post of GM HR,marketing-HC and BPC; head-employer brand.
By 2022, he had become HR head-home care, and talent and organisation director, South Asia, Unilever.
Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairperson, upGrad is confident that Mehta’s appointment “accelerates our strategic priorities – fostering a culture of innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration. His leadership capabilities will support us in building a future-ready organization with leaders and teams that have a unified voice, shared commitment and high ownership for taking upGrad’s impact to the next level.”
Mehta realises how, “the current industrial revolution is fueling an unprecedented demand for learning and skilling programmes” and makes this the ideal time to join upGrad. He looks forward “to working with the team at upGrad and leverage my expertise to foster a progressive culture that drives engagement and innovation to make a positive difference to the learners in India and across the world.”
At upGrad, Amit Mehta’s expertise will be instrumental in fostering a culture of innovation and inclusion in the next phase of growth for the brand. HRKatha wishes him all the best in this latest assignment.
