Unilever named Srinivas Phatak as its new finance chief on Tuesday, as CEO Fernando Fernandez turned to a long-serving insider to stabilise leadership at the consumer goods giant as it navigates a period of organisational change. Phatak, 53, took on the acting CFO role in February, after Unilever unexpectedly ousted CEO Hein Schumacher and promoted finance chief Fernando Fernandez to the chief executive post. Having been with Unilever for over 25 years, Phatak has covered all parts of the business and corporate finance. ADVERTISEMENT“Srinivas has been a great partner over the last six months as acting CFO and over many years as part of the Unilever leadership team,” Fernandez said in a statement. Phatak was CFO of Hindustan Unilever Limited and vice president of finance for South Asia from 2017 to mid-2021, during which the India business enjoyed market share gains and margin expansion.