Mumbai: Harish Manwani has been appointed as an Independent Director of Tata Sons.

Mr Manwani is the former global chief operating officer for Unilever and the non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever Limited. He is also the global executive advisor to Blackstone Private Equity group.

Through his career, he held several senior management positions in Unilever which included heading businesses in North America, Latin America, Asia and Africa. Prior to his retirement, he was the chief operating officer with worldwide responsibility for all of Unilever's operating companies.

Mr Manwani also serves on the board of directors of Qualcomm Incorporated, Gilead Sciences Inc, Nielsen Holdings plc, Whirlpool Corporation, Economic Development Board (EDB) of Singapore and is the chairman of the executive board of the Indian School of Business. In 2008, he received the CNBC Asia Business Leader of the Year Award and in 2012, he was conferred the Public Service Medal by the Singapore Government.

Commenting on his appointment, N Chandrasekaran, Chairman of Tata Sons, said, “We welcome Harish to the board of directors. Harish brings substantial experience of managing and leading businesses on a global scale. His contribution and counsel will be of great value to Tata Sons in its governance as well as in its strategic development.