Antoinette Irvine has been instrumental in driving transformation within Unilever’s global operations. As the Chief HR Officer for Business Operations, she focuses on fostering a culture that values talent, diversity, and leadership development, while leveraging technology and strategic partnerships.

Throughout her career, Antoinette has held various HR leadership positions, contributing significantly to talent development, organisational change, and diversity and inclusion. Her notable roles include:

Vice President of HR Global Supply Chain
HR Vice President Africa
HR Vice President HR Outsourced Services
HR Vice President Special Projects for Asia, Africa, and the Middle East (AAC)
HR Vice President Remuneration and Centre of Expertise for Africa, the Middle East, and Turkey (AMET)

Antoinette is dedicated to empowering those around her to become the leaders of tomorrow. She is passionate about crafting an inclusive and diverse culture through open, insightful, and high-trust dialogue. Her extensive international experience across diverse geographies has fuelled her passion for understanding different cultures and teams and adapting HR strategies to drive meaningful change.

She believes that assessing the culture and capability of teams and leadership, as well as understanding the business and commercial climate, is crucial for driving sustainable and meaningful change. Antoinette emphasizes the importance of balancing investment in technology and machinery with investment in people and their capabilities.

Antoinette was a awarded a Van Der Bilj Scholarship and holds a bachelor’s degree in social sciences, with majors in Economics, Marketing, and Industrial Psychology. She currently resides in London with her family.

Additionally, she serves as a Non-Executive Director on the board of The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT UK ), a charity organization dedicated to bringing together professionals from various sectors of the end-to-end SC, with a mission to ‘Professionalise the Profession’ by strengthening the future capability of logistics, transport and supply chain operations.