Aline Santos to depart Unilever after 35 years

Aline Santos is leaving Unilever at the end of March after 35 years at the business.

One of the company’s top marketers, Santos is currently chief brand officer and chief equity, diversity and inclusion officer at the FMCG giant.

Joining in 1989 as a marketing trainee, Santos has held multiple roles across the business, including at Unilever Brazil and regional leadership for Latin America, before rising to executive vice-president for global marketing in 2015.

The global marketing team will now report into chief growth and marketing officer Esi Eggleston Bracey, who replaced Conny Braams in October last year. Unilever’s global equity, diversity and inclusion team will report into HR. The brand is yet to confirm if it is seeking a direct replacement for Santos.

The move comes at an interesting time for the business. Unilever’s CEO Hein Schumacher claimed the company’s performance “needs to improve” during its most recent financial results, just months after he stated his intention to move the business away from “force fitting purpose” onto its brands.

Unilever promotes internally to appoint new top marketerWriting on LinkedIn, Santos called her time at Unilever a “love story”, describing the longevity of her career with the company as a “true privilege” and looking back fondly on her work improving equity, diversity and inclusion.

“This has been the joy and the highest achievement of my career thus far: to play a part in creating an inclusive environment where our diverse and brilliant people flourish and are empowered to be pioneers in the connected worlds of marketing, digital and ED&I,” she wrote.

Santos described her leap into the “unknown” as something she would embrace, confirming her next role has not been decided.