Mars Expands Chuman Dev's People Leadership Role
Mars has appointed Chuman Dev as People & Organisation Director across Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia and Growth, extending his regional leadership responsibilities across five markets.
The path to senior HR leadership is rarely about mastering just one part of the employee experience. Increasingly, people leaders are expected to understand talent, culture, business strategy and organisational change; often across several very different markets.
That broader mandate is reflected in the latest career move for Chuman Dev, who has been appointed People & Organisation Director at Mars for Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia & Growth.
Based in Malaysia, Dev will take on expanded people leadership responsibilities across the five markets.
From Talent Leadership to a Wider People Mandate
Dev joined Mars in 2023 as Talent Lead & Business Partner, Asia, before subsequently serving as Interim People & Organisation Director, Asia. His latest appointment extends that journey into a broader regional leadership role.
Before joining Mars, he built HR experience across organisations including AstraZeneca, DKSH and Unilever.
His career progression is also a useful reflection of how senior HR roles are changing.
Talent acquisition and development remain important, but today's people leaders are increasingly expected to connect those responsibilities with organisational priorities, employee experience and business transformation.
That challenge becomes more complex when the remit spans several countries. Employees across different markets may work within distinct cultural, regulatory and business environments, meaning a regional people strategy needs enough consistency to support the organisation while retaining flexibility for local workforce needs.
Reflecting on his career move, Dev spoke about the importance of continuous learning as well as “unlearning and relearning.”
It is an idea that resonates beyond one appointment.
As AI changes job roles, employee expectations evolve and organisations rethink how and where people work, HR professionals themselves are having to continuously update their capabilities. Skills that were central to people leadership a decade ago are now being complemented by greater expectations around data, technology, organisational design and strategic decision-making.
For emerging HR leaders, Dev's progression provides a useful reminder: career growth does not always mean moving away from your existing expertise. Sometimes it comes from building outward from it, adding new responsibilities and learning how different parts of the employee experience connect.
His new role at Mars represents that shift, from specialist and regional talent responsibilities towards a wider people leadership mandate across multiple markets.
Sources: Human Resources Online; Chuman Dev / LinkedIn.
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