Cem Tarık Yüksel

Cem Tarık Yüksel has been serving as the General Manager for North Africa, Levant, and Iraq at Unilever since April 2024, based in Cairo, Egypt. In this position, leveraging his 38 years of experience, he leads the company’s strategic direction and operations across a diverse and rich region, with a focus on sustainable growth, advancing organizational capabilities, and strengthening Unilever’s presence in one of its most dynamic markets.

He has served several years as Gulf Countries Managing Director from 2016 and served as different managing director positions in the region. Earlier, in 2009, he was appointed Vice President of Customer Development in Türkiye. During this period from 2010 until 2020 , He had a dual responsibility serving as Customer Development Lead for the NAMETRUB (North Africa, Middle East, Turkey , Russia , Ukraine, Belarus and Central Asia ) region, where he advanced market strategies, drove sales growth, and strengthened customer relationships.

Earlier, in 2006, Yüksel served as Vice President of Human Resources for Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and Iran, where he shaped HR strategies with a focus on talent development, employee engagement, and building high-performing teams. In 2003, he took on dual roles as Vice President of Technology and Vice President of Planning and Logistics for the Operational Group Ice Cream and Frozen Foods Europe at Unilever, overseeing operations, planning, and technological advancements.

In his earlier stages of his career, in 1998, Yüksel was appointed Supply Chain Director for Algida Ice Cream at Unilever Türkiye. He began his career with Unilever in 1987, holding various supply chain management positions in Turkey and Italy, where he gained broad operational expertise in logistics, planning, and manufacturing, experience that shaped the strategic yet hands-on leadership style he continues to apply today.

Yüksel holds a degree in Electronics Engineering from Boğaziçi University and an MBA from Istanbul University. He further enhanced his expertise through post-graduate studies in Digital Business at Columbia Business School and MIT Executive Education. He is the ex-President of Futurist Association and Consultancy Board member currently.