What it takes to be the Leaders of tomorrow EP 379

Subramanian R S | Managing Director  DHL Express India

Mr. R. S. Subramanian is currently the SVP for South Asia and Managing Director of DHL Express India. He is also a member of the DHL Express Asia Pacific Management Board. With over 30 years of experience in both product-led and service industries, Mr. Subramanian possesses extensive expertise in business strategy, marketing, team development and customer management. 

He joined DHL Express India as the Head of Sales, subsequently moving up to the position of Vice President, South Asia Cluster (RoSA), where he managed operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Maldives and Bhutan. He played a key role in restructuring and developing DHL’s operations in these markets.

 In 2010, he was appointed Managing Director of DHL Express India. Under his direction, the business experienced significant growth and established itself as a market leader. His emphasis on major investments in best-in-class infrastructure, state-of-the-art technology and strong people processes has been instrumental in driving this success.

Under his leadership, DHL Express India has won many accolades and is today recognized and respected as a best practices organization. The company has consistently featured in India’s Best Companies to Work For list by GPTW (Great Places to Work) since 2012.

Prior to DHL, Subramanian spent 14 years at Hindustan Unilever Ltd., where he held various roles in sales, marketing and export management. 

Subramanian is a graduate in Industrial Engineering and holds a Master’s in Management from IIM Bangalore. He is also Gold Certified in First Choice, DHL Group's internal quality program based on the Six Sigma DMAIC methodology. Furthermore, Subramanian is the Vice Chairman of the Express Industry Council of India (EICI) and is part of the Advisory Council of Indo-German Chamber of Commerce (IGCC).