Kimberly-Clark names new chief research and development officer
Kimberly-Clark announced that Craig Slavtcheff has been appointed chief research and development officer, effective July 29. He will succeed Robert Long, who is retiring from the company after 45 years in the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry, including the last three years at Kimberly-Clark.
Slavtcheff is a seasoned executive with more than 30 years of R&D experience in the CPG industry. He most recently served as executive vice president, chief R&D and innovation officer of Campbell Soup Co., where he led the R&D function, including strategy, product development, and corporate science and technology. Since joining Campbell in 2012, he transformed the R&D and Innovation organization, introduced new methodologies – from agile design to AI and machine learning – and gathered insights to enhance relevance and time to market for innovation pipelines. Prior to that, he held senior roles at The Sun Products Corporation and Unilever.
Slavtcheff has been named as an inventor on more than 70 U.S. and global patents, covering a wide range of product categories that generated growth platforms for leading bands.
"Craig brings an incredible combination of science-backed expertise and tech-forward innovation to Kimberly-Clark, and we are delighted to welcome him to the team," said Chairman and CEO Mike Hsu. "Throughout his career, Craig has established a track record of driving innovation with business impact and creating superior products through deep consumer insights. We will benefit from his wealth of experience as we continue to leverage science as our competitive advantage and increase our focus and investment in category-shaping technology to make consumers' daily lives better.
"I want to thank Robert for his tremendous contributions to Kimberly-Clark since joining our team in 2021," Hsu continued. "He played a key role in helping to establish innovation as a value-driver for our business, building a long-term pipeline of disruptive innovations rooted in advantaged technology. His leadership has been instrumental in establishing our strong foundation in material invention and product engineering, which will support our growth for years to come."
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