Farzana Shireen

Farzana Shubarna did not begin her career with lofty ambitions. When she graduated with an engineering degree, her first priorities were simple and urgent: repay her student loans, become financially independent, and stand on her own feet. Coming from a conservative family and carrying student debt, her first career stage was about survival and stability, not titles or long-term plans.

Her first professional break came at Anheuser-Busch in the United States, where she joined as a young engineer working on the packaging floor. The environment was tough by any standard: Farzana was an Asian woman in a heavily male-dominated, unionised manufacturing plant in the late 1990s. There were no female locker rooms, and her work often blended technical, administrative, and supervisory tasks. Yet she stayed—and learned.

She moved through increasingly complex roles, sat in union negotiations, and led teams far older than herself. In her 20s, she became a trained assessor for supervisory candidates and played key roles in SAP implementations and major capital projects across multiple plants. Those early years became the most profound building block of her career—where grit, neutrality, and fairness earned trust in the toughest situations.

Her next transition marked a shift from operational execution to business leadership. Farzana moved to L’Oréal, following a trusted leader into the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) world. There, she stepped into supply chain roles that brought her closer to marketing, R&D, finance, and product innovation. Managing divisions with meaningful revenue responsibility, she learned how consumer businesses really work—from pricing and margin structures to launch cycles and P&L trade-offs. L’Oréal was where Farzana consciously evolved from a technical expert into a business leader, reinforcing a lesson she still carries: understand finance, don’t fear it.

Alongside this growth, Farzana completed an MBA part-time, valuing the ability to apply what she learned immediately to real business problems. The degree broadened her perspective and prepared her for general management roles.

A major personal change—becoming a single mother—prompted her next chapter. Farzana joined International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF), where she was given wide autonomy to design manufacturing and distribution networks, shape sustainability initiatives, and build strong, capable teams. One defining achievement was leading the installation of one of the company’s largest solar fields, a tangible mark of progress beyond quarterly results.

IFF later offered her a leadership rotation into Asia, and moving to Singapore proved transformational. While technically experienced, Farzana realised she needed to adapt her leadership style to diverse cultural contexts. What worked in the West—direct and command-driven—did not translate seamlessly in Asia. This period became her soft skills boot camp: learning to influence without force, motivate without confrontation, and lead with cultural sensitivity. Asia completed her evolution into a truly global leader.

Family considerations eventually anchored her in Singapore, and Farzana joined DSM in a senior transformation role. She led strategic supply chain efforts for the Animal Nutrition division across the region, deepening her capability in cross-functional leadership and complex operational networks while also clarifying her priorities around culture and fit. This role strengthened her judgment about where she wanted to take her next steps.

Her next move brought her to Unilever, where she led the creation of a Supply Chain Centre of Excellence for the company’s USD 10 billion third-party manufacturing network—one of the most complex ecosystems in its global operations. Farzana focused not just on operational performance, but on people and capability building, embedding mentoring and development into how the organisation works. 

In her most recent role, Farzana has been serving as Senior Vice President at DripDrop Hydration, where she is responsible for supply chain strategy, risk optimisation—including nearshoring and cybersecurity facets—and strengthening end-to-end operational resilience in a fast-moving consumer context. Her work includes speaking and thought leadership on supply chain risk and transformation in the broader industry. 

Today, Farzana continues to operate at the senior executive level in the supply chain and operations space. Across continents, sectors, and business cycles, she remains focused on solving complex organisational challenges, building strong teams, and renewing her own capabilities as markets and technologies evolve.