Kimberly-Clark Corporation ·KMB

Functional model with a single global COO overseeing all operations

Household Products · Fortune #213 · Functional structure · 38K employees · Irving, TX

View as of:
5
CEO span
↓ tighter than peers (avg 9)
3.1
Avg span
moderate
3
Max depth
3 levels
3.4 yr
Avg tenure
stable vs FY2024
60%
Internal hires
↑ above industry avg
Consolidated financials FY2025 · period end 2025-12-31 · 10-K
Revenue
$16.4B
Operating income
$2.4B
Net income
$2.0B
Total assets
$17.1B
Shares out
332M

Sourced from Kimberly-Clark Corporation DEF 14A · filed 2026-03-23 ↗ View on SEC

Interactive org chart

Kimberly-Clark Corporation organizational chart

Explore the executive structure, reporting layers, and scenario-ready operating model from public filings.

Open editable chart

Kimberly-Clark operates a tightly centralized functional organization, with a single global COO overseeing all operations worldwide. This page maps the executive structure, analyzes its unusually lean C-suite, tracks recent leadership changes, and compares the model with consumer staples peers.

What to model

Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines

Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.

Latest signal Zackery Hicks departed as Chief Digital and Technology Officer

Announced departure effective March 31, 2026.

Source · See change log

Scenario views in the chart

  • CDTO Departs: Technology Succession Zackery Hicks exits, creating a leadership gap in digital and technology during ongoing transformation efforts.
  • Add Chief AI Officer Create a Chief AI Officer role reporting to the CEO to accelerate AI-driven productivity and analytics.

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The people

Who's running this

5 executives identified as Named Executive Officers in the most recent SEC proxy. Bar length scales with tenure.

Michael D. Hsu

Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer

Executive

6 yr

17 reports

internal

Russell Torres

President and Chief Operating Officer

Operations

1 yr

4 reports

Nelson Urdaneta

Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer

Finance

3 yr

3 reports

Zackery Hicks

Chief Digital and Technology Officer

Technology

4 yr

3 reports

internal

Jeffrey Melucci

Chief Strategy, Business Development and Administrative Officer

Strategy

3 yr

3 reports

The pay

Executive compensation

From the most recent DEF 14A Summary Compensation Table. 5 named executive officers disclosed. Bar length scales with total compensation.

Michael D. Hsu $15.3M
Base salary
$1.50M
Stock awards
$11.50M
Non-equity incentive
$1.60M
Other
$724K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗
Nelson Urdaneta $5.2M
Base salary
$922K
Stock awards
$3.50M
Non-equity incentive
$566K
Other
$193K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗
Russell Torres $6.3M
Base salary
$950K
Stock awards
$4.30M
Non-equity incentive
$616K
Other
$392K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗
Zackery Hicks $4.9M
Base salary
$1.04M
Stock awards
$3.00M
Non-equity incentive
$639K
Other
$217K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗
Jeffrey Melucci $4.9M
Base salary
$914K
Stock awards
$3.15M
Non-equity incentive
$615K
Other
$206K
Fiscal year
FY2025
Source
SEC DEF 14A ↗

The businesses

How Kimberly-Clark Corporation divides the work

4 divisions report into the group CEO. Tile size scales with estimated headcount.

Global Operations

20K employees

President and Chief Operating Officer (Russell Torres)

Manufacturing, supply chain, safety, and global operations execution.

Finance

2K employees

Chief Financial Officer (Nelson Urdaneta)

Corporate finance, controllership, treasury, and investor relations.

Digital & Technology

2K employees

Chief Digital and Technology Officer (Zackery Hicks)

Enterprise IT, cybersecurity, data, and digital transformation.

Strategy & Business Development

500 employees

Chief Strategy, Business Development and Administrative Officer (Jeffrey Melucci)

Corporate strategy, M&A, transformation initiatives, and administration.

The thesis

Why this org is unusual

The most distinctive feature of Kimberly-Clark’s structure is its strongly centralized functional model with a single global COO overseeing all operations.

Unlike peers that run semi-autonomous regional or brand P&Ls, manufacturing, supply chain, and operations leadership roll up directly through Russell Torres. This concentrates execution authority and enables global scale efficiencies but limits regional autonomy.

Finance, technology, and strategy are similarly centralized, with no product- or brand-level C-suite executives. The digital and technology function sits at the same level as finance and operations, signaling its importance, though the announced departure of the CDTO introduces near-term succession risk. Overall, the organization is four layers deep, reflecting a relatively lean top structure for a global consumer staples company.

  • Single global COO
  • Highly centralized functional model
  • Lean C-suite for a global staples company

The comparison

How Kimberly-Clark Corporation stacks up

Compared with other global consumer staples companies, Kimberly-Clark is more functionally centralized. Procter & Gamble and Unilever rely more heavily on category or business-unit presidents with P&L responsibility, while Kimberly-Clark concentrates authority in functional leaders. This results in a smaller …

C-suite size

Kimberly-Clark Corporation
5
Procter & Gamble
9
Unilever
10
Colgate-Palmolive
8
Reckitt
9

Reporting depth

Kimberly-Clark Corporation
3 levels
Procter & Gamble
5 levels
Unilever
5 levels
Colgate-Palmolive
4 levels
Reckitt
5 levels

Avg C-suite tenure

Kimberly-Clark Corporation
3 yr
Procter & Gamble
5 yr
Unilever
4 yr
Colgate-Palmolive
6 yr
Reckitt
4 yr

Has COO / Has CAIO

Kimberly-Clark Corporation ✓ COO — no CAIO
Procter & Gamble — no COO — no CAIO
Unilever — no COO ✓ CAIO
Colgate-Palmolive — no COO — no CAIO
Reckitt ✓ COO — no CAIO

Current signals

What changed recently

The most consequential recent change was Russell Torres’s promotion to President and COO in May 2025, further centralizing operational authority.

  • departed
    Zackery Hicks Chief Digital and Technology Officer

    Announced departure effective March 31, 2026.

    Source
  • promoted
    Russell Torres President and Chief Operating Officer

    Promoted to President and COO effective May 1, 2025.

    Source
  • new
    Jeffrey Melucci Chief Strategy, Business Development and Administrative Officer

    Role retitled to reflect expanded responsibilities effective May 1, 2025.

    Source

Leadership Timeline

Year-over-year executive structure based on SEC proxy and annual filings.

FY2025
DEF 14A filed 2026-03-23
CEO
Michael D. Hsu
CEO span
5
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
3.4 yr

Operations centralized further with the formal elevation of a global COO.

Named executive officers (5)
  • Michael D. Hsu - CEO since 2017
  • Nelson Urdaneta - CFO since 2022
  • Russell Torres - President and COO since 2025
  • Zackery Hicks - CDTO since 2022
  • Jeffrey Melucci - CSBDAO since 2022
FY2024
DEF 14A filed 2025-03-10
CEO
Michael D. Hsu
CEO span
4
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
3 yr

Regional operations still prominent prior to COO role creation.

Named executive officers (5)
  • Michael D. Hsu - CEO since 2017
  • Nelson Urdaneta - CFO since 2022
  • Russell Torres - President, North America since 2020
  • Zackery Hicks - CDTO since 2022
  • Jeffrey Melucci - Chief Business, Strategy and Transformation Officer since 2022
FY2023
DEF 14A filed 2024-03-11
CEO
Michael D. Hsu
CEO span
4
C-suite
5
Avg tenure
2.6 yr

Transformation phase with emphasis on digital and cost restructuring.

Named executive officers (5)
  • Michael D. Hsu - CEO since 2017
  • Nelson Urdaneta - CFO since 2022
  • Russell Torres - President, North America since 2020
  • Zackery Hicks - CDTO since 2022
  • Jeffrey Melucci - Chief Strategy Officer since 2022

Year-over-year changes

FY2024 → FY2025

The creation of a formal COO role increased CEO span and centralized operations globally.

  • CEO span: 4 → 5
  • C-suite size: 5 → 5
  • Avg tenure: 3 → 3.4 yr
  • promoted Russell Torres - President and COO (was President, North America) (DEF 14A filed 2026-03-23)
  • retitled Jeffrey Melucci - CSBDAO (was Chief Business, Strategy and Transformation Officer) (DEF 14A filed 2026-03-23)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the CEO of Kimberly-Clark?

Michael D. Hsu has served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since 2017.

What type of organizational structure does Kimberly-Clark use?

Kimberly-Clark uses a highly centralized functional organizational structure.

How many direct reports does Kimberly-Clark's CEO have?

The CEO has five direct reports at the C-suite level.

How has Kimberly-Clark's leadership changed recently?

In 2025, Russell Torres was promoted to President and COO, and Zackery Hicks announced his departure effective March 2026.

Does Kimberly-Clark have a COO?

Yes. Russell Torres serves as President and Chief Operating Officer with global operational oversight.

Sources

  • 8-K Filing, Nov 7, 2025
  • DEF 14A Filing, Mar 2026
  • SEC EDGAR: Kimberly-Clark Corporation DEF 14A Proxy Statement
  • SEC EDGAR: Kimberly-Clark Corporation 10-K Annual Report

Reference

Cite this page

If you reference this page in research, analysis, or news writing, use one of the formats below. Citation includes the SEC filing source where applicable.

APA 7th
Creately. (2026). Kimberly-Clark Corporation organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/kimberly-clark/
MLA 9th
"Kimberly-Clark Corporation Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/kimberly-clark/. Accessed .
Chicago 17
Creately. "Kimberly-Clark Corporation Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/kimberly-clark/.
Original SEC source View on SEC ↗
Kimberly-Clark Corporation. DEF 14A. Filed 2026-03-23. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/55785/000162828026020404/kmb-20260323.htm

Permanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/fortune-500/kimberly-clark/ · last updated 2026-04-01

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