Akarin Phureesitr

Chief People Officer

Central Pattana

Akarin Phureesitr is the Chief People Officer at Central Pattana. His mission is not only to lead the HR management function, but to also help drive organisational transformation.

Over his 16 years’ career in the CENTRAL Group, Akarin has accumulated his professional experience in several business and in HR management roles.

Prior to his most recent move to HR, Akarin led Merchandising and Marketing at Central FamilyMart. He contributed to significant sales and profit improvement, and introduced several new offerings for FamilyMart customers, such as a new store format with emphasis on fresh food, and several innovative convenience services.

On the HR management front, Akarin led all Human Resources Development functions for Central Retail Corporation from 2006 until 2010. It was during his tenure that several strategic HR initiatives such as employee engagement, talent development, and management trainee programmes were developed and launched.

Outside of retail business, Akarin has served as the Head of Human Resources Group at TMB Bank in 2010 and has spent a significant amount of time working overseas including three years at Bain & Company in Singapore (2002 – 2005), and five years at Statoil in Norway and Singapore (1996 – 2000).

He has earned an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania (2000-2002), a Master of Engineering from University of Michigan (1995-1996), and a Bachelor of Engineering from Chulalongkorn University (1990-1994)