From Support Agent to Program Manager: Carol’s Uber Journey

Meet Carol Vido, a São Paulo native who is studying to receive her MBA in Project Management and Innovation while working full-time at Uber. 8 years and 5 roles later, her Uber journey has taken her from a Support Agent at an Uber Center of Excellence to a Program Manager on the LatAm PMO team that supports field operational strategy. And, she’s just getting started!

At Uber, understanding the journeys of our customers and drivers is key to meeting their needs, and I realized my hands-on experience as a support agent gave me unique insights into these experiences. Recognizing the potential impact I could make, I decided to channel this knowledge across a variety of teams. Using my previous experiences to help inform decisions and build my career was the best decision I have made! 

Working as a manager in a leadership position is more than a role for me; it is part of who I am. Since I was a child, I have gravitated towards leadership roles in every aspect of my life, from setting strategies to win team volleyball matches, to helping with the direction of theater pieces at school. At Uber, I’ve always seen our leadership roles as huge opportunities to connect with our people, learn from different perspectives (#GreatMindsDon’tThinkAlike), and help others achieve the success and goals they set for themselves. And Uber provides tons of opportunities and resources to help make this happen. I pursued my first leadership role after only 6 months!

I have found the career paths in Community Operations at Uber to be very well-designed, which has provided me with the confidence to take the driver’s seat in my development here. I started at Uber in an entry-level role, providing our drivers and riders with assistance. In this role, I was guided and inspired by my leaders to keep moving forward. Today, I remain deeply engaged with various internal development programs, including mentorship with senior leaders and other tools that continue to enhance my skills and growth.

I currently manage a team of seven Program Specialists, working closely with my colleague Jorge, who, interestingly, has had a career path at Uber that is almost identical to mine. Together, we oversee a broad portfolio of projects and programs focused on efficiency and customer experience. To achieve this, we rely on a highly organized approach, using PMI guidelines to create a comprehensive toolkit for project design and tracking. A significant part of our routine involves connecting with various teams and regions across the company, ensuring we involve the right experts and foster collaboration to unlock effective solutions for the business.

We follow an annual planning schedule aligned with Global and Regional Strategy, but our day-to-day work is anything but static. At Uber, we’re constantly pushing the envelope, making big, bold bets, and driving innovation to deliver the best products. This demands not only careful planning and adaptability but also the flexibility to pivot when needed.

In Brazil, education can be extremely expensive. While much of the theoretical knowledge and project management certifications I have today have contributed to my success, a lot of my growth has actually come through my career at Uber and the learning and development opportunities that have stretched my skills along the way. 

Ironically, one of my biggest challenges early in my career wasn’t acquiring these advanced skills but something more basic: learning English. Fun fact: I learned to speak English in just three months, thanks to the support of a great leader at Uber and an incredible professor, who I also met through the company!

When I lead mentoring sessions or share job opportunities with my teams, I always advise people to identify the qualifications they want to develop or leverage from their current experiences based on what the new role demands. In my case, my expertise in project management, agile methods, organization, and planning helps me get the job done. However, my director consistently encourages us to challenge the status quo and think creatively. This often leads us to break down traditional methods and apply them in new, innovative ways, which is really exciting.

I took several, but I can summarize it in 3 steps, Listen, Act, and Bet. 

Listen: It starts with the feedback from your leaders, colleagues, and direct reports. The ones that are painful to listen to; feedback that generates discomfort because they provoke self-reflection on things you recognize as areas of improvement. Also, listen to yourself, be humble to self-evaluate your opportunities and fairly recognize your strengths, knowing where to use them. 360 feedback and Johari window are great tools for this. 

Act: Consolidate outputs of the previous step, plan, and kick-off. I’m oriented to organized approaches, so I like to use the 70-20-10 method, list the actions that will fit my gaps and purpose and track status. At Uber, you have several tools to compose your development: Mentoring@Uber, Uber LinkedIn Learning with a huge collection of online content on, GIGs and VSTA, Shadowing programs (Field Ops Connect), and many others.

Bet: Go out of your comfort zone, give a shot at your ideas and plans, expose them broadly, and apply for positions and challenges that fit your plans.

Great minds don’t think alike. In both my personal and professional life, I like to be challenged and I like to be pushed to see things from different perspectives. When you embrace a new viewpoint, you learn much more and you learn it faster.

Growing a career at Uber allows you to be a part of and create connections with a large community that shares a passion for transforming how the world moves. We move fast but we move together. Each new role you take will teach you new skills, strategies, and ways of working, all while making you feel a part of something larger than yourself through our shared mission and values.

Join the Community Operations team ->