Customer experience helped them grow their careers at Uber

At Uber, people are encouraged to move around and explore new roles and teams as part of their career development journey. Because when it comes to your professional growth, we believe you should be in the driver’s seat, so you can choose where to focus, when to learn, and how to grow your skills.

In 2021, 9.5% of employees on our Community Specialist Team—many of whom are frontline customer support agents—transitioned to corporate roles across Uber globally. That’s because Community Specialists interact directly with people who use our platform everyday, getting to know our business from within, and forming a valuable perspective useful to apply to roles at Uber on any team. 

Below we chat with three former Community Specialists who’ve transitioned careers across Uber, some of them many times:

Ahmed: “I’m a Senior Program Manager on our Driver Automations team. After graduating college, I worked in banking and found my way to Uber in 2016. I am very proud of my journey at Uber. Since I joined, I’ve gotten the chance to move to different roles that have allowed me to learn so much in such a short time. In my free time I like to watch history documentaries and comedy movies. I also enjoy working out, meeting friends over coffee or just going to the beach.”

Sasha: “I’ve spent most of my life exploring the world. Originally from Ukraine, I spent 9 years studying and working in Poland, gaining valuable experience in program management. In my free time, I like to indulge in my passion for video games and nature, often volunteering at animal shelters or exploring the nearby forests and wildlife. Recently, I adopted a beautiful cat, which has brought me immense joy and companionship. About a year ago, I moved to Amsterdam, and I have fallen in love with the Netherlands and all it has to offer.”

Harry: “I’m a typically proud ‘Bristolian’ residing in my new home, Amsterdam, a place I had dreamed of moving to and somewhere I am eternally grateful to now be living in. Here I am able to flourish in my career while also being able to better exercise my hobby, analog photography.” 

Sasha: “I joined Uber out of curiosity and a desire to see what the startup was like from the inside. Before, I had taken on internships in both HR and IT to better understand where my interests lie. It was during one of these internships that I stumbled across a customer support role at Uber. Although I had little knowledge of the company at the time, I was excited to join and see what it was all about.

When I finally joined the team, I was still studying and had to balance my work and school. At that time, the Krakow COE was still in its early stages and located in a small building with only a few rooms. There were about 20 of us working together to solve tickets and address customer concerns. It was a challenging and exciting time that helped me grow both personally and professionally.

Looking back, I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of Uber during its early stages. It was an experience that taught me a lot about what it takes to build a successful startup and the importance of teamwork and hard work.”

Harry: “Whether it was measuring rocks from cliff faces in Anglesey, interviewing residents on limestone heritage in Malta, or buried in any other forever questioned activity related to my Geography degree, I wouldn’t have envisioned this path at Uber. I left university with angst, endlessly trawling through advertisements for jobs I wasn’t qualified for. I then stumbled across and became allured by Uber’s City Operations role. To my own naivety I questioned why an emerging global brand like Uber was in my city, yet that alone was enough to entice me into the position.”

Ahmed: “After starting my first job after college, I felt I wanted a different path, and that’s what I found when I started at Uber. Uber provides a great opportunity to learn and be creative, and that helped me alot to learn and grow in such a short time. I was able to move roles, to search and find what I want to do. I enjoy being constantly challenged and achieving results.”

Harry: “I’ve been fortunate enough to leap from an entry-level role where I was providing in-person support for earners in Bristol, into a role focusing on reshaping the customer support experience for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Throughout my 5+ tenure I’ve been nosey, opinionated, and often outspoken. I’m aware these are flaws, yet I like to count them as a blessing too as I believe that without these traits I wouldn’t have built a strong network with a respectable portfolio of work. Being actively involved and transparent with my inner thoughts had opened a path to collaborate on multiple projects where I was able to flex my potential enough to bank the position I am in now.” 

Ahmed: “I joined Uber in 2016 as an external Customer Support agent at our Cairo COE. In just a few months, I had the chance to join Uber full-time as an employee and was quickly promoted through several roles that included managing dozens of agents across multiple lines of business. This included Rides where I led around 78 agents MEA and Pakistan, Uber Eats where I supported in launching in MEA and led support team and onboarding that consisted of 35 agents, to moving to a MEA strategic program manager role, and so much more. My journey has also taken me from across countries, from Egypt to Dubai, where I am today.”

Sasha: “My career progression at Uber has been quite an exciting journey. Back in 2016, when I first joined the company, there was no “support ladder,” which meant that moving to other roles was not an option. However, I did not let that stop me from growing my career. Instead, I took on plenty of special team assignments, which allowed me to develop my skills in various areas such as conducting onboarding for new hires, creating content, and standardising saved replies.

As time went by, I was ready for a new challenge and wanted to develop my hard skills in Workforce Management. I applied for a Real Time Analyst role, where I honed my analytical abilities and gained valuable experience.

I then decided that I wanted to try something different to further boost my stakeholder and program management skills and applied for a role in the Safety team. As a Program Specialist, I worked closely with the Central Safety team on rolling out new policies and launching an Urgent Triage team. It was an exciting time, and I learned a great deal about safety and crisis management.

I then applied for a Senior Program Specialist position in the Process Design team, where I collaborated with Center of Excellence, Global and Greenlight Leadership teams to optimise several processes and make them more efficient and user-friendly. I enjoyed working in this role, but I knew that I wanted to take my career to the next level.

Therefore, I decided to apply for a Program Manager role, and I am thrilled to say that I got the job! I recently moved to Amsterdam to work in the central team and tackle new challenges in a new country.”

Ahmed: “Uber makes it easy to shift from one role to another. I’ve also been lucky to have very supportive managers that helped me to grow and mature. Uber had different learning platforms and courses. I have used nearly all of them. One thing I love about Uber is just how easy it is to reach anyone and start asking them questions to learn from them.” 

Sasha: “Uber empowers employees to take ownership of their career growth and provides a culture of learning and experimentation. I was encouraged to try different roles and identify my strongest sides.

Through my hard work and genuine curiosity, I found my passion in project management. I was given the opportunity to manage various projects and collaborate with different teams. The limitless opportunities and the support of my colleagues helped me develop my skills and build my confidence.

Thanks to Uber, I have been able to drive my growth and shift to where I am today. I am working in a role that I am passionate about and that aligns with my strengths.”

Harry: “An Uber employee’s testimony will often include two elements: the surprising breadth of challenges and opportunities you can encounter, and the people. My progression at Uber is a direct consequence of having consistently great managers who have always invested in my growth and have stretched to enable new opportunities. Combining this with an entire organisation of exceptional talent who value ideas over hierarchy and welcome entry points to collaborate in resolving challenges far beyond your own scope is, for me, part of a long list of what makes Uber a great company for those who seek to grow.”

Sasha: “As a former customer support representative for Uber, I had the unique opportunity to work directly with customers on a daily basis. This experience has been invaluable to me in my current role as a project manager. Knowing the company from the inside out has given me a deeper understanding of its operations and how to navigate its systems.

In particular, my time working with Uber’s customers has made me much more customer-oriented. I understand the impact that process changes can have on the customer experience and am more mindful of that when working on projects. It has also allowed me to think more creatively about how to solve issues and bring a unique perspective and expertise to my projects, ensuring that our customers always come first.”

Ahmed: “Listening is one of the most powerful tools. Listening to the driver stories about why they drive with Uber and challenges they’re facing helped find where I should focus.

I’ve always dreamed of helping people and making an impact to change their lives for the better, whether it’s small or big. What’s important is to make a difference and that was the main drive to always want to be the best.

Shifting from customer support roles to program management, specifically on the driver side, allowed me to seize the opportunity to help drivers who depend on Uber to provide income to support their families or themselves. 

I am a huge supporter of drivers and I feel their challenges. I am consistently in touch with them by reading their inquiries, hosting roundtables with them, and by taking Uber in every country or city I visit and engaging in conversation with them.”

Harry: “I hate to fill our own boots, but like most I see those who have previously worked directly with Uber’s customers to really stand-out during pivotal moments. You need to know your customer when designing a new product, policy, or process. Data is important, but the business should also be shaped by feeling. Starting with the customer by sensing their pain points and understanding how they intend to interact and operate can provide you with your own competitive advantage, and can make a world of difference for them.”

Interested in joining our Community Operations team? Explore our open roles →