If you ask anyone at Uber in India why they joined, you’re almost guaranteed to hear three things: a desire for on-the-job growth, the opportunity to solve hard problems that matter, and the ability to make a tangible positive impact on the world. While the reasons we join Uber may be similar, our paths to Uber and experiences once here are unique. We spoke to 11 women across our Engineering and Product teams in India about their journeys to Uber, growth on the job, and what life’s really like once they joined.
Surabhi A R
Senior Product Manager, Uber Eats
“I’ve been part of Uber for 6 years and people, especially candidates I interview, ask me what keeps me here. My response is always immediate and unhesitating: At Uber, I’ve never had Monday blues!
I am the product lead for Uber Eats help globally and my team focuses on creating seamless experiences for our customers when they reach out for support on their orders. I love what I do and I mean that with passion. As someone who thrives on solving problems, I ride high on the complexity and scale that comes with Uber. I work with people coming from varied backgrounds and I learn from them every day. They’re so different and yet they’re similar—smart, inspiring and driven. This has enabled us to truly create some wonderful products, and I’m proud of it.
Uber is a workplace that has people in its DNA. We are trusted and empowered. I’m constantly challenged and encouraged to make big bets. I know that my leadership will support and enable my career path. Plus, I have the flexibility to define my working style and preferences.
Professionally, I went from being a Community Operations Manager for India to a Senior Product Manager for Customer Obsession, leading Uber Eats help experiences globally. Personally, I started as a young, starry-eyed graduate ready to conquer the world and I’m now a young mom juggling a two-year-old and work (and well on her way to conquering the world).”
Through all this, Uber has been my safe space. A second home. A place where I am growing and having a real impact on the world, while voicing my thoughts without inhibitions and just being myself.
Shravni Jain
Lead Product Manager, Uber for Business
“I joined Uber in early 2017 and it has been an exciting and rewarding journey. I’ve had the flexibility to balance both my personal and professional life and do high impact and meaningful work.
I started at Uber after many years of consulting. One of the first things I did was setup the customer experience team for India & South Asia and that set the groundwork supporting large scale operations and tech investments made in the region.
I wanted to experience how businesses are run at a large scale. Uber gave me the opportunity to manage city P&L for Bangalore before taking up a central role and leading supply growth for India. Managing supply for India was a fulfilling experience that got me to flex my muscle not just in day-to-day operations, but also strategic business development and building long-term strategy for the region.
After 4 years of serving the region, I took some personal time, went on maternity leave and had a baby boy in 2021. I wanted to explore something new and exciting once I returned to the office. And Uber let me explore different roles globally and in India. I was inclined towards understanding how the backbone of Uber and tech works so I made a move to product management. Today, I lead product our Uber for Business platform.
One thing that keeps me motivated at Uber is the ability to consistently challenge myself and do new things. The learning curve can be as sharp as you want it to be.
I have been learning to use coaching as a way to lead large and complex teams and the people at Uber make the time worth it. Personally, I’m able to carve out time for family and young baby. Having a workout routine has kept me energetic and sane while working on some of the most complex and demanding problems.
I continue to be excited by what Uber holds for us in future.”
Megha Yethadka
Senior Director, Global Scaled Solutions
“I joined Uber almost 7 years ago to start the Map Production team in India. The mission of the company and opportunity to create real-world impact, plus the people and the culture I experienced through the process are what made me join Uber back then and remain the reasons why I am here almost 7 years on.
I took the plunge when I was in my third trimester of pregnancy and Uber took a bet that not many companies do on someone going on a maternity leave soon and that person not having prior Maps experience to build a team from scratch.
Fast forward to today, I am incredibly grateful, excited and challenged by the opportunities that I’ve had and that lie ahead of us. Over time, my role evolved and grew to lead Global Scaled Solutions, a program management organization in tech that runs scaled programs for all our lines of businesses, ranging from ML ops to localization, testing to data services, risk ops to map editing and many more.
I am looking forward to the coming years building some redefining experiences for our earners and customers worldwide and delivering industry leading tech and operations along with people I love to work with every day.”
Shuchita Gupta
Software Engineer II, Push Platform
“Uber has impacted my life in various ways, from being an avid consumer to being a part of the ecosystem that builds it. It has been an incredible journey.
Four years back, I walked in as a recent college graduate with minimal corporate experience.
Here, I got the opportunity to learn amongst brilliant minds and challenge myself to reach excellence. There is no dearth of problems to solve.
I am currently working as a software engineer on Uber’s Push Platform team and have had the opportunity to help rearchitect our pipeline to scale for the future. Life at Uber has been dynamic, challenging, and yet rewarding.
Uber’s values are at the core of the things we build. Every product is built with heart and a go get it attitude. We learn through the diverse opinions of our team members.
Uber has helped me grow both professionally and personally and I am looking forward to the impact Uber will have in the coming years.”
Mahathi Mahabhashyam
Director, Engineering, Customer Obsession Platform
“Life is a journey of continuous learning and learning has been aplenty in my journey with Uber so far. Over the last 2 years, I have had a chance to contribute to and lead two critical areas for Uber. First, our Fraud and Risk Management Platform and now our Customer Obsession Platform.
The ability to impact people’s lives through technology has always been my dream and I am grateful to be able to do that everyday through my work at Uber, while learning and growing as a technologist and a leader through it all.”
Jhansi Patnala
Manager, Engineering, Core Services
“I joined Uber over a year ago after a long stint at my previous company. I was apprehensive in terms of work culture, remote onboarding, and work life balance. But the culture at Uber, support from leadership, and opportunities for growth far, far surpassed my expectations.
We support each other, demanding strong ethics and respect. This has helped my experience and me contribute in delivering great product initiatives with a focus on high quality as well as people initiatives.
Some of the Uber values that we practice at work and life are Do the right thing and Build with heart. Respect, care, ownership and excellence are the qualities that emanate from the top and flow throughout the rest of the company. I am proud to be part of the Uber engineering team that is focussed on building software to reimagine the way the world moves for the better.”
Yogitha Habbu
Software Engineer, Customer Obsession Platform
“Thanks to Uber’s uReturn program, I was able to resume my career in 2022 after a 9-year break with a sense of calm and purpose.
The best part about uReturn is that it’s not an internship, it’s a full-time employment opportunity. The program provided me with periodic coaching/mentoring sessions with Uber leaders. By addressing my concerns and doubts, my mentors and the TA team supported me through the adaptation process smoothly and confidently.
Uber has given me the opportunity to be on a level playing field – to celebrate my career break and put it at the forefront of my resume.”
Akhila Reddy
Associate Program Manager, Core Services
“Returning to work after a break is a challenging and daunting task. I felt the same when I applied to Uber. But Uber’s uReturn initiative presented me with the opportunity to make a real impact.
Everyone has provided an environment for me to go above and beyond while not compromising my responsibilities as a mother. I cannot wait to see more women go from strength to strength as part of this initiative. We truly build with heart!”
Charu Jain
Manager, Engineering
“I joined Uber a little over 5 years ago when the office was in the budding stages with just around 30 engineers full of zeal building the Uber ecosystem.
One thing I noticed back then was our philosophy to think globally and act locally, which still hasn’t changed as we grew more than 20 times bigger. We build products with global impact and are the true owners of what we deliver.
At Uber, we collaborate with people from different parts of the world and diverse backgrounds. The opportunities to work in different domains are endless and that’s what keeps me going and growing everyday.”
Divya Rai
Manager, Engineering, Developer Platform
“I joined Uber 2 years ago in the middle of the pandemic to set up new teams focused on quality and developer productivity. Along the way, I have learned more than I have given back to Uber.
The talent and culture at Uber is invigorating and I am getting the chance to work with some of the best in the industry.
Our laser sharp focus on impact shows through in everything we do at Uber. Our open environment, which encourages everyone to question the status quo, enables us to move the world in ways never thought before.”
Aasha Medhi
Manager, Engineering, Data Platform
“Over the last year, I’ve had the opportunity to collaborate across multiple organizations to solve unique different business problems.
My journey at Uber has been filled with fast paced learning. Every day brings in a new challenge along with tremendous learnings.
I am impressed by the collaborative environment at Uber and the partnership across stakeholders, which enables fast execution and long-term solutions.”
Posted by Philip Graumann
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