TJ Compagnone, Sr Operations Program Manager
New Mobility is rapidly expanding the transportation services provided on the Uber platform, including electric bikes, scooters, transit, and more. New Mobility’s Jump e-bikes and scooters operate on four continents and in 36 cities, offering riders the ability to get from point A to point B more efficiently. Prashant Chouta, Global Head of Strategic Sourcing and Supply Chain for New Mobility Global Product Operations, leads a team of Global Supply Managers, Material Program Managers, Demand Managers, Buyers, Manufacturing Engineers, Technical Program Managers, Quality professionals and more, all who are working together to transform the future of transportation.
What attracted you to Uber?
“I’m an unapologetic advocate of both e-bikes and electric vehicles. JUMP checks both of these boxes and consequently was an obvious fit.”
“Uber’s acquisition of JUMP, however, took my interest to an entirely new level. In this respect, Uber is the perfect benefactor: a well-capitalized parent company with a strategic fit, policy experience, and analytics expertise. I’m quite confident that this support will allow JUMP to proliferate sustainably and contribute to e-bike share becoming the norm in a more progressive approach to urban planning.”
Describe your team to someone outside of Uber?
“A simplified version of what I do as the JUMP Bikes OPM (Operations Program Manager) is as follows:
- I receive a JUMP Bike design package from the Product & Engineering teams.
- I receive a Demand Plan from the Launch teams.
- I execute on the planning, manufacture, and delivery of these JUMP Bikes (with the help of countless cross-functional teams).”
What are the most interesting challenges you need to solve in this team?
“Since I joined one year ago, constant change is the norm. Headcount has increased. Hardware and firmware are constantly iterating. We’ve ramped factories to support operations in 25+ markets across three continents. In short, it’s mayhem, which makes it fun and my daily challenge is finding ways to navigate the mayhem to ensure the JUMP Bike program continues moving forward.”
What do you see yourself doing next at Uber?
“For now, I’m perfectly content as the JUMP Bikes Operations Program Manager. It’s an impactful, dynamic and visible role. What I enjoy most is the daily exposure to cross-functional teams – especially the Product and Engineering functions. I plan to stay in Uber’s New Mobility group, and I hope to never stray too far from the product regardless of my role.”
What have been your biggest achievements so far in this team?
“On very short notice, a small team of us opened and ramped an EU assembly factory from scratch that now supplies bikes to 10 European and International Launch cities (and counting).”
List the top 5 skills for success in your team?
- Collaboration: The hardware business is new to Uber and there is inevitable friction among internal teams when trying to get things done. It’s normal. Fostering a collaborative environment (i.e. understanding others’ perspectives, educating others on your perspectives, active listening, respectful communications) needs to be a priority to overcome this dynamic.
- Generalist skillset: The Operations Program Manager role requires constant interaction with cross-functional experts. While I’m a ‘Master of None’, I’m somewhat proficient in many of these disciplines and can have a reasonably intelligent conversation with the pros. And for those areas that are complete unknowns, I’m always curious and eager to add breadth and depth to my skillset.
- Communication: Recognize your audience and adjust your delivery to ensure that communications are effective and unambiguous – whether it be with Uber Leadership, a supplier Program Manager, a JUMP electrical engineer or an assembly line worker who may not speak your language.
- Proactive Program Management: 1) identify all inputs, 2) recognize, document and communicate blockers. 3) force decisions from key stakeholders to unblock. Then repeat for inevitable next blocker.
- Know Your Objectives: Understand that every decision is a tradeoff and ensures that you are optimizing around the objective(s) that are most critical to the business. Also, understand that these objectives can evolve quickly and be prepared to respond.
Learn more about New Mobility at Uber
Apply for a role on the Team
Posted by Sarah Page
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