Senior Strategy & Operations Associate

Today it might be hard to grasp that Uber didn’t exist ten years ago. Over the past nine years the company became the poster child of digital innovation. Uber is for taxi services what Google is for search engines. The company is currently active in about 785 metropolitan areas around the globe and is expanding fast. The Sr Strategy & Operations Associate is responsible for the expansion of the Uber Eats business in EMEA, the part of Uber focusing on food delivery.

Uber: more than 5 billion rides

Uber started as a peer-to-peer ridesharing network, first in the US, but by now active around the globe. Back in 2014 Uber breached the treshold of 1 million rides per day and in 2016 surpassed the 5.5 million rides a day mark. Last year the company completed the 5 billionth ride. In Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Uber currently operates in about 140 cities, and is rapidly expanding its activities.

What started out as a mobility platform, evolved into something much broader. Uber offers ridesharing, taxi service, bicycle-sharing and food delivery, and is continuously looking for new and exciting ways to expand its portfolio. Amongst other things, Uber is currently working on self-driving technology and urban aviation ridesharing (Uber Air). Uber Air should be operational in Dallas and Los Angeles by 2023.

Uberisation

The extent of Uber’s revolutionary impact on the world is best shown by the introduction of the term ‘Uberisation’. The term is used by students, scholars and economic journalists. Uberisation means the utilisation of computing platforms to facilitate peer-to-peer transactions between clients and providers, often bypassing the role of centrally planned corporations.

Uber works on going from a giant global carsharing platform towards a global urban mobility platform. The company aspires to set the world in motion. Its mission is to help people around the world to go to all kinds of places in all kinds of ways. The company makes it easier for people to live without a personal car. Uber aims to replace the personally owned car with a smartphone.

Your favorite restaurant at your kitchen table

Uber Eats is Uber’s food delivery service. It allows you to enjoy the food you love from your local restaurants in the comfort of your own home. The service is very easy to use. In the app customers can scroll through the feed of local restaurants for inspiration or search for a particular restaurant or cuisine. Once you have found something you like, you just tap it to add it to your cart. Before you confirm your order, you can see an estimated delivery time and the price (including booking fee).

When it all looks right, you simply tap to order. You can pay with the credit card Uber has on file, so there is no need for any cash. After the order is placed the app keeps you up to date real-time. It tells you when the restaurant has prepared your meal and allows you to follow the delivery as it makes its way to your home. The app is very easy to navigate and makes ordering food extremely convenient.

Uber Eats is available in almost any larger city in the US, Europe and Australia and in increasingly more cities in Africa, South America and Asia. Uber Eats gives restaurants the opportunity to reach new diners, deliver food to returning customers and add a revenue stream to the business model. The delivery of Uber Eats is, depending on the location, done by car, bike or scooter.

Vacancy: Sr Strategy & Planning Associate (Expansion) EMEA

The Sr Strategy & Planning Associate will be part of the Operations & Launch team of Uber Eats EMEA. In 2018 Uber Eats has launched over fifty EMEA markets and the company will continue to invest in expanding into high priority markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Sr Strategy & Planning Associate provides support to launch markets to build foundational processes and is an advisor to the market team, helping them to grow the business.

The Sr Strategy & Planning Assocatie has direct responsibility for the growth of the Uber Eats business in EMEA. The role provides an interesting and challenging mix of strategic thinking (e.g. shape expansion strategy and roadmap for EMEA) and tactical execution (e.g. work with local teams to launch in a new market, solve problems and execute). The Sr Strategy & Planning Associate works with the local Uber Eats Operations teams and with the regional Engineering, Product and Process teams. This requires careful organisation and coordination, given that some of these teams work remotely and across time zones.

“The Sr Strategy & Planning Associate balances attention to detail with swift execution. We are growing fast and to keep up the pace we need to do things quickly. But we also have to do them well. Balancing those is one of the key challenges of the role, and it’s increasingly challenging when on an ambitious launch timeline.” – Varun Dadlani, Lead Recruiter Central Ops & Marketing EMEA

Data analysis is key

The Sr Strategy & Planning Associate enables the local city teams to drive more impact. He/she breaks down the problems the teams encouter into smaller pieces, identifies root causes, designs solutions and communicates his/her findings effectively, both written and verbally. In working with the local teams, the Sr Strategy & Planning Associate needs to prioritize between multiple moving pieces, based on dependencies and local, regional and global strategic priorities.

The basis for all of the Sr Strategy & Planning Associate’s activities is solid and extensive data analysis. He/she gathers data from different sources within the organisation, synthesizes quickly and smartly, and highlights key takeaways and actionable insights.

Candidate Profile

Experience

• 5+ years in Investment Banking, Consulting, Business Intelligence or Strategy
• Bachelor of Science from top university
• Experience with technical side of Ops (tools, accounts and fraud, traits and tags, Cascade, Flipr, etc.)
• Excel, data management and SQL proficient
• R and Python are a plus
• Experience in high-growth operations or startups is a plus

Personality

• Problem solver
• Self-starter
• Communicator
• Takes ownership
• Multi-tasker
• Strategic thinker

Uber Eats works with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
Contact Catherine Visch at catherine.visch@topofminds.com for more information.