General Manager - Global Rider Support Operations (Onsite) (Mesa)

We are a global team building and scaling the world's first and leading autonomous fleet and operations platform. As we rapidly expand our commercial ride‑hailing service, delivering a flawless, safe, and intuitive experience for every rider is mission‑critical.

The Opportunity

As the General Manager of Global Operations, you will serve as the senior site leader and strategic architect for our customer service network. You will own the vision, strategy, and day‑to‑day execution of a large‑scale, multi‑tiered support organization — spanning in‑house specialists and global BPO partners across multiple markets and time zones.

Your mandate is twofold: deliver an unparalleled rider experience that drives repeat usage and revenue growth, while rigorously optimizing the cost‑to‑serve through automation, process refinement, and operational excellence. Operating at the intersection of customer experience, fleet operations, and product engineering, you will translate rider signals into systemic improvements that shape the future of autonomous mobility.

This is a strategic leadership role for an executive who can set a multi‑year vision, influence at the highest levels of the organization, and build a world‑class operation as the business scales.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Vision

• Set the long‑term vision. Define and own the multi‑year (1–5 year) strategic roadmap, aligned to company‑wide expansion goals, revenue targets, and the evolving autonomous mobility landscape.
• Shape enterprise strategy. Contribute to broader operations and commercial strategy as a member of the senior leadership team; anticipate how market expansion, fleet growth, and product evolution will reshape support needs — and get ahead of them.
• Drive organizational transformation. Architect the operating model, organizational design, and capability roadmap required to scale support from a growing service into a global, always‑on operation.
• Champion innovation. Identify and sponsor emerging capabilities — AI‑assisted resolution, predictive support, and self‑service — that redefine what rider support can be and position as the category benchmark.
• Report and influence at the top. Represent Rider Support in executive and board‑level forums; translate operational performance into clear business narratives and secure investment for strategic initiatives.

Commercial Growth & Value Creation

• Turn support into a growth engine. Reposition the function from a cost center into a driver of retention and revenue. Lead initiatives that recover at‑risk riders, grow rider lifetime value (LTV), and maximize trip completion rates.
• Own the voice of the rider. Act as the ultimate advocate for riders across the company, converting support insights into influence over app design, vehicle features, pricing, and routing logic.
• Protect and grow trust. Ensure every interaction reinforces confidence, directly supporting brand equity and adoption in new and existing markets.

Operational Excellence & Cost Optimization

• Architect an efficient footprint. Build a scalable operating model that leverages AI routing, self‑service automation, and strategic offshore/nearshore BPO partnerships to lower cost per contact without compromising quality or safety.
• Own capacity & workforce strategy. Direct capacity planning and workforce management to ensure SLA adherence through peak demand, new‑market launches, and rapid volume growth.
• Institutionalize continuous improvement. Embed Lean/Six Sigma discipline and data‑driven problem solving to eliminate friction at its root and continuously raise the bar on efficiency and quality.

Organizational & People Leadership

• Lead at scale. Manage a large, distributed workforce of support specialists, team leads, and operations managers across multiple sites and partners.
• Build the bench. Develop leadership pipelines, succession plans, and continuous skill development so the organization scales its talent as fast as its footprint.
• Set the culture. Serve as the senior site leader, fostering a culture of accountability, empathy, safety, and high performance that reflects our mission and values.

Cross‑Functional Influence & Stakeholder Management

• Partner across the business. Build tight, trusted relationships with Product, Engineering, Legal, Safety, and Market Operations to align support strategy with company priorities.
• Govern strategic vendors. Own BPO partner relationships end to end — selection, contract negotiation, and performance governance.

Crisis & Escalation Management

• Lead through the hardest moments. Act as the senior escalation point for high‑profile rider incidents, safety‑critical events, and network‑level disruptions, ensuring swift, empathetic, and compliant resolution.
• Own readiness. Establish escalation frameworks, on‑call structures, and cross‑functional response protocols so the organization responds decisively under pressure.

Leadership Competencies

This is a strategic leadership role. Beyond functional expertise, we are looking for a leader who consistently demonstrates:

• Visionary thinking. Sets a compelling long‑term direction and connects day‑to‑day execution to a larger strategic narrative.
• Executive presence & influence. Commands credibility with senior stakeholders and drives alignment across functions without relying on direct authority.
• Business & commercial acumen. Understands the levers of growth, retention, and unit economics, and runs the function with an owner's mindset (P&L / budget stewardship).
• Change leadership. Leads through ambiguity and rapid growth, mobilizing teams through transformation and scale.
• Decisiveness under pressure. Makes sound, high‑stakes decisions with incomplete information — and stands behind them.
• Talent multiplier. Attracts, develops, and retains exceptional leaders, building an organization that outlasts any single contributor.
• Systems thinking. Sees the whole board — connecting rider experience, fleet operations, product, and cost into one coherent strategy.

SLA & KPI Accountability

As GM, you will own a balanced scorecard across Rider program experience, Efficiency, and Agent Effectiveness — maintaining top‑tier CSAT and NPS while scaling volume, driving down Average Handle Time without compromising First Contact Resolution, and upholding strict QA adherence to safety and brand standards. You will be measured against defined SLA targets for each metric and expected to proactively identify tooling, process, or training gaps that put SLA delivery at risk.

Required

• Experience. 5+ years of senior leadership experience in customer support, scaled operations, or trust & safety, preferably within mobility, ride‑hailing, or high‑growth technology.
• Strategic leadership. Demonstrated success setting and executing multi‑year strategy for a large function or business unit, ideally with P&L or significant budget ownership.
• Scale. Proven track record managing large, distributed teams (500+ headcount) and overseeing multi‑million‑dollar BPO contracts.
• Analytical rigor. Deep fluency in workforce management (WFM) dynamics, support‑Center economics, and using data to diagnose and resolve operational bottlenecks.
• Continuous improvement. History of applying Lean/Six Sigma principles or driving technical integrations (e.g., AI assistants, CRM overhauls) to streamline operations at scale.
• Cross‑functional influence. Track record of partnering with and influencing Product, Engineering, and executive stakeholders.
• Leadership under pressure. Calm, decisive, and authoritative in high‑stakes and crisis‑management scenarios.
• Travel - Willing to travel to other sites on an as‑needed basis, with up to 20% travel required.

Preferred (Advantageous)

• Autonomous Vehicle (AV) industry experience will be a strong advantage — familiarity with the operational, safety, and rider‑trust dynamics unique to autonomous mobility.
• Rapid‑scale expansion. Experience scaling a support or operations organization through fast geographic or market growth.
• Regulated environments. Exposure to safety‑critical or highly regulated operating contexts.
• Education. Advanced degree (MBA or equivalent) or comparable strategic‑leadership experience.

Cognizant will only consider applicants for this position who are legally authorized to work in the United States without requiring company sponsorship now or at any time in the future.