- A top engineering manager at Uber departed the company recently, insiders tell Business Insider.
- Matthew Mengerink, vice president of core infrastructure engineering, has been replaced on an interim basis by Facebook veteran Sumanth Sukamar, a representative said.
- Other VPs who have left in recent months include those in charge of Uber Eats and New Mobility as the company fights to turn a profit in 2020.
- Click here for more BI Prime articles.
Matthew Mengerink, vice president of engineering for Uber's core infrastructure group, has departed the ride-hailing giant amid a spate of upper management changes, according to two people familiar with the matter.
An Uber spokesperson confirmed the change in guard, and said Facebook veteran Sumanth Sukamar is leading the team on an interim basis. Mengerink did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
The YouTube and eBay veteran joined Uber in September 2017 at a pivotal time in the Uber's growth. Chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi had taken over just a month earlier from ousted founder Travis Kalanick as the company was reeling from scandals.
At the time, there was "a cultural divide between the early hires who built our original infrastructure and newer engineers tasked with refining and modernizing it," Mengerink told Uber's internal engineering blog. "I spent a lot of time ensuring people respected the paths that brought us to this place."
Six months after his hire, according to the blog post, Mengerink was managing 350 engineers on four teams overseeing 3,500 microservices all reporting up to chief technology officer Than Phuam.
Nearly three years later, Mengerink is far from the only high-level Uber employee to leave. In recent months, several of Uber's main business units, including Uber Eats and New Mobility have seen changes in their highest of ranks.
In January, long-time veteran Rachel Holt stepped down as the head of New Mobility, Uber's bikes, scooters and public transit division, after eight-and-a-half years at the company. Around the same time as her departure, many of the founding Jump Bikes team members, acquired by Uber in 208 to jump-start its micro-mobility options, also left their jobs. And in February, Jason Droege left his post as head of Uber Eats, one of the company's fastest growing units. He'll be replaced by seven-year Uber veteran Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty.
Amid the reshuffling have been at least three rounds of major job cuts in the past year as an effort to reduce spending and help Uber turn a profit. Most recently, Uber announced the closure of an office in Los Angeles and 85 associated jobs that will be relocated to the Philippines. The company has not yet filed its annual report for 2019, which will contain an updated headcount number. Uber had 27,695 employees worldwide as of September.
Julie Bort contributed reporting.
Do you work for Uber? We want to hear from you. Contact this reporter at grapier@businessinsider.com. For sensitive news tips, secure contact methods are available here.
Axel Springer, Insider Inc.'s parent company, is an investor in Uber.
