Project Background
Uber Eats is preparing to launch a new low-cost grocery delivery offering in Brazil, starting with São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The product has worked well in Mexico, but Brazil introduces different merchant economics, courier supply constraints, and stricter payment and tax requirements. You are the program manager responsible for defining launch success criteria and aligning the plan across product, operations, finance, and legal.
The core team includes 10 people: 3 product managers, 3 engineers, 1 data analyst, 1 operations lead, 1 finance manager, and 1 legal counsel. Leadership wants a launch recommendation in 6 weeks so the business can decide whether to expand nationally before the holiday season.
Key Stakeholders
The GM for Latin America wants fast market entry and visible revenue growth. Finance wants proof that unit economics can reach contribution margin targets within one quarter. Operations wants courier fill rates and merchant onboarding quality protected, even if launch volume is lower. Legal is concerned about tax invoicing compliance and wants a conservative rollout.
Constraints
- Budget: $450,000 for launch, incentives, and local vendor support
- Timeline: 6 weeks to launch, 30 days to evaluate success
- Team capacity: no additional engineering headcount approved
- Merchant dependency: at least 120 grocery merchants must be onboarded before launch
- Geographic scope: only São Paulo and Rio in phase 1
Complications
- The payments team says PIX refund support may slip by 2 weeks, which could affect customer trust and support volume.
- Courier operations in São Paulo are already running at 87% peak-hour utilization, leaving limited room for demand spikes.
- The GM is pushing for a broad public launch, while Legal recommends an invite-only rollout until tax receipt flows are validated.
Your Task
- Define launch success criteria, including leading and lagging indicators.
- Recommend the launch scope and rollout approach.
- Identify key trade-offs among growth, reliability, and compliance.
- Build a 6-week execution plan with owners, milestones, and dependencies.
- Propose a 30-day post-launch review and decision framework for expansion.
