Growing with Grab: Stepping up to Regional Work Opportunities

A desire to work on a regional scale spurred Mark Voon to take up new opportunities and develop his career within the Grab family. Having been part of the Singapore-based Strategy & Strategic Projects team for almost three years, he gained career satisfaction in driving cross-functional strategic initiatives and accelerating profitability for a wide range of products such as GrabFood, GrabMart, GrabWheels and GrabExpress. He has also led business development and partnership efforts with organisations such as Sentosa, Singapore Sports Hub and F1.

Bonding through bowling games with the Strategy & Strategic Projects team

However, Mark was pining for a broader scope of work that could impact the region in his next career move. Last April, he stepped out of his comfort zone and into a new role as Assistant Manager, Regional Strategic Ops in the Regional Merchants team – thanks to our Internal Mobility Programme.
In his current role, Mark gets to hone his strategic thinking and planning skills to drive initiatives that meet the diverse everyday needs of our merchants across the region. They include optimising their onboarding experience on our platforms as well as ensuring return on investment on using our services. Mark also thrived in his new work environment — he was promoted to Manager within a year of joining the Regional Merchants team in April this year.

Reflecting on his career switch, he is grateful for the opportunity to move into roles within Grab, where he continues to enjoy its vibrant and fast-paced culture.
He says: “By moving internally, you skip the idea of starting from scratch with another company. And you don’t lose that tacit knowledge that you’ve built up over all the years.
We chat with Mark to find out more about his experience switching roles within Grab and how the move has benefited his career journey.

Why did you decide to switch to a new team?
What attracted me was the opportunity to work on a regional scale, to develop a deeper understanding of the various countries that we operate in, and the different nuances that our merchants face in each country.

Meeting with merchant-partners at the MEX Immersion in Jakarta

How was the process of your transition between roles in Grab?
Overall, it was a very smooth process. When I first started on day one, we really hit the ground running by doing a knowledge transfer session, which was crucial to get me started on the job. However, making the switch to a regional team in the middle of COVID-19 restrictions meant that face-to-face interactions with my local counterparts was off the table. But this turned out to be a non-issue as everyone was so welcoming via Zoom and Slack and was always open to a quick chat or brainstorm! I do hope to eventually travel to all our countries to be able to truly experience what’s happening on the ground with our merchants and to see how best we can help them to grow with Grab.

Tell us more about your current role
The Regional Merchants team was established to represent the voice of all types of merchants in Grab (e.g. GrabFood, GrabMart, GrabPay, GrabAds). Simply put, we strive to provide our merchants with the best-in-class service and value, spanning areas such as onboarding, growth, and merchant support.

Celebrating a decade of journeys with the Regional Merchants team
What I especially love about this role is the ability to work on a regional and cross-functional basis, where I get to collaborate across business verticals with local country merchant operation teams, product teams, and analytics teams (just to name a few!). The exposure to a myriad of working styles and country nuances has allowed me to experience the true breadth of the Grab brand and hone my professional skills!

How was the overall process of your internal mobility experience?
After speaking to my people manager about my desire to change roles within Grab, she was extremely helpful and supportive of my decision. She placed my career growth and interests as the top motivations for making the move. Working closely with the People Operations (Pops) team, she helped to share roles that were aligned with my career aspirations and understand more about the opportunities that I would like to transit to.
I also visited our internal mobility microsite to see which roles were available. After that, I spoke with Pops, who connected me with the respective hiring managers to learn more about the roles and to see if I was a good fit.
Overall, it was a really smooth and efficient process!

Celebrating with the team’s interns at the Grabduation event.

What are the benefits of participating in Grab’s Internal Mobility Programme?
The beauty of internal mobility within Grab is that there is a wide range of job opportunities within such a large organisation that has a regional presence and diverse products and business verticals. You can search for a team that specifically caters to your interests, but still stay within Grab and enjoy its company culture at the same time! By moving internally, you skip the idea of starting from scratch with another company. And you don’t lose that tacit knowledge that you’ve built up over all the years. It is really the best of both worlds. To put it colloquially, same same but different!
We encourage Grabbers to consider Internal Mobility when developing their careers. Interested in joining the Grab family? Check out our open roles here!
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