To showcase different perspectives and give an inside look into Grubhub, we’re spotlighting leaders across the organization. This month, we caught up with Megan Mergener, Senior Director of Logistics. 

Megan shares her journey from finance to logistics, how she empowers her team to bring bold new ideas forward, and the leadership lessons she carries with her every day.

A quick round to get to know Megan: 

• Favorite Grubhub order: Farro and Away from Left Coast—it’s farro, spinach, tomatoes, pesto and broccoli. There’s a location less than a block from my house in Chicago, so my family orders from there all the time.
  
• Daily podcasts: I listen to two Chicago-based podcasts every day: City Cast Chicago for local news and Crain’s Chicago Business for business news. 
• Coffee or tea: Coffee all the time. I make my own cold brew at home, but I also love lattes and iced coffee.
• Go-to way to recharge: I love to cook and find it a creative activity, so cooking dinner for the family with a glass of red wine on the side is one way I love to recharge.
• Productivity hack: I’m a little old school on this one. I believe in a notebook and a to-do list and then just relentlessly looking at that to-do list. If you have five minutes of downtime between meetings, look at that to-do list.

You have quite a history of working in the finance industry. What drew you to Grubhub and a logistics role?
I tell people it’s like a “career 180.” I wanted to try something new. I had been in financial services and banking my whole career and had really enjoyed it, but it was time for a change. I was drawn to Grubhub because it was already such a big part of my everyday life. I’ve always loved cooking and anything food-related, so that passion really connected for me. And being born and raised in Chicago, it felt special to join a company that was local to the area.

The culture at Grubhub is very different from banking—it’s much more collaborative. People are working together and putting ideas together as you go. I like the collaboration, openness, and willingness to debate and discuss things.

Logistics covers a lot of ground. Can you share more about what falls under your scope?
I have three areas of responsibility: Logistics, Care, and Project Management. 

Logistics

• Driver pay and delivery speed: One team balances pay incentives with delivery times. For example, offer too little—say $2—and it takes longer for a driver to accept. Offer too much—say $100—and our finance partners won’t be happy. It’s all about finding the right balance.
• Weather and events: This team is responsible for identifying any reason why we might need to pause a given market. For example, there could be a snow storm, flooding, or even a concert that impacts our ability to deliver. It’s up to this team to identify those markets in advance and inform drivers. 
• Market management: Our operations are supported by several specialized teams working together. One team manages our markets—defining regions, mapping homes and restaurants, setting coverage areas, and hours of operation. They also use isochrones to determine delivery times, a powerful tool that helps expand our network and improve the diner experience. Meanwhile, a benchmarking team tracks our performance against competitors to help us stay ahead.
• Strategic initiatives: Finally, we have a group driving new technology, strategic partnerships, and special projects to push us forward.

PMO

• The project management team focuses on Grubhub‑wide, high‑priority projects. They keep initiatives on track by coordinating timelines, aligning stakeholders, and ensuring projects move forward smoothly from start to finish.

Care

• I oversee two teams from our Customer Care org. One manages business insights using data to enhance our processes, and another focuses on AI tools, automation, and QA/training.

What’s the most memorable logistics challenge you’ve had to lead?
We had a city that wasn’t performing well, so the entire logistics team focused on finding solutions. We have many levers—add more drivers, increase pay—but our usual methods weren’t working. We ultimately tried a completely new approach. It could have backfired, but the team aligned behind it, and it was incredibly rewarding to see it succeed.

I’ve learned how important it is as a leader to stay open to bold or unexpected ideas—asking the team, “What haven’t we tried? What could have an impact?” When you create that space, junior team members feel empowered to brainstorm, speak up, and share fresh ideas, which is incredibly valuable.

How do tools like AI, automation, and insights play a role in improving the driver and diner experience?
I think we’re just scratching the surface of what AI can do. Right now, it’s helping us analyze data faster—which is huge when you have limited headcount and hundreds of regions to manage. Instead of one person digging through endless metrics, AI can surface insights quickly, so we can spot issues and scale solutions much more efficiently.

What’s shaped your leadership approach most over the years?
I think you pick up pieces of good leadership from different people you’ve worked with. One manager really stood out to me on a day I’d made a mistake, I nervously went to tell her, and she simply said, “That’s okay. I’ll help you fix it.” That stuck with me. I try to bring that same approach to my team: we’ll make mistakes, own them, fix them together, and keep moving forward.

Another thing is not to react. This is my number one rule of thumb when you’re managing a team—don’t react. Your team comes to you to be even-keeled and supportive when something’s imploding. You don’t want to be adding to the chaos. You want to be the person who’s calming it down.

The last thing that I like to say is “be the duck”—the duck is very calm on top of the water, but if you look under the water, the legs are frantically moving. I try to do that.

How do you keep your team motivated when the pressure’s high and things are moving fast?
I think it helps the team to know I’m in it with them—staying available, checking in, and asking, “How’s it going? Are we on track? Do we need to adjust deadlines or workload?” Being in the trenches shows them I understand what they’re doing and how busy they are, rather than feeling removed from their work.

I make a point to explain why we’re doing what we’re doing. As leaders, we sit in meetings and hear all the context, but our teams often don’t. So I try to connect the dots: “Here’s why we’re pursuing this project, how it ties to other initiatives, and why it’s a top priority—like driving 10% growth.” Without that, they might see a project in isolation and miss the bigger picture.

If you could have any other job in the company for a day, what would it be and why?
I’d like to deepen my understanding of the account management side of our Merchant Network team—building relationships with restaurants, reviewing their metrics, helping them try promotions to boost sales, and really seeing things from their side. 

I know the driver perspective from having done deliveries myself, but I’d like to better understand what restaurants face day to day. I loved the Feet on the Street event we did in Chicago where employees got to visit restaurants, talk with them, and hear their feedback firsthand.