“At Metrolinx, we move hundreds of thousands of people every day, and getting to be a part of that process is extremely rewarding,” said Jude O. a Senior Team Leader in Customer Relations at Metrolinx.

For Jude, customer service and connecting communities is at the core of everything he does and is what led him to his current position in our GO Transit and UP Express Contact Centre.

This centre plays a critical role in keeping customers informed and ensuring their concerns are being met. “When people enter our stations, they may be flustered to catch a train or in a rush to get home and we can’t always attend to them in the station the way we would like to due to time constraints. Yet when riders call our Contact Centre with concerns, we can attend to them with a far more targeted and robust approach that ultimately leads to a better customer experience,” outlined Jude.

Working in the frontlines

Day to day, Jude’s work involves connecting with the various team members he leads to address customer cases that often require escalation. Collaboration and engaging with others are key aspects of his role, and they are among his favorite parts of the job, as he considers himself a people person and keen collaborator. “From PRESTO to Stations, Communications and our bus teams, we work with all of those departments daily,” said Jude.

He began his career at Metrolinx in 2022, when he worked from Union Station as a Team Lead overseeing a group of Station Ambassadors. In that role, Jude was responsible for ensuring a smooth and efficient flow of passengers through GO stations and managing administrative tasks to facilitate seamless operations.

Becoming a Senior Team Leader was a natural progression for his career and though his role may be a bit more behind-the-scenes these days, it remains aligned with his passion for helping customers and supporting our frontline staff.

“The frontline teams are critical to what we do here at Metrolinx, whether it be crowd management at a concert or large sporting event or an issue with your PRESTO card, our staff ensure people can navigate to where they need to go and they get there safely. It is hard to quantify the importance of our front-line staff, and it has been a privilege to work alongside them in my last role as well as this one,” said Jude.

Building a career at Metrolinx

For Jude, it has been extremely rewarding to grow his career at Metrolinx and, as a person of colour, to work at an organization that is focused on equity, diversity, and inclusion.

“Diversity is huge to me, and Metrolinx has a very diverse group of people working here. My director is a Black woman, and my executive vice president is a Black man. I have never had people of colour as senior leaders in any other company I have worked for. This is very motivating as I see someone who looks like me, and who has achieved that level of growth in their career, and it makes me believe I can do it too. It also gives me confidence that I can pass along this mindset to my own team members as their leader,” said Jude.

A focus on customer service

Before joining Metrolinx, he spent much of his career in the restaurant and aviation industries, experiences that he credits with providing him with the foundation for his leadership skills.

Jude ventured abroad to Papua New Guinea in 2011 to assist his brother with the opening of a new restaurant. He spent three years managing this eatery before returning to Canada and managing a restaurant in Calgary. These experiences taught him the importance of multitasking, attention to detail and managing priorities.

“While I may not be literally holding 4 to 5 different plates anymore, the level of focus you need is the same in order to effectively get the job done,” said Jude.

The Metrolinx Senior Team Leader is deeply passionate about enhancing the customer journey. “The most rewarding part of my role is turning an unpleasant situation into a positive one. Customers will sometimes come to me very frustrated, but helping to deescalate the situation and bring them down to a point where they are laughing and joking with you is what customer service is all about,” said Jude.