GDS Ecosystem Relationship Formations Lead - Assistant Director -EY GDS

Job description

Job Summary EY’s Ecosystem Relationship Enablement (ERE) team is responsible for governing and enabling the formation of all new Alliances and Ecosystem Relationships globally, working closely with Service Lines, Independence, Risk Management, Quality, GCO, Legal, and other enabling functions to ensure all required approvals, controls, and governance requirements are met. The GDS Ecosystem Formation Manager is accountable for owning and leading the global ecosystem formation operating model, providing strategic program leadership, governance oversight, and stakeholder advisory support for the ERE formation function. The role goes beyond operational coordination to ensure the formation process is scalable, compliant, risk ‑ managed, and consistently executed across geographies, while delivering a seamless experience to business stakeholders. The incumbent will: • Own, operationalize, and continuously evolve the global delivery and support model for ecosystem formation, partnering with senior Service Line leadership and control functions (Independence, Risk Management, Quality, GCO, etc.) to drive effective execution, governance, and decision ‑ making across the formation lifecycle • Lead and oversee the end ‑ to ‑ end ecosystem formation process, proactively identifying risks, dependencies, and bottlenecks, and driving process simplification and continuous improvement to support increasing volume, complexity, and scale of ecosystem relationships, while ensuring a frictionless and transparent experience for business teams seeking to establish new relationships Essential Functions of the Job • Own and lead the end ‑ to ‑ end Ecosystem Formation process globally, providing program leadership and governance oversight while coordinating activity across multiple onshore and GDS teams within the Ecosystem Service Bureau to ensure seamless handoffs and outcomes. Manage the GDS Ecosystem Formation team. • Act as a primary engagement and escalation point for EY business teams and senior stakeholders, advising them on ecosystem formation requirements, governance expectations, risks, and key decision points throughout the lifecycle • Provide oversight and accountability for first ‑ and second ‑ level reviews of intake forms, business cases, and supporting documentation, ensuring completeness, accuracy, first ‑ time quality, and adherence to governance and risk standards • Guide and validate research and due ‑ diligence activities (leveraging EY systems and external sources), ensuring high ‑ quality inputs into formation templates and informed decision ‑ making by stakeholders • Proactively manage stakeholder queries, dependencies, and escalations, ensuring timely resolution of issues and maintaining momentum across multiple concurrent ecosystem formation requests • Lead and facilitate governance ‑ critical stakeholder interactions, ensuring meetings are outcome ‑ driven, decisions are clearly documented, and actions are owned and tracked through to completion • Ensure clear, executive ‑ ready communication of outcomes, including synthesis of decisions, risks, next steps, and timelines, with accountability for follow ‑ through across business and enabling teams • Oversee the preparation and quality of communications and documentation produced by the formation team, ensuring consistency, clarity, and readiness for senior stakeholder and governance forums • Own the integrity and effective use of the Ecosystem Relationship Management System (ERMS) as the system of record, ensuring accurate data capture, transparency of status, and meaningful management ‑ level reporting • Establish and maintain robust documentation and knowledge repositories, driving standardization, accessibility, and continuous improvement in information sharing across stakeholder groups • Ensure strict adherence to ecosystem formation quality controls and risk management requirements, working closely with Independence, Risk Management, Quality, GCO, and other control functions to track approvals and resolve issues proactively • Oversee post ‑ formation activities, including validation of relationship summaries, readiness for onboarding, and transition to steady ‑ state relationship management, ensuring a smooth and compliant handover • Own and drive regular review and refresh of the ecosystem formation process, ensuring documentation, controls, and operating practices remain current, effective, and aligned to evolving business and regulatory requirements • Lead stakeholder enablement efforts, including education, communication, and guidance to promote awareness, compliance, and consistent adoption of the ecosystem formation process globally • Champion continuous improvement and operational excellence, identifying systemic bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and risks, and leading targeted initiatives to simplify workflows, improve scalability, and enhance stakeholder experience, ensure leverage and high adoption of AI. Knowledge and Skill Guidance • Knowledge of Alliances and Ecosystem relationship formation, strong program and operational leadership capabilities, with the ability to own complex, end ‑ to ‑ end, governance ‑ driven processes and drive consistent outcomes across multiple workstreams, stakeholders, and geographies • Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex issues, risks, and dependencies into clear, executive ‑ ready summaries and articulate process requirements, decisions, and expectations to senior stakeholders with confidence and clarity • Proven ability to engage, influence, and partner with senior stakeholders across Service Lines, enabling functions, and control teams, operating effectively in a highly matrixed, multi ‑ geography, and virtual environment • Strong understanding of EY and GDS operating models, including organizational structures, governance forums, approval mechanisms, management information systems, and interdependencies across Independence, Risk Management, Quality, GCO, and related functions (for internal candidates) • Sound judgment and analytical capability to oversee research, due diligence, and validation activities, ensuring high ‑ quality, risk ‑ aware inputs into ecosystem formation decisions and first ‑ time ‑ right outcomes • Demonstrated ability to independently identify, assess, and resolve complex issues, including root ‑ cause analysis, development of mitigation strategies, and implementation of preventive controls to avoid recurrence • Deep working knowledge of continuous improvement principles, with experience applying process optimization, standardization, and scalability concepts to improve efficiency, quality, and stakeholder experience • Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple concurrent formation requests, balance competing demands, and maintain momentum in a fast ‑ paced, high ‑ volume environment • High level of comfort with data, reporting, and insights, including the ability to interpret operational metrics, identify trends, and translate data into actionable management insights • Advanced proficiency in core business tools such as MS Excel, PowerPoint, SharePoint, and related collaboration platforms, with the ability to leverage these tools for analysis, reporting, documentation, and senior ‑ level communications Other Guidance Academics & Experience: Bachelor of Business Administration, Science, Commerce or Technology, Masters in Business Administration 12+ years, preferably operating in an individual contributor capacity, with senior onshore standholders Location: GDS Argentina, Buenos Aries Working Hours: Flexible, based on assignment; substantial overlap with US time zones will be key