GDS Ecosystem Emerging Relationships Specialist - Assistant Director

At EY, you’ll have the chance to build a career as unique as you are, with the global scale, support, inclusive culture and technology to become the best version of you. And we’re counting on your unique voice and perspective to help EY become even better, too. Join us and build an exceptional experience for yourself, and a better working world for all.

Job Title: GDS Ecosystem Emerging Relationships Specialist    Job Span: Ecosystem and Alliances Program Function: GDS ES Growth & Innovation    Skill Level: High    Rank: Assistant Director (63) Sub Function: Alliances Partner Ops CoE    Reports to: GDS Alliance Operations Lead Role Purpose The GDS Ecosystem Emerging Relationships Specialist - Assistant Director is responsible for enabling, shaping, and operationalizing new and early stage ecosystem and alliance relationships, supporting their journey from initial formation through early scale and stabilization. The role combines ecosystem formation rigor with foundational operations leadership, ensuring that emerging relationships are set up with the right governance, processes, insights, and stakeholder alignment to transition smoothly into mature, scalable alliances. Role Summary The GDS Ecosystem Emerging Relationships Specialist - Assistant Director will act as a bridge between ecosystem formation and alliance operations, owning the operational and governance aspects of early stage relationships across the ecosystem lifecycle. This role works closely with Service Line leaders, Risk, Independence, Legal, Finance, and Alliance leadership to ensure that new relationships are formed correctly, governed consistently, and operationalized effectively, while also identifying opportunities to standardize, scale, and optimize emerging alliance models. Key Responsibilities Ecosystem & Emerging Alliance Enablement •    Support the end to end formation and activation of new ecosystem and alliance relationships, working closely with global stakeholders across Service Lines, Risk, Independence, Quality, Legal, and Finance. •    Guide business teams through intake, approval, and onboarding processes, ensuring clarity of requirements and adherence to governance standards.  •    Perform first level reviews of business cases, intake forms, and supporting documentation for completeness, accuracy, and readiness. Operationalization & Early Stage Scaling •    Design and operationalize foundational operating models for emerging relationships, including roles, processes, reporting, and stakeholder engagement cadences.  •    Partner with Alliance Operations and Markets teams to ensure a smooth transition from formation to steady state operations for relationships that demonstrate scale potential. •    Establish early tracking and reporting mechanisms (pipeline, activity, benefits, risks) to support informed decision making. Governance, Risk & Compliance •    Drive adherence to risk management, independence, and quality control requirements throughout the lifecycle of emerging relationships.  •    Maintain accurate records in ecosystem and alliance systems of record, ensuring audit‑ready documentation and traceability •    Support internal reviews and checkpoints to assess readiness for scale, continuation, or exit. Insights, Process Improvement & Enablement •    Identify process bottlenecks and opportunities to simplify, standardize, and automate ecosystem formation and early operations activities. •    Develop playbooks, checklists, FAQs, and guidance materials to improve consistency and stakeholder experience.  •    Translate operational data into clear insights and recommendations for senior stakeholders. Stakeholder & Cross‑Functional Collaboration •    Act as a central coordination point across Service Lines, GDS teams, and onshore leadership, ensuring alignment and timely progression of activities.  •    Support leadership and governance forums