Microsoft Alliance Operations Lead - Associate Director - EY Global Delivery Services

The opportunity

 The Microsoft Alliance Operations Lead will serve as the global operations owner for EY’s strategic alliance with Microsoft, responsible for designing, governing, and continuously improving the end‑to‑end operations model that enables alliance growth at scale. This role combines strategic leadership and advisory responsibilities with hands‑on operational oversight, ensuring that partner programs, tools, financial processes, reporting, and compliance are executed with rigor, transparency, and business relevance. The role acts as a trusted partner to senior alliance leadership, while also leading and mentoring alliance operations and Go-to-market teams.

Your key responsibilities

 Alliance Operations Strategy & Leadership

• Own and evolve the Microsoft Alliance operations delivery model, ensuring alignment with EY’s global alliance strategy and growth priorities.
• Serve as a strategic advisor to senior Alliance and Markets leadership on operational enablement, partner program optimization, and risk management.
• Provide leadership oversight across alliance operations resources, ensuring clarity of roles, prioritization, and delivery excellence

Operational Execution & Governance

• Oversee pipeline, revenue, and opportunity tracking for the Microsoft Alliance, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and leadership‑ready insights.
• Govern processes for PAL, CPOR, Azure revenue attribution, and other Microsoft metrics to ensure correct recognition and reporting.
• Establish operational controls, documentation, and audit‑ready processes across alliance tools, portals, and workflows.

Insights, Reporting & Decision Support

• Provide dashboard‑driven insights on pipeline health, revenue trends, top deals, GTM wins, and program performance.
• Translate operational data into strategic narratives that support leadership decision‑making.
• Identify operational bottlenecks and drive continuous improvement and automation initiatives.
• Build and foster strong partnerships with enabling functions such as Finance Reporting and Brand Marketing & Communications and initiate and drive cross‑functional initiatives with a clear focus on strategic outcomes.

Financial & Investment Enablement

• Partner with the Microsoft Co‑Investment and Alliances Investment teams to manage incentives, funding programs, and MDF‑like investments, including compliance, tracking, and reimbursements.
• Support quarterly finance and legal reviews related to alliance investments and programs.

Stakeholder & Cross‑Functional Collaboration

• Act as the primary operations interface for onshore Alliance leadership, Microsoft stakeholders, Finance, Legal, Risk, and BMC teams.
• Support executive‑level internal and external alliance meetings through content development, insights, and operational readiness.
• Manage stakeholder expectations across geographies in a highly matrixed global environment.

Skills and attributes for success

• Deep experience in alliance operations, partner programs, or ecosystem enablement within large technology, professional services, or global consulting environments.
• Strong understanding of sales and pipeline concepts, including opportunity life cycles, forecasting and insights-based performance reporting.
• Demonstrated technology aptitude, supported by relevant professional experience and/or academic exposure.
• Proven problem‑solving capability, including structured evaluation, root‑cause analysis, and mitigation planning; strong analytical, research, and interpersonal skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across diverse teams.
• Ability to operate confidently at both strategic and execution levels, balancing leadership advisory responsibilities with hands‑on operational ownership.
• Advanced analytical and reporting capabilities, with strong proficiency in Excel, PowerPoint, and Power BI; comfortable translating data into leadership‑ready insights.
• Excellent communication and organizational skills, with demonstrated success influencing senior stakeholders across functions and geographies.
• Detail‑oriented and process‑driven, with a strong inclination to analyze and resolve complex operational and governance challenges.
• Experience driving process standardization, governance frameworks, and automation initiatives in complex, global operating models.
• Strong service orientation, with a consistent focus on quality, responsiveness, and stakeholder satisfaction.
• Self‑motivated, proactive, and resilient, with the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively in a fast‑paced environment.

To qualify for the role, you must have

•  A strong understanding of how alliance operations are designed and executed, with hands‑on experience owning and managing multiple components of an alliance operations portfolio at an organizational level.
• Experience working within a Global System Integrator (GSI) and/or Big Four firm, with exposure to complex alliance operations, partner programs, incentives, and investment mechanisms from leading technology partners, ideally Microsoft.
• Proven ability to operationalize complex processes across reporting, compliance, governance, and partner portals, working effectively within matrixed global teams.
• Demonstrated capability to leverage program and operational knowledge to advise senior business leaders on maximizing outcomes, managing risks, and improving operational effectiveness.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to work across multi‑layered, matrixed structures involving global partners and internal leadership.
• Confidence engaging with senior leadership at partner organizations, including facilitation, negotiation, and executive‑level communication.
• Strong English communication skills at a professional and negotiation level, with the ability to articulate complex concepts clearly and persuasively.
• A high‑energy, curious, and collaborative mindset, with the ability to motivate teams and contribute through a thought‑leadership approach.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft products, platforms, and technologies.
• Experience with continuous improvement and automation initiatives, including process mapping, documentation, internal audit preparation, and audit interactions.

Ideally, you will also have

•  Direct experience of working for Microsoft or in the Microsoft ecosystem relationship, with a Technology Organization
• Ability to collaborate with senior onshore stakeholders, excellent relationships, and stakeholder management skills, should have the ability to develop trusted business advisor relationships with onshore stakeholders.
• Should have experience with virtual work, preferably across multiple geographies, including cultural sensitivity, with a global mindset.
• Good at problem solving, should be capable of evaluation, root cause analysis and mitigation, good interpersonal skills, analytical thinking and research capabilities, comfortable interacting across multiple groups & working with various other teams towards the appropriate solution or resolution.

Technologies and Tools

•  Excellent with MS Excel and PowerPoint, Power Bi skills would be an added advantage.
• Good project management skills – project budgets, execution and tracking, reviews, strong time management skills including prioritizing, organizing, and tracking details and meeting a series of aggressive deadlines of multiple projects or assignments with varying completion dates.

What we look for 

• Bachelor’s Degree preferably in Business Management, Technology/Engineering or Finance
• Postgraduate preferably MBA (Business, Finance)
• 15+ years of total experience working in technology and professional services environments
• 10+ years directly supporting relevant technologies, alliances, and partner programs
• Proven experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders (both internal and external) in a virtual environment, across geographies.

What we offer

EY Global Delivery Services (GDS) is a dynamic and truly global delivery network. We work across six locations – Argentina, China, India, the Philippines, Poland, and the UK – and with teams from all EY service lines, geographies, and sectors, playing a vital role in the delivery of the EY growth strategy. From accountants to coders to advisory consultants, we offer a wide variety of fulfilling career opportunities that span all business disciplines. In GDS, you will collaborate with EY teams on exciting projects and work with well-known brands from across the globe. We will introduce you to an ever-expanding ecosystem of people, learning, skills, and insights that will stay with you throughout your career.

• Continuous learning: You will develop the mindset and skills to navigate whatever comes next.
• Success, as defined by you: We will provide the tools and flexibility, so you can make a meaningful impact, your way.
• Transformative leadership: We will give you the insights, coaching and confidence to be the leader the world needs.
• Diverse and inclusive culture: You will be embraced for who you are and empowered to use your voice to help others find theirs.

About EY

EY | Building a better working world

EY exists to build a better working world, helping to create long-term value for clients, people and society and build trust in the capital markets. 

Enabled by data and technology, diverse EY teams in over 150 countries provide trust through assurance and help clients grow, transform, and operate. 

Working across assurance, consulting, law, strategy, tax and transactions, EY teams ask better questions to find new answers to the complex issues facing our world today.

The exceptional EY experience. It is yours to build.