Designing Scalable Impact: How Clarity, Leadership, and Trust Created the First Global Function in the Commercial Organization at eBay

This work established the first truly global function within the commercial organization at eBay and became a catalyst for other teams to align, merge, and operate globally.

Executive Context: One System Within a Broader Mandate

This case study represents one transformation within a broader executive portfolio at eBay and the creation of the first global function within the commercial organization.

At the same time I was redesigning Global Business Development, I was also building a Sales Enablement and Strategy organization from scratch, leading and expanding a global Merchant Integration team, and taking ownership of a siloed Partnerships organization. In parallel, I invested significant time building relationships across the company, particularly with my stakeholders and with Customer Experience and Technology teams.

Those teams were already using shared tools and technology in ways that had not yet been extended to Business Development or its stakeholders. I knew that true scale would ultimately depend on access to the same systems, data, and insights. Establishing those relationships early allowed us to align on a future state where technology enabled the work rather than constrained it. That long-term view shaped how the operating model was designed from the beginning.

The Business Development transformation is highlighted here not because it was my only responsibility, but because it best illustrates how I operate as an executive leader. I focus on people, create clarity and transparency, apply analytical rigor, and build repeatable, scalable processes that allow teams and the business to move faster together.

The Starting Point: When Activity Masks Opportunity

Business Development in the United States consisted of eight capable reps embedded across product categories. Stakeholder teams worked in silos and were largely satisfied. New supply was coming in and, on the surface, progress looked strong.

Teams did not feel pain because they lacked visibility into what was actually happening in their marketplaces.

There was no shared understanding of marketplace compression, no documented processes to identify true gaps in supply, and no consistent way to separate what felt strategically important to individual groups from what the marketplace actually needed. Direction from stakeholders was largely anecdotal, shaped by local priorities rather than signals tied to traffic, conversion, or long-term ecosystem health.

My teams introduced a different way of thinking. We taught stakeholders how to identify and document marketplace dynamics, where demand was constrained, and where targeted supply would meaningfully move the business. This shifted conversations from opinion-driven direction to shared goals supported by data and repeatable analysis.

The most challenging part was alignment. Similar problems were being solved across regions and categories in fourteen different ways. Creating real impact required a common approach, shared language, and repeatable, scalable processes so the organization could operate consistently rather than in parallel.

Year One: Creating Clarity and Building Leadership Capacity

The first year focused on professionalizing the function while caring deeply for the people doing the work.

I centralized the team under a shared operating model and created clarity where ambiguity had become normal. Responsibilities and deliverables were explicitly defined so individuals understood what they owned, how success was measured, and how their work connected to broader outcomes. Repeatable, scalable processes replaced ad hoc execution, allowing the team to focus energy on impact rather than reinvention.

Leadership development was not a side effort. It was core to the work. I identified leadership potential early and invested heavily in developing and enabling leaders to actually lead. That meant coaching people out of execution and into judgment, teaching, and influence, and creating space for accountability and growth.

One of the first capabilities I built in emerging leaders was the ability to identify and develop talent. We focused on practical tools and tactics for hiring, retention, and development so leaders could build teams intentionally rather than reactively. Instead of feeling dependent on every available body, leaders became thoughtful about the talent on their teams, investing in individuals who were motivated, accountable, and developable. That mindset was essential to scaling through systems rather than heroics.

As discipline and measurement came online, the data revealed a critical insight.

More supply was not better supply.

Much of what had historically been delivered was not aligned to real business need. Consistent measurement and repeatable evaluation frameworks allowed the team to prioritize work that created value and deprioritize what did not.

By the end of year one:

• Targeted supply was 80 percent more effective

• Growth accelerated by addressing real marketplace gaps

• Business Development was viewed as a strategic partner, not a support function

Succession planning was built in from the start so leadership and execution could scale beyond any single individual.

Year Two: Accelerating Through Trust, Talent, and Shared Ownership

The beauty of year two was how quickly everything came together.

Because the operating model and core processes had already been proven in the United States, we were not starting from scratch. Expectations were clear. Priorities were understood. A small Sales Operations team was added to support tools, training, and consistency, reinforcing repeatable, scalable processes and reducing friction across regions.

Just as important, I inherited an exceptional leader in the UK. He had not previously been fully utilized or empowered to drive change at this scale. With clarity, trust, and the right support, he stepped fully into the role and led the transformation locally. Empowerment was a deliberate leadership choice, not an outcome left to chance.

He had strong instincts about what to adopt immediately and when to evolve the model. He knew when to move independently and when to pull me in, allowing us to refine and improve the approach quickly without sacrificing trust or quality.

Quarterly Business Reviews became the operating rhythm. Prioritization became standard practice. Decisions were grounded in data, and stakeholders learned that direction could no longer be driven by instinct alone. Partnership and evidence were required, and the relationship matured as a result.

The transformation moved quickly not because it was forced, but because the talent and excitement were already there and the system supported them.

This was not replication. It was acceleration.

Year Three: Scaling Beyond the Original Mandate

While it was deeply rewarding to see the three year plan I put on paper in my first thirty days at eBay come to fruition at the start of year three, the focus immediately shifted forward.

The question was no longer whether the model worked. It was how far it could scale.

We began asking how these programs, tools, and repeatable processes could be extended into a much needed Account Management function. We explored how to globalize further by evolving regional relationships with brands and enterprise sellers into truly global partnerships.

Much of this work was intentionally tested in the early part of year three, even though it was formally part of a broader year four and five roadmap. The goal was to validate that the same principles could support deeper, longer term relationships and additional commercial functions without losing clarity or velocity.

The most meaningful signal of success was not expansion alone. It was confidence that the operating model could continue to grow without being rebuilt.

How Vellara Strategies Operates

This transformation was not driven by reorgs or headcount, although both changed over time. Investment fluctuated year to year, and we often had to deliver with fewer resources. Rather than waiting for ideal conditions, the work focused on clarity, prioritization, and repeatable, scalable processes that allowed impact to scale independent of team size.

At Vellara Strategies, we care deeply about the people doing complex work, and we pair that care with measurement, accountability, and delivery. Value is the deciding factor. Work that cannot be measured cannot be prioritized, and initiatives that do not clearly create value are deprioritized in favor of those that do.

Strong relationships and analytical discipline go hand in hand. Partnership matters, but decisions are grounded in data and shared outcomes, not instinct alone.

Leadership development is a prerequisite for velocity. Teams move faster and more sustainably when leaders are equipped to hire thoughtfully, develop talent intentionally, and operate within clear, repeatable systems.

Most organizations do not lack talent.
They lack operating models that allow talent to scale.

This is the work Vellara Strategies does.