Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Channel Development Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Channel Development Manager is responsible for designing, launching, and scaling partner and indirect sales programs that accelerate revenue growth and expand market reach. This role builds and manages a high-performance partner ecosystem—recruiting and onboarding resellers, distributors, systems integrators, MSPs and strategic alliances—while aligning channel activities with the company’s product roadmap, pricing strategy and GTM objectives. The ideal candidate combines strategic channel planning, hands-on partner management, sales enablement and analytical rigor to maximize pipeline generation, partner-sourced revenue and long-term partner health.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Channel Account Manager / Partner Account Manager
Business Development Manager / Sales Manager (B2B or SaaS)
Strategic Partnerships Manager

Advancement To:

Director of Channel Development / Director of Strategic Partnerships
Head of Global Channels / VP of Channels
Senior Director, Partner Sales / VP of Sales (Indirect)

Lateral Moves:

Alliances Manager / Strategic Alliances Director
Customer Success or Enterprise Sales leadership roles
Channel Marketing Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and own a comprehensive channel strategy and partner ecosystem roadmap that aligns with company revenue targets, product roadmap and go-to-market plans to scale indirect sales and partner-sourced pipeline.
Identify, recruit and onboard new partners (resellers, VARs, distributors, MSPs, system integrators, ISVs) through qualification criteria, business case evaluation and formal partner agreements to expand market coverage.
Design, implement and manage partner tiering, certification and incentive programs (discounts, MDF, SPIFs, rebates) that motivate partner behavior, increase attach rates and drive measurable partner-sourced bookings.
Build partner business plans and joint account strategies with priority partners to co-develop pipeline, align on target accounts and outline shared KPIs, marketing commitments and revenue targets.
Create and execute partner enablement programs including sales training, technical onboarding, product certification, demo scripts and battlecards to improve partner readiness, deal conversion rates and time-to-first-sale.
Manage partner lifecycle activities—onboarding, performance reviews, escalation handling and renewal of partnerships—ensuring consistent value delivery and partner satisfaction.
Collaborate closely with Sales, Product, Marketing and Customer Success to launch co-marketing campaigns, joint GTM programs, product launches and events that drive partner engagement and demand generation.
Own the channel sales forecasts, lead routing rules and partner-sourced pipeline reporting in the CRM; provide weekly/monthly forecasts, trend analysis and risk mitigation plans to sales leadership.
Negotiate commercial terms, resell agreements, distribution contracts and service-level expectations for partners while ensuring compliance with legal, pricing and channel conflict policies.
Design and manage partner marketing funds (MDF) and co-op programs, including budget allocation, campaign approval, performance tracking and ROI analysis.
Implement partner performance metrics and dashboards (revenue, pipeline, activation, deal velocity, churn) and present executive-ready reporting to senior leadership.
Create and optimize lead distribution and partner engagement processes (PRM/partner portal configuration, lead registration, deal protection) to minimize channel conflict and maximize partner success.
Conduct regular business reviews (QBRs) with top partners to evaluate growth opportunities, product feedback, joint pipeline and investments required to scale the relationship.
Develop pricing and discounting frameworks for channel deals that balance competitiveness, margin protection and partner incentives across geographies and segments.
Drive partner-driven demand generation initiatives (co-branded campaigns, webinars, events, account-based marketing) to grow qualified leads and accelerate partner-influenced sales cycles.
Lead partner enablement content development—training modules, certification curriculums, enablement playbooks and sales collateral—to ensure consistent partner-facing messaging and product positioning.
Manage partner onboarding project plans and cross-functional execution (technical enablement, legal, finance, operations) to ensure partners can transact and support customers quickly and reliably.
Identify and resolve channel conflicts between direct and indirect sales teams by establishing clear account ownership rules, escalation paths and incentive alignment.
Evaluate and implement partner relationship management (PRM) platforms, partner portals and CRM integrations to automate partner workflows, reporting and communications.
Serve as the voice of the partner internally—collecting feedback on product, pricing, and support—and drive prioritized changes with Product, Engineering and Customer Success teams.
Provide coaching and enablement to internal sales and channel field teams on partner programs, joint selling approaches and best practices for partnering with the channel.
Create risk mitigation plans for underperforming partners including remediation plans, re-certification, role changes or program exit strategies to protect company reputation and margins.
Lead partner-focused events, workshops and advisory boards to deepen relationships, gather market intelligence and co-create joint GTM plans.
Stay current on market and competitive channel strategies, partner ecosystem trends and regulatory requirements to inform channel program innovation and competitive positioning.
Manage channel program budgets, commission structures and financial reconciliation with finance to ensure proper compensation and program ROI accounting.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist in cross-functional projects such as territory design, partner segmentation and pricing pilots to test new channel motions.
Support marketplace and ecosystem integration initiatives (APIs, onboarding for ISVs) to expand partner value propositions.
Provide subject matter expertise for contract reviews, compliance audits and partner certification assessments.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Partner program design & management: development of tiering, certification, incentive and MDF programs.
Channel sales strategy & execution: experience building GTM plans for indirect revenue models (resellers, distributors, MSPs).
CRM and PRM proficiency: deep experience with Salesforce (or similar) and Partner Relationship Management platforms (e.g., Zift, PartnerStack, Allbound).
Contract negotiation & commercial modeling: ability to draft and negotiate reseller/distributor agreements, discounting rules and rebate structures.
Data analysis & reporting: advanced Excel, Google Sheets and BI tools (Tableau, Looker, Power BI) for pipeline, forecast and ROI analysis.
Sales enablement content development: training decks, certifications, playbooks, enablement portals and demo environments.
Marketing & demand generation coordination: experience with co-marketing, MDF programs, ABM and campaign measurement.
Financial acumen: P&L awareness, budget management for partner programs, commission calculations and ROI modeling.
Technical literacy: ability to understand product architecture, integrations and explain technical value propositions to partners.
SaaS / Cloud channel experience: familiarity with SaaS licensing, subscription economics, cloud marketplaces and MSP partner models.
Project management: ability to run partner launch projects, onboarding checklists and cross-functional deliverables.
Lead management & routing: building and optimizing lead distribution rules, lead registration and deal protection processes.

Soft Skills

Strategic thinker with a bias for measurable outcomes and scalable processes.
Excellent verbal and written communication; capable of delivering executive presentations and partner-facing materials.
Strong relationship builder with proven ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders and senior partner executives.
Results-driven and KPI-oriented; comfortable owning and being accountable for partner revenue targets.
Problem solver who can navigate ambiguity, de-escalate conflict and create pragmatic remediation plans.
Coach and mentor mentality with experience upskilling partner-facing sales teams.
High emotional intelligence; culturally aware for global partner management and geographically distributed teams.
Adaptable and resilient in a fast-paced growth environment, balancing short-term wins with long-term strategy.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Sales, Information Systems, or related field.

Preferred Education:

MBA or advanced degree in Business, Strategy, or Marketing preferred for senior roles.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Business Administration
Marketing
Information Systems / Computer Science
Economics
International Business

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

5–10 years in channel sales, partner development, alliances or indirect sales roles. Demonstrated track record in B2B technology, SaaS or enterprise software preferred.

Preferred:

7+ years managing partner programs or channel ecosystems with evidence of building scalable partner motions.
Experience working with international partners, distributors and marketplace channel models.
Proven success with PRM/CRM tooling, partner enablement frameworks and managing partner-sourced revenue targets.