National Channel Manager

The National Channel Manager (NCM) role is a dedicated resource to our National Partners, acting as a trusted advisor and valued business consultant. The NCM governs the overall relationship between the National Distributor and Optimum, provides general administrative oversight, acts as an advocate of Optimum within the National Partner ecosystem, and acts as an advocate of the Partner within Optimum. S/he establishes deep relationships with key National Partner stakeholders, and in collaboration with the local channel team(s) provides and manages to jointly developed business objectives and action plans, aligns mutual resources, engages in strategic sales opportunities, and ultimately drives profitable revenue growth for Optimum through our National Partners.

- A Sales Manager - making sure projections are accurate, leads are followed up, promotions and incentives are executed, and customers are satisfied.
- A Brand Steward - chartered with acquiring and maintaining share in a highly competitive partner environment. This includes responsibility for:
- Recruiting the right partners with specific expertise and market coverage required by the vendor's go-to-market strategy
- Maintaining partner competence through certifications and training
- Identifying and resolving partner performance and participation issues before they impact vendor market performance
- Ensuring that partners know how to do business with Optimum, including proficient use of the Optimum's tools

In support of the partners an NCM must also be a Channel Advocate - communicating highly valuable information back to the Optimum regarding:
- The impact of programs and policies on the partners' various business models - "explaining how the effect of decisions hits the partners' top and bottom lines".
- Local market conditions, including opportunities and threats
- Changes to a partner's business strategy that requires a coordinated vendor response
NCM's must also be a Trusted Advisor capable of building a solid business relationship based on economics.
This includes:
- Construction of a solid business value proposition during recruiting
- Advice on how to grow the business with new offers, new markets, new promotions and funds (eg. MDF).
- Identification of options and migration paths to new business models to adapt to changing market conditions
- Construction of an ROI on partner investments in training, certifications and offers

For Both Optimum and our Partners , the National Channel Manager is:
1. A Resource Coordinator making sure that Optimum's resources - technical and sales support (including product teams, product specs, white papers, best practices and testimonials), relevant programs and policies, and opportunities for field coordination, are identified and made available to partners as needed.
2. A Conflict Manager responsible for customer-centric field engagement throughout the ecosystem. For example:
- Policy implementation
- Program implementation (eg. Deal Registration)

*8 to 10 years of relevant experience in areas of increasing responsibility, including 5 or more years of marketing communications, advertising or related experience
*Leadership skills to shape/lead growth vision and marketing strategy
*Strong organizational and project management skills, able to plan, meet deadlines, prioritize projects and indirectly manage across cross-functional teams
*Strategic planning and clear thinking with ability to drive change - develop new ideas through collaboration and execute on creative ideas
*Assertiveness - strong influencing skills across business functions; confidence to share difficult messages, defend decisions and make judgment calls
*Ability to formulate and implement strategic marketing plans, establish KPIs, monitor and analyze marketing performance metrics and improve campaigns to inform future marketing decisions
*Excellent oral and written communications skills