Manager, Channel & Partner Development - Automation & Electrification

The Manager, Channel Sales & Partner Development responsible for developing, executing, and continuously improving Bosch Rexroth's indirect channel strategy for the Automation & Electrification business across the US. This role owns the performance, development, and expansion of our authorized distributor network to accelerate revenue growth, increase market share, improve customer experience, and strengthen partner capabilities. The successful candidate will serve as the primary business leader for assigned channel partners, developing strategic business plans, driving accountability through measurable KPIs, identifying new growth opportunities, and ensuring partners are fully enabled to represent the complete Automation & Electrification portfolio. Success requires strong commercial leadership, excellent relationship management, deep understanding of industrial automation, and the ability to influence both internal stakeholders and external partners. Key Responsibilities Channel Strategy & Business Growth • Develop and execute the indirect channel strategy aligned with Bosch Rexroth's US growth objectives. • Build annual business plans with assigned distributors that establish revenue, market share, product mix, and strategic growth objectives. • Drive achievement of annual sales, profitability, and market penetration targets. • Identify new market opportunities, industry segments, OEM opportunities, and geographic expansion initiatives. • Evaluate channel coverage and recommend additions, consolidations, or territory optimization where appropriate. • Support successful product introductions and strategic growth initiatives across the portfolio. Distributor Development & Performance Management • Build executive-level relationships with distributor leadership. • Conduct regular business reviews with channel partners using clearly defined KPIs and scorecards. • Monitor revenue performance, pipeline development, inventory, forecasting accuracy, and market activity. • Develop corrective action plans when performance falls below expectations. • Recruit, evaluate, onboard, and develop new channel partners where business opportunities exist. • Ensure partners understand and execute Bosch Rexroth's value proposition and go-to-market strategy. • Drive continuous improvement in partner capabilities, technical competency, and commercial effectiveness. Sales Leadership & Opportunity Development • Partner with distributors on strategic account development and major customer opportunities. • Conduct joint customer visits to identify new business opportunities and accelerate pipeline conversion. • Provide commercial leadership on complex opportunities, competitive displacement projects, and strategic pursuits. • Assist channel partners with opportunity qualification, solution positioning, pricing strategy, and competitive differentiation. • Promote disciplined opportunity management utilizing CRM and sales management processes. Partner Enablement • Develop comprehensive partner development plans that improve technical competency and commercial effectiveness. • Coordinate product training, sales education, certifications, and ongoing enablement activities. • Ensure partners have access to the appropriate tools, resources, demonstrations, marketing collateral, and technical support. • Work with Marketing to develop joint marketing initiatives, campaigns, customer events, and demand generation programs. • Support distributor participation in trade shows, seminars, and customer engagement activities. Customer Experience • Champion an outstanding end-user experience across the indirect sales channel. • Work collaboratively with distributors to improve responsiveness, communication, technical support, and issue resolution. • Partner with internal teams to remove barriers impacting customer satisfaction. • Escalate and resolve significant commercial or operational issues affecting customers Cross-Functional Leadership • Collaborate closely with: Regional Sales, Product Management, Applications Engineering, Marketing, Service, Operations, Customer Service, Finance and Business Leadership to improve partner effectiveness, optimize business processes, align growth initiatives, and deliver a best-in-class customer experience. This includes teams across Bosch Rexroth in North America & Germany. Market Intelligence • Monitor industry trends, competitive activity, emerging technologies, and customer buying behaviors. • Gather competitive intelligence from the field and recommend strategic actions based on market dynamics and channel feedback. • Identify opportunities for new products, services, programs, and channel investments. Operational Excellence • Maintain accurate CRM data including forecasts, opportunities, business plans, and partner activities. • Analyze channel performance using dashboards and business analytics. • Ensure compliance with channel policies, pricing guidelines, contractual agreements, and commercial standards. • Manage distributor performance metrics and provide regular reporting to leadership. Education • Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business Administration, Marketing, or a related discipline. Experience & Preferred Qualifications • 7–10 years of industrial automation experience. • 5 years developing and managing distributor or indirect sales channels. • Experience developing channel programs and partner enablement initiatives. • Demonstrated success growing revenue through distribution. • Experience working with automation products including controls, motion, drives, software, robotics, mechatronics, vision or industrial networking. • Experience leading cross-functional initiatives. • Strong understanding of industrial distribution business models. • Experience with CRM, ERP and business analytics tools. • Strong financial and commercial acumen. • Ability to travel 50-75% Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability / veterans.