Business Development Mgr - Distribution

About the Role

Key Responsibilities

• Create and execute regional and national distribution growth strategies aligned with division goals.
• Collaborate with field sales to identify new distribution partners to improve market coverage and penetration in strategic segments or underserved geographies.
• Build strong relationships with key distributors and act as the primary business liaison.
• Conduct regular joint business planning, Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs), and performance assessments in collaboration with field sales.
• Support training and enablement initiatives for distributor sales and technical teams.
• Develop programs to drive incremental sales through distribution, such as promotions, MDF, SPIFFs, and lead routing.
• Collaborate with sales and product management to optimize pricing, channel programs, and inventory strategies.
• Track and drive growth for strategic products within core and growth categories.
• Analyze territory, customer, and competitive data to identify opportunities and threats.
• Support distributors and field sales with tools, materials, and market insights to target key verticals or applications.
• Provide feedback to product management and marketing on channel needs and gaps.
• Monitor distributor KPIs including sales performance, inventory turns, forecast accuracy, and customer satisfaction.
• Implement corrective actions or improvement plans where performance is below expectations.
• Manage sales pipeline and funnel activities.
• Prepare presentations, reports, and analysis for internal and external use.
• Interface and collaborate regularly with distribution and field sales.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business or related field; MBA preferred.
• 10 - 15 years of experience in B2B industrial markets with a strong emphasis on distribution channel management.
• Proven success in developing and executing channel growth strategies.
• Strong understanding of industrial sales processes, channel programs, and distributor operations.
• Exceptional relationship-building, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Ability to travel a minimum of 50% to support distributors and attend key customer and industry events.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate approach and establish position for content direction.
• Experience working with large national and regional distributors.
• Familiarity with CRM tools (Salesforce preferred), Power BI, and ERP systems.
• Knowledge of pneumatics, hydraulics, automation, or other industrial components is a plus.
• Understanding of value-based selling and channel conflict mitigation strategies.

Nice to Have

• Familiarity with CRM tools such as Salesforce.
• Experience with Power BI and ERP systems.
• Knowledge of pneumatics, hydraulics, automation, or other industrial components.
• MBA or advanced degree.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Engineering, Business or related field.
• 10 - 15 years of experience in B2B industrial markets.

Benefits & Perks

• Not explicitly specified in the description.