Channel Director, Commercial

Company Description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission: 

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life. 
We have the vision of a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. These aren’t easy goals to accomplish – but we’re not here for easy. We’re here for better. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are. 

FLEXWORK is an employee-centric reimagining of how we work. We built FLEXWORK based on employee feedback – it is about flexibility, trust, and choice whenever possible. It’s been a journey of disruption that has yielded the best of our values. We offer as much flexibility as possible, and choices that enable you to be most productive, including benefits that meet your needs and learning opportunities that you feel passionate about. 

Our Approach to Work 

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work from the office three days per week, leaving two days for choice and flexibility to work where you feel most effective. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. While details may evolve, our goal is to create an environment where innovation thrives, with office-based teams coming together three days a week to collaborate and thrive, together!

Job Description

Your Career

You will center your role on relationship management to achieve measurable results in increased revenue, market share, and depth within the national partner. Your success in this role will span the creation and execution of national and localized business plans and measured primarily on the joint business executed. Do have experience of working at all levels of large strategic partner organizations, plus possess high discernment and approach to develop partnerships based on the long term, “outcome where everybody wins strategy? If so, we want you.

Palo Alto Networks National Channel organization is a strategic pillar for the organization’s continued growth and we are looking for a dynamic leader that thrives in a fast-paced working environment and who can play an integral role in driving Palo Alto Networks relationships within our national partner ecosystem.

Your Impact

Partner Strategy (20%):

• Collaborate with DBMs and CAMs to identify and select 4-6 high-impact partners for each of the 17 Commercial districts

• Develop an overall partner co-selling strategy with account and ecosystem teams and define territory plans

• Work with account teams to identify high-value mid-market accounts (12k) for collaborative, high-touch sales with partner teams

• Support DBMs and CAMs in creating customized Partner Plans to scale the high-volume SMB segment (54k accounts) through distributors & e-commerce

Execution & Accountability (40%):

• Secure alignment on Partner Plans through standardized templates, kickoff meetings and resolve roadblocks

• Facilitate regular meetings with partners & account teams to share progress, address issues and ensure action item completion

• Establish clear expectations and performance metrics for partner engagement, track progress and hold all stakeholders accountable for achieving channel goals

Partner Enablement & Marketing (40%):

• Support CAMs and DBMs in identifying partner enablement requirements for commercial segment through surveys, needs assessments, and ongoing partner feedback loops (e.g. conduct demos on our behalf, self-discovery tools, sales plays)

• Communicate enablement requirements with the central and partner enablement teams and orchestrate to ensure partner enablement programs are run effectively with right collaterals and training sessions 

• Collaborate with Channel Marketing on a joint communication plan, including co-branded materials, joint events and track RoI

• Bridge the gap between Channel and Field Marketing teams through joint planning sessions, content sharing, and co-creation

• Ensure account teams have the knowledge of ecosystem partners' objectives, capabilities, and value proposition

Qualifications

Your Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent, MBA a plus

• 10+ years experience in Business Management, Channel Management, or Business Development roles within the enterprise software ecosystem, network security industry and/or Cloud industry

• Excellent instincts and sh