Channel Account Executive

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in South Africa.

📋 Description

• Cultivate a selection of strategic partnerships, both existing and new.

• Foster relationships at all levels within partner organizations to enhance revenue growth and profitability.

• Develop and implement business plans that identify, nurture, and finalize new opportunities to achieve exceptional growth for both the partner and Sophos.

• Empower partners to fully leverage Sophos' comprehensive range of solutions and services to enhance their customers' security measures and response capabilities.

• Provide direct support to partners in qualifying and closing complex customer deals, engaging broader sales and engineering teams as necessary, and collecting insights for accurate business forecasting.

• Lead and manage regular joint business reviews and planning sessions with decision-makers from both Partners and Sophos, including clearly defined KPIs and SMART goals with agreed outcomes.

• Collaborate on marketing strategies with partners to generate incremental sales pipelines while ensuring a high return on investment from initiatives such as lead generation campaigns and events.

• Organize the involvement of Sophos personnel, including product management, sales, SE, marketing, support, service, and management resources, to achieve partner performance objectives and meet partner expectations.

• Enhance renewal rates by ensuring partners prioritize their renewals and create an engagement plan to align Sophos and Partner teams, identifying new business and cross-sell opportunities.

• Inspire, educate, and prepare Partner sales and technical teams for market readiness, providing access to certification and training resources and developing an enablement strategy.

• Travel locally, nationally, and occasionally internationally is required to ensure engagement with aligned partners and to effectively manage the landscape while working at Sophos.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 5 years of demonstrated experience in channel sales and territory management within the networking or security sectors.

• Comprehensive understanding of the partner landscape in the region, with established partner relationships across multiple countries, particularly in South Africa.

• Proven experience in developing and executing effective business and marketing strategies.

• Familiarity with the technology channel ecosystem and the business models of various types of channel partners (VAR/MSP/Distribution/Marketplace, etc.).

• Proficient in account management and business partner strategies with strong interpersonal, active listening, discovery, and qualification abilities.

• Strong technical knowledge with the capability to articulate the benefits of various technologies; expertise in cybersecurity is a plus.

• Experience in translating market trends and customer challenges into business opportunities for partners.

• Ability to excel in a team selling environment, promoting a collaborative success outlook while building relationships and influencing stakeholders through email, phone, and in-person interactions.

• Excellent at engaging with partner personnel at all levels and functions, establishing multifaceted relationships.

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.

• Familiarity with tools such as PowerBI, Clari, SFDC, Co-pilot, and other AI applications.

• This position will require travel primarily within South Africa, especially in Cape Town, Durban, and the surrounding Johannesburg area.

🏝️ Benefits

• Sophos adopts a remote-first working model, prioritizing remote work for the majority of employees; however, some roles may require a hybrid approach.

• Employee-led diversity and inclusion networks that foster community and provide education and advocacy.

• Annual charity and fundraising initiatives, along with volunteer days for employees to support local communities.

• Global employee sustainability programs aimed at reducing our environmental footprint.

• Global fitness and trivia competitions to keep our bodies and minds engaged.

• Global well-being days for employees to unwind and recharge.

• Monthly well-being webinars and training sessions to promote employee health and wellness.