Channel Manager

Bland AI; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity

Benefits package

Travel

Competitive compensation

Job summary

Bland AI is expanding its channel strategy through Tech Service Distributors and advisor communities. The Channel Manager will build executive relationships, recruit and enable high-potential advisors, and generate partner-sourced pipeline to drive co-sell opportunities from first contact to revenue.

Ideal candidates combine relationship depth with disciplined pipeline management, and can articulate AI and contact center value in practical business terms while traveling regularly to distributor

Qualifications

• 5+ years in channel sales, partner management, indirect sales, alliances, or business development within enterprise technology.
• Direct experience with tech distributors and technology advisors or comparable indirect sales ecosystem.
• Proven track record generating partner-sourced pipeline and closed revenue.

Responsibilities

• Own the business plan and day-to-day relationship for assigned distributor partners.
• Build relationships with distributor executives and field teams to increase visibility.
• Segment advisor base and create activation plans converting awareness into meetings and opportunities.
• Recruit and enable advisors to recognize Bland use cases and qualify opportunities.
• Run enablement programs: webinars, office hours, sales plays, case studies, training.
• Plan joint go-to-market campaigns and distributor programs with marketing and sales.
• Create partner-sourced pipeline through advisor outreach and co-sell motions.
• Qualify deal registrations and coordinate Bland teams throughout the sales cycle.
• Maintain pipeline data in CRM and report on partner performance and risks.
• Represent Bland at events and translate field feedback into leadership input.

Skills

Channel sales

Partner management

Indirect sales

Alliance building

CRM hygiene

Forecasting

Executive relationships

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Channel Manager: Tech Service Distributor Partnerships

About Bland AI

Bland AI is the voice AI platform built for enterprises with high-volume, complex call center operations. Bland started by solving the core infrastructure problems that made voice AI difficult to use in business: latency, reliability, and the inability to handle real-world complexity. Bland built the voice AI stack in-house and has raised more than $100 million from investors including Emergence Capital, Scale Venture Partners, and Y Combinator.

Today, Bland's platform can autonomously handle sophisticated inbound and outbound conversations, including multi-step workflows, authentication, business-rule-based routing, and live data lookups. Owning the stack across transcription, language models, and text-to-speech gives Bland the reliability, security, and customization depth that enterprise and regulated-industry customers require.

Why This Role Matters

Bland is expanding its channel strategy through Tech Service Distributors and their advisor communities. Partners such as Telarus can introduce Bland to thousands of trusted technology advisors who guide customers through contact center, customer experience, communications, and AI decisions. Bland needs a Channel Manager who can turn those relationships into an active, productive route to market by earning distributor support, activating advisors, creating qualified pipeline, and helping partner-sourced opportunities move to close.

Role Overview

Objective: Own and grow Bland's TSD channel by building executive and field relationships within assigned distributors, recruiting and enabling high-potential advisors, generating partner-sourced pipeline, and orchestrating successful co-sell motions from first introduction through closed revenue and ongoing partner engagement.

Core Responsibilities

• Own the business plan and day-to-day relationship for assigned TSD partners, beginning with Telarus and expanding to additional strategic distributors over time.
• Build strong relationships with TSD executives, supplier management, channel managers, solution engineers, marketing teams, and field leaders to increase Bland's visibility and mindshare.
• Segment the advisor base, identify the highest-potential firms and individuals, and create account-level activation plans that convert awareness into meetings, registered opportunities, and revenue.
• Recruit, onboard, certify, and continuously enable advisors to recognize strong Bland use cases, position the platform clearly, qualify opportunities, and introduce Bland to the right customers.
• Run scalable enablement programs including webinars, office hours, sales plays, battlecards, case studies, demo sessions, newsletters, and in-person training.
• Plan and execute joint go-to-market campaigns, regional events, advisor meetings, and distributor programs in partnership with Bland marketing and sales.
• Create partner-sourced pipeline through proactive advisor outreach, event follow-up, account mapping, referral campaigns, and targeted co-selling motions.
• Qualify and manage deal registrations, establish clear next steps, and coordinate Bland account executives, solution consultants, product specialists, and implementation resources throughout the sales cycle.
• Help advisors navigate customer discovery, value positioning, demos, proposals, objections, procurement, and handoff while preserving strong partner trust and deal ownership.
• Maintain accurate pipeline, activity, and forecast data in the CRM; report partner performance, conversion rates, risks, and next actions to channel and sales leadership.
• Establish quarterly business reviews and joint success metrics covering enabled advisors, active sellers, introductions, registered opportunities, pipeline, wins, revenue, and time to first deal.
• Represent Bland at TSD conferences, regional meetups, roadshows, and advisor events; follow up quickly and systematically to convert event engagement into pipeline.
• Capture field feedback on competitive positioning, customer requirements, advisor needs, program friction, and product gaps, then translate it into actionable input for leadership, product, marketing, and operations.
• Help build repeatable channel processes, rules of engagement, enablement assets, incentive programs, and operating rhythms that can scale across the broader TSD ecosystem.

Ideal Candidate Profile and Role Requirements

We are looking for a commercially driven Channel Manager who knows how to earn trust inside a distributor ecosystem and motivate independent advisors to bring forward qualified opportunities. This person combines relationship depth with disciplined pipeline management, communicates technical value in practical business terms, and thrives in a fast-moving environment where the channel playbook is still being built.

Must Have Experience

• 5 or more years in channel sales, partner management, indirect sales, alliances, or business development within enterprise technology.
• Direct experience working with TSDs, technology advisors, agents, brokers, master agents, or a comparable indirect sales ecosystem.
• A record of generating partner-sourced pipeline and closed revenue, not only managing relationships or partner programs.
• Ability to build relationships across distributor leadership, field teams, and individual advisor firms, from executive sponsors to day-to-day sellers.
• Strong enablement and presentation skills, with the ability to make AI and contact center technology understandable, relevant, and actionable for advisors.
• Disciplined opportunity management, forecasting, follow-up, and CRM hygiene across a broad portfolio of partner relationships and deals.
• Comfort leading co-sell activity with account executives and technical teams while maintaining clear roles, next steps, and partner communication.
• High ownership and bias for action; able to build structure, programs, and operating cadence without waiting for a fully developed playbook.
• Willingness to travel regularly for distributor meetings, advisor visits, conferences, roadshows, and customer opportunities.

Nice to Have Experience

• Established relationships within Telarus or other major TSD and technology-advisor communities.
• Experience selling voice AI, conversational AI, CCaaS, UCaaS, CPaaS, contact center software, customer experience technology, or adjacent cloud solutions.
• Experience developing partner campaigns, incentive programs, certifications, sales plays, and event strategies in partnership with channel marketing.
• Familiarity with enterprise contact center economics, automation use cases, consumption-based software, and ROI-based selling.
• Experience working at a high-growth or early-stage company and helping establish a new channel route to market.
• Executive presence and confidence working with owners of advisor firms, distributor leadership, and enterprise customer stakeholders.

Measures of Success

• Growth in activated advisors and advisors producing qualified opportunities.
• Partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline, closed revenue, and conversion rates.
• Speed from advisor onboarding to first qualified opportunity and first closed deal.
• TSD engagement, enablement participation, event productivity, and follow-up execution.
• Forecast accuracy, CRM discipline, and partner satisfaction with Bland's co-sell support.

Compensation and Benefits

• Competitive base salary with performance-based variable compensation tied to partner activation, pipeline, and revenue.
• Meaningful equity in a high-growth, well-funded AI company.
• Comprehensive benefits package.
• Regular partner and customer travel expected.