Job Description
About the Role
Abnormal AI is seeking a Channel Account Manager (Japan) to join our Channel Management team. This role is pivotal in supporting our sales efforts by developing and managing key relationships with channel partners across Japan, serving as the foundational Channel Account Manager for the region.
As part of a highly collaborative and detail-oriented team, you will build strong relationships with both national and regional partners. You’ll work cross-functionally with sales, marketing, and technical teams to align go-to-market strategies, drive partner engagement, and support the successful execution of joint sales efforts. Your ability to adapt to diverse stakeholder needs - from executives to technical staff - will be essential as you represent Abnormal’s value in a competitive market.
About You
As the ideal candidate for this role, you have a strong sales DNA, and a track record of 10+ years of success leveraging channel partners to drive growth and sales productivity. You understand that pipeline is the lifeblood of the business and as such, you have a detailed methodology for driving activities that consistently generate partner-sourced pipeline and bookings. Your weekly level of activity and engagement is very high, as you drive collaboration and engagement with partners via account mapping sessions, develop Partner Account Plans, partner with marketing to execute channel-marketing events, recruit and onboard new partners, and support the sales teams that you are mapped to.
You have strong relationships with key information security channel partners throughout the region including both National Partners and local headquartered regional partners. You are highly analytical and detail oriented, and you’re able to adapt as you deal with the different personals within a partner (CEO, Sales and Technical leadership, AEs, SAs, etc). You have strong written and verbal communication and presentation skills and are able to clearly and effectively articulate Abnormal AI’s value, and help partners understand how Abnormal will be critical to their business growth and strategic initiatives.
In this job, you will bring these skills
- Ability to apply a channel methodology that you have successfully implemented in the past to this role
- Know who to work with and which partners can move the needle in the territory
- Be a good presenter: ability to help partners clearly understand what pain points Abnormal Security can alleviate for their customers
- Strong follow through with channel partners to turn the trainings and demand gen sessions into pipeline
- Good at conflict resolution between partners, reps, and customers when needed
- Organizational skill is key to good channel management. Being quick to respond to inquiries in a timely manner as well as not letting tasks fall through the cracks.
- Grit; ability to find success in an early-stage environment without all the resources/teams available to much larger organizations
- Good understanding of how to leverage other departments including Sales Engineering, Marketing, BDRs, Product and Customer Success
- In addition to excelling at the core responsibilities and deliverables, you are considered by local Sales and SE leadership as a key “go-to” person to help with aspects outside pure channel-related topics (i.e. hiring, territory changes, QBRs, team structure, etc)
Role Responsibilities and Deliverables
- Meet and exceed partner-sourced pipeline and booking targets (New Business Meetings, pipeline $ goals, % of total pipeline and bookings that are partner-sourced, etc)
- Work with Abnormal AI channel and sales leadership to identify the right partners for us to target and recruit. This will include a set of national partners, regional partners, and eventually MSSPs.
- Develop a go to market strategy and Partner Account Plans with our top partners that include a set of agreed upon set of sales goals, marketing goals, and certification goals.
- Put together a channel enablement plan in place with the key target partners for both the sales and technical teams.
- Create a demand generation strategy with the key partners alongside the Abnormal Security channel marketing team to drive customer demand in territory.
- Work with the sales teams in your region to determine which prospects they deem their top targets to connect them with the right partners to help them to create a measurable channel sourced pipeline.
- Regular interaction with partner principals, executives, and sales and sales management at existing and prospective partners
- Drive alignment between Abnormal Field Leadership (RD, SE Manager, etc) and key partner regional leaders
- Ensure that Abnormal-sourced opportunities are brought to our Focus Partners (as opposed to fulfilled via opportunistic partners)
- Conduct regular sales training presentations with partner sales teams to ensure they understand and can articulate Abnormal’s product and services
- Work with the Marketing team to drive marketing programs with key partners and ensure that activities tie back to a successful ROI
- Assist with driving pipeline, sales qualification, and closing of business
- Develop and execute a regional strategy for recruiting new channel partners as needed to support growth
- Maintain up-to-date knowledge of Abnormal’s competitive positioning in the marketplace
- Oversee relationship building activities and account mapping activities between Abnormal’s sales organization and partners in the territory
- Become a Subject Matter Expert on any number of channel topics (Deal Reg; Account Plans; PG plans; new PG initiatives; etc) and then share these best practices with other CAMs through formal and informal enablement
- Become a trusted advisor to senior Sales and SE leadership for anything related to the business and territory
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Abnormal AI is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law. For our EEO policy statement please click here. If you would like more information on your EEO rights under the law, please click here.
