Channel Development Manager - Robotics & Automation

We are seeking an experienced channel-development professional to build and grow a network of dealers, agents, resellers, distributors, and systems integrators for an expanding AI robotics portfolio.

Unlike a direct-sales position, this role will focus on creating productive partner relationships rather than selling directly to end customers. You will identify prospective partners, negotiate agreements, manage onboarding, provide sales enablement, and help each organization generate meaningful pipeline and sell-through.
Success will be measured by the quality and number of activated partners, channel-generated sales, partner pipeline, and contribution margin-not simply by the number of agreements signed.

What You'll Do:
Evaluate the territory market and identify qualified dealers, agents, resellers, distributors, and systems integrators.
Build relationships with prospective partners across robotics, industrial automation, education technology, IT hardware, material handling, security, and related sectors.
Recruit partners that have the customer relationships, technical capabilities, geographic coverage, and resources needed to represent the product successfully.
Manage partner qualification, due diligence, commercial negotiations, contracting, onboarding, and operational-readiness milestones.
Develop structured onboarding plans covering products, applications, pricing, demonstrations, sales processes, reporting, and first-deal execution.
Work with technical teams to coordinate partner product training, demonstration readiness, certification, and deployment support.
Coordinate account and lead routing between direct sales teams and channel partners.
Administer deal-registration, lead-protection, pricing, reporting, and non-circumvention policies.
Support co-marketing campaigns, demonstrations, showroom programs, partner events, incentives, and market-development initiatives.
Provide reliable reporting on partner recruitment, onboarding progress, activation, channel pipeline, sell-through, and shipments.
Represent the organization at partner meetings, industry conferences, trade shows, and regional events.
Travel regularly throughout territory to recruit, train, and support partners.

What We're Looking For:
Bachelor's degree in Business, Engineering, Marketing, Supply Chain, or a related discipline.
At least five years of experience in channel development, partner sales, dealer-network expansion, distribution management, or indirect sales.
Demonstrated success identifying, recruiting, contracting, onboarding, and activating dealers or resellers.
Experience managing partner performance and increasing channel-generated pipeline, sell-through, revenue, and margin.
Strong understanding of channel economics, partner incentives, territory coverage, pricing, and commercial agreements.
Strong contract-negotiation, relationship-management, program-management, and conflict-resolution skills.
Ability to work effectively with sales, marketing, finance, legal, operations, product, and technical teams.
Willingness to travel throughout territory/region.
An existing dealer, reseller, distributor, or systems-integrator network within robotics, industrial automation, education technology, IT hardware, material handling, or related technology markets.
Direct experience developing channels for robotics, automation equipment, capital equipment, or other technical products preferred.
Familiarity with subscription, leasing, recurring-revenue, or Robotics-as-a-Service channel models preferred.
Bilingual English and Mandarin communication skills preferred.