Sr. Channel Marketing Mgr - Direct Accounts & MRO

The Channel Marketing Manager is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing strategies that drive profitable growth across key trade channels within for Direct Wholesale Accounts and MRO. 

This role translates customer, market, and competitive insights into action by partnering closely with Sales, Product, Brand Marketing, Operations, Finance, and external customers. The Channel Marketing Manager anticipates market trends, identifies growth opportunities, develops compelling programs, and ensures effective execution across the customer journey. 

This position goes beyond managing individual marketing tactics. It designs cohesive, results-driven strategies that strengthen brand relevance, accelerate product adoption, improve customer engagement, and deliver measurable commercial growth. 

Key Accountabilities 

B2B Trade Channel Strategy 

• Develop and implement comprehensive channel marketing strategies aligned with business objectives, brand priorities, and trade partner needs. 

• Identify and quantify growth opportunities by defining the size of the prize, priority audiences, customer personas, buying-decision drivers, and competitive dynamics. 

• Establish differentiated value propositions that strengthen the company’s position with customers and key trade audiences. 

• Translate enterprise, brand, product and segment strategies into actionable channel plans and investment priorities. 

Channel and Customer Expertise 

• Build and maintain deep knowledge of the assigned segment, channel, customers, and broader B2B marketing ecosystem. 

• Understand the needs, behaviors, and purchasing journeys of key trade audiences and decision-makers. 

• Use market research, customer feedback, field insights, and competitive intelligence to identify emerging needs and growth opportunities. 

• Develop channel-specific approaches that build awareness, generate demand, influence consideration, and support conversion. 

• Serve as a trusted internal resource on customer, channel, and competitive dynamics. 

Go-to-Market Excellence 

• Develop and execute integrated, end-to-end marketing plans that support business priorities and customer objectives. 

• Lead channel activation for new product launches, promotions, merchandising programs, sales tools, digital content, events, and customer-facing collateral. 

• Partner with Sales and customer teams to ensure programs are relevant, executable, and effectively deployed in the market. 

• Establish clear objectives, timelines, responsibilities, and success measures for each initiative. 

• Manage the assigned marketing budget and oversee relationships with external agencies and other partners. 

• Ensure marketing investments are prioritized against the opportunities with the greatest potential business impact. 

Product Portfolio Strategy 

• Provide Product Management and Brand Marketing partners with customer, market, and competitive insights that help shape the product roadmap. 

• Evaluate portfolio performance and identify assortment gaps, innovation opportunities, and areas for optimization. 

• Partner with cross-functional teams to maintain a relevant and differentiated product portfolio for the assigned channel or segment. 

• Support assortment, positioning, pricing, and launch recommendations with market and customer insights. 

Cross-Functional Leadership 

• Serve as the primary channel marketing liaison across Sales, Brand Marketing, Product Management, Sales Enablement, Finance, regional stakeholders, and external customers. 

• Lead cross-functional teams in the development and activation of programs that support shared commercial objectives. 

• Align stakeholders around priorities, clarify roles and responsibilities, manage competing demands, and drive timely decisions. 

• Champion the Trade Channel Marketing strategy and ensure it is effectively represented in business, brand, and product planning. 

• Influence across the organization without relying solely on formal authority. 

Trade Partner and Field Relationships 

• Build and maintain strong relationships with Trade Sales teams, key customers, industry audiences, and sales representative agency marketing teams. 

• Maintain a strong presence in the field to understand customer needs, market conditions, program execution, and competitive activity. 

• Partner with Sales to identify opportunities, resolve execution challenges, and improve the effectiveness of channel programs. 

• Incorporate field and customer feedback into future strategies, programs, and investment decisions. 

Performance Measurement and Optimization 

• Define clear objectives, key performance indicators, and measurement plans for channel marketing strategies and programs. 

• Analyze sales, margin, volume, market share, customer performance, product mix, lead generation, and program effectiveness. 

• Distill complex market, customer, and segment data into clear insights and actionable recommendations. 

• Use performance data to guide investment decisions, optimize programs, and develop targeted improvement plans. 

• Communicate results, lessons learned, and recommended actions to senior leaders and cross-functional stakeholders. 

Education and Experience 

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, or a related field required; MBA preferred. 

• Seven or more years of progressive experience in channel marketing, customer marketing, product marketing, brand management, account managemen, or a related commercial discipline. 

• Experience developing and executing B2B marketing strategies across complex distribution channels. 

• Demonstrated success leading integrated go-to-market programs and new product launches. 

• Experience working with sales teams, external customers, agencies, and cross-functional partners. 

• Experience in durable goods, building products, wholesale distribution, or the trade channel is preferred. 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 

• Strong strategic thinking with the ability to translate insights into actionable commercial plans. 

• Deep understanding of B2B customer journeys, channel dynamics, and buying-decision drivers. 

• Strong business and financial acumen, including experience evaluating sales, margin, volume, and return on marketing investment. 

• Demonstrated ability to synthesize data, identify meaningful insights, and make clear recommendations. 

• Strong project-management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver results in a complex environment. 

• Excellent communication, presentation, collaboration, and stakeholder-management skills. 

• Ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners and drive alignment without direct authority. 

• Strong customer orientation and willingness to spend time in the field with sales teams, customers, and trade partners. 

• Ability to balance long-term strategy with disciplined execution and attention to detail. 

• Proficiency with Microsoft Office and relevant marketing, analytics, and customer relationship management platforms. 

Leadership Expectations 

• Thinks strategically while maintaining ownership for execution and results. 

• Uses customer and market insights to challenge assumptions and identify new opportunities. 

• Builds alignment across functions and encourages shared accountability for commercial outcomes. 

• Makes informed decisions, manages trade-offs, and focuses resources on the highest-value opportunities. 

• Demonstrates curiosity, adaptability, sound judgment, and a commitment to continuous improvement. 

Travel 

This position requires travel to customer locations, field markets, industry events, agency meetings, and company facilities as business needs dictate, usually 25%.