How To Become A Channel Development Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a channel development manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Patrick Lindsay

A Channel Development Manager is responsible for the promotion and marketing of a company's products and services within a select sector of the market and via specific channels, and they do this in cooperation with other personnel, such as marketing and sales employees. The job mainly entails coming up with marketing strategies and campaigns, conducting market research, and altering plans as needed.

There are, however, other duties, such as analyzing the research done, creating and adjusting budgets and timelines, determining which platforms and channels are the best for the company's business goals and ends, overseeing the marketing teams and personnel, even going so far as to hire and train new employees, and managing communication in terms of channel marketing.

Because of the nature of the job, a good Channel Development Manager stays up to date with the latest technologies, methodologies, and research within their own industries. A candidate will probably need a bachelor's in a subject like marketing, though past experience and a good portfolio of past marketing projects are always valued more. On average, Channel Development Managers earn $46.59 an hour or $96,915 a year.

What's a day at work look like for a channel development manager?

Patrick Lindsay

Assistant Lecturer, Miami University

Sales is a good job out of college. Regardless of the company, the industry, the marketplace or geography, being in the customer interface is not only the best and quickest way to learn about a business but also to learn about business. They are exposed to the impact from and on all stakeholders. They learn about what a value proposition really is and the importance of Trust. They observe and learn the importance of relationships. And they grasp the importance of why over what and how. Finally, sales experience and success is almost universally transferable. Once a grad has a year to three developing competencies, skills and confidence, they can pursue virtually any other product or service in almost any company. They can pursue a next job in sales but also other areas like marketing, customer service, human resources, training, recruiting, et cetera. Employers are not emphasizing industry knowledge or experience like they once did. And many companies, from small local the largest global companies in their industries, insist their new college hires begin in sales (aka account management, business development, client acquisition).

Now, with the proper training (could be a major/minor but doesn't have to be if the graduate has developed a particular skill set) there are many available jobs for graduates that are technology-related. These are "good job" from a compensation and stability perspective. And any position with a global tech firm is a golden ticket.

ScoreChannel Development ManagerUS Average

Salary

7.4

Avg. Salary $94,149

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 30.31%

male 69.69%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a channel development manager

Explore channel development manager education requirements

Most common channel development manager degrees

Bachelor's

76.3 %

Master's

14.2 %

Associate

5.6 %

Start to develop specific channel development manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Channel Development	11.05%
Business Development	10.59%
Cloud	6.19%
Contract Negotiations	4.59%
CRM	4.35%

Complete relevant channel development manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New channel development managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a channel development manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real channel development manager resumes.

Research channel development manager duties and responsibilities

Manage UAT scripting definition and testing process of CRM and web systems.
Design and manage marketing initiatives and activities including company- sponsor events around a reseller, product, or customer territory.
Develop channel strategy and market for host cloud services and applications.
Major contributor to all aspects of the selling process for install and cloud base SaaS base solutions.

Apply for channel development manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a channel development manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average channel development manager salary

The average channel development manager salary in the United States is $94,149 per year or $45 per hour. Channel development manager salaries range between $64,000 and $136,000 per year.

Average channel development manager salary

$94,149 Yearly

$45.26 hourly

How do channel development managers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Channel development manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Sep 2023

Pros

Rule of thumb with international travel is be ready for serious jet-lag!

Cons

rule of thumb with international travel is to have jet-lag non-stop!

A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2019

Pros

B2B Communication and Building Relationships, Product\Strategy Development and Implementation, Solving Problems

What is a channel development manager and how to become one

What's a day at work look like for a channel development manager?

Channel development manager career paths

Key steps to become a channel development manager

Explore channel development manager education requirements

Most common channel development manager degrees

Start to develop specific channel development manager skills

Complete relevant channel development manager training and internships

Research channel development manager duties and responsibilities

Apply for channel development manager jobs

How did you land your first channel development manager job

Average channel development manager salary

How do channel development managers rate their job?

Channel development manager reviews