How to hire a channel manager

How to hire a channel manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step channel manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a channel manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new channel manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a channel manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The channel manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

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   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a channel manager to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a channel manager that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of channel manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Channel Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Channel Manager	Sales managers direct organizations' sales teams. They set sales goals, analyze data, and develop training programs for organizations’ sales representatives.	$30-58
   Regional Sales And Marketing Manager	A regional sales and marketing manager's role is to oversee a company's marketing operations, ensuring efficiency and smooth workflow. Their responsibilities include performing research and analysis to identify new business opportunities, gathering and analyzing data to determine the strengths and weaknesses of current programs and procedures, setting goals and budgets, assessing the performance of the workforce, and monitoring the progress of the different company branches within the region... Show more	$26-58
   Product Manager/Sales	A sales product manager is responsible for monitoring the sales performance of a specific product and ensuring that the marketing strategies adhere to market standards and client requirements. Sales product managers work closely with the marketing and public relations team to enhance the product's brand image on various market platforms to reach the target audience... Show more	$36-75

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Customer Service
   • CRM
   • Digital Marketing
   • Business Development
   • Channel Marketing
   • Cloud
   • Account Management
   • Channel Management
   • Sales Strategies
   • Revenue Growth
   • Healthcare
   • Customer Satisfaction
   • Sales Process
   • Lead Generation

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Use SalesForce to keep track of customers and prospective leads information.
   • Manage social media advertising, SEO and PCP advertising as part of daily tasks.
   • Manage and communicate with over 2600 VAR's/reseller accounts at industry relate conferences, user groups and tradeshows.
   • Manage multinational marketing group in strategic marketing and channel development in the Americas, EMEA and APJK.
   • Launch and manage the domestic distribution go-to-market channel strategy.
   • Develop co-marketing business plans resulting in YoY growth with several manage partners.

   More channel manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in the channel manager job description is a good way to get more applicants. A channel manager salary can be affected by several factors, such as the location of the job, the level of experience, education, certifications, and the employer's prestige.

   For example, the average salary for a channel manager in Florida may be lower than in California, and an entry-level engineer typically earns less than a senior-level channel manager. Additionally, a channel manager with lots of experience in the field may command a higher salary as a result.

   Average channel manager salary

   $87,573yearly

   $42.10 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level channel manager salary

   $63,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 16, 2025

   Average channel manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$119,004	$57
   2	Washington	$107,904	$52
   3	Virginia	$100,321	$48
   4	Nevada	$99,052	$48
   5	New York	$95,523	$46
   6	Oregon	$93,900	$45
   7	North Dakota	$93,295	$45
   8	Indiana	$93,060	$45
   9	Pennsylvania	$90,128	$43
   10	Connecticut	$89,588	$43
   11	Massachusetts	$86,697	$42
   12	Maryland	$86,211	$41
   13	Texas	$84,666	$41
   14	New Hampshire	$84,050	$40
   15	Arizona	$83,871	$40
   16	Montana	$83,777	$40
   17	Minnesota	$83,546	$40
   18	Ohio	$82,246	$40
   19	Illinois	$81,102	$39
   20	West Virginia	$80,774	$39

   Average channel manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Meta	$161,138	$77.47	121
   2	Google	$151,038	$72.61	32
   3	Microsoft	$143,461	$68.97	33
   4	Juniper Networks	$137,712	$66.21
   5	Riverbed Holdings, Inc.	$134,428	$64.63	3
   6	LinkedIn	$131,999	$63.46	8
   7	ServiceNow	$130,492	$62.74	33
   8	Bayer	$126,743	$60.93	240
   9	Neiman Marcus Group	$124,486	$59.85	13
   10	HSBC Bank	$123,967	$59.60	17
   11	StackPath	$123,490	$59.37
   12	Molina Healthcare	$123,279	$59.27	93
   13	Amazon	$121,505	$58.42	279
   14	Ubiquiti	$121,322	$58.33
   15	Telenav	$118,669	$57.05
   16	Starz	$116,915	$56.21
   17	Johnson & Johnson	$114,584	$55.09	100
   18	Ralph Lauren	$114,422	$55.01
   19	Ricoh	$114,312	$54.96	8
   20	CVS Health	$113,335	$54.49	62

4. Writing a channel manager job description

   A channel manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a channel manager job description:

   Channel manager job description example

   Responsible for managing regional Master Distributor and growing company sales of mission critical communication solutions through the indirect channel. Additional responsibilities include effective relationship management supporting channel partners with marketing solutions, advertising, sales promotions, training and general business support to foster growth. It is expected that the indirect channel manager will effectively work with direct sales when necessary and understand all business aspects relative to market trends, competition, vertical market segmentation, product positioning and pricing.
   
   * Responsible for working closely with Master Distributor or dealer to ensure sales/account strategies in assigned territories.
   * Responsible for oversight and performance of channel partners to ensure training compliance.
   * Evaluate current competitive channel assessment
   * Introduce new products and support new product training to the channel partner
   * Host regular business reviews in support of the channel partner
   * Participate in quarterly formal assessments with Master Distributor along with the Indirect management team
   * In conjunction with direct sales, develop annual sales objectives for channel partners and provide quarterly feedback
   * Advise management as to the strategic needs of the Master Distributor
   * Ensure alignment with channel strategies and work collaboratively with sales management to share best practices
   * Accountable for generating and communicating channel forecasts for orders and sales.
   * Required travel 50%
   
   Basic Qualifications:
   
   * Bachelor's Degree and minimum 6 years of prior relevant experience. Graduate Degree and a minimum of 4 years of prior related experience.
   * 5+ years of experience managing sales in business to business or business to government sales with multi-decision processes; programs, services, or systems in a technology company; communication systems in public safety, utilities, or transportation markets; or selling critical communication solutions in public safety, utilities, or transportation markets
   
   Preferred Qualifications:
   
   * Channel management experience
   * Proven experience with building and sustaining strong strategic relationships
   * Proven experience with consultative selling
   * Strong knowledge of market competitors and market technology
   * Demonstrated ability to maximize sales growth
   * Strong negotiation skills
   * Proven experience in marketing, business management, product management, customer service, and procurement
   * Ability to develop effective strategy for the channel in conjunction with sales management and PSPC business objectives, including promotional programs
   * Sound reasoning and decision-making ability; strong analytical skills
   * Inclusive management style: Experience leading and motivating teams across the organization to obtain the required business goals.
   * Stellar communication skills including verbal, written and presentation skills for internal and external customers.
   * Must be able to support multiple efforts, changing priorities and can maintain professional behavior in high-pressure situations.
   * Proven team player with the ability to work effectively with others; has outstanding customer relationship skills and presents a professional appearance.

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5. Post your job

   To find the right channel manager for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with channel managers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit channel managers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your channel manager job on Zippia to find and recruit channel manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   Your first interview with channel manager candidates should focus on their interest in the role and background experience. As the hiring process goes on, you can learn more about how they'd fit into the company culture in later rounds of interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new channel manager

   Once you have selected a candidate for the channel manager position, it is time to create an offer letter. In addition to salary, the offer letter should include details about benefits and perks that are available to the employee. Ensuring your offer is competitive is vital, as qualified candidates may be considering other job opportunities. The candidate may wish to negotiate the terms of the offer, and it is important to be open to discussion and reach a mutually beneficial agreement. After the offer has been accepted, it is a good idea to formalize the agreement with a contract.

   It's also good etiquette to follow up with applicants who don't get the job by sending them an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new channel manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a channel manager?