Lead - Channel Sales

We are looking for a Channel Manager – Middle East & Africa (MEA) to build, activate and grow Freshworks’ partner ecosystem across the region.

This role is responsible for creating incremental business through the partner ecosystem — identifying the right partners, enabling them to sell and deliver Freshworks solutions, building joint go-to-market motions, generating qualified pipeline and ensuring strong execution across the partner lifecycle.

The role requires a strong balance of commercial ownership, partner management, sales alignment and operational discipline.

The Channel Manager will work closely with Sales, Solution Consulting, Customer Success, Marketing, Alliances and other cross-functional teams to make partners a meaningful growth channel for Freshworks.

. Partner Strategy & Business Development

* Develop and execute the partner strategy for assigned markets and segments across MEA. * Identify and recruit partners that can provide meaningful customer access, technical capability, industry expertise or geographic coverage. * Evaluate partners based on their ability to generate pipeline, influence customers, implement solutions and build a sustainable Freshworks practice. * Develop joint business plans with priority partners, including revenue objectives, target accounts, GTM activities and capability-building priorities. * Build relationships with senior stakeholders within the partner organization and establish clear mutual accountability.

2. Partner Activation & Readiness

* Own the activation of newly recruited partners and move them from onboarding to productive engagement. * Drive partner readiness across product knowledge, sales capability, solution positioning, certifications and implementation capability. * Identify capability gaps and create focused enablement plans rather than relying on generic training. * Establish measurable activation milestones and monitor progress against them. * Ensure partners have the tools, knowledge and internal champions required to independently position and sell Freshworks.

3. Pipeline Generation & Revenue Growth

* Own partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline generation for the assigned territory. * Build joint campaigns, account-mapping exercises, workshops, roundtables and other pipeline-generation initiatives with priority partners. * Identify opportunities where partner access or capability can create incremental Freshworks revenue. * Work with Sales teams to convert partner-generated pipeline into qualified opportunities and closed business. * Track partner contribution across the funnel — from recruitment and activation through pipeline, conversion and revenue. * Identify gaps early and build corrective action plans with partners and internal stakeholders.

4. Joint GTM & Field Alignment

* Build strong relationships with Freshworks Account Executives and Sales leadership to align partner activity with territory priorities. * Facilitate joint account planning between Freshworks and partners. * Bring partners into relevant enterprise opportunities where they add customer access, technical expertise, implementation capability or commercial leverage. * Ensure the right level of partner involvement based on the opportunity rather than involving partners purely for attribution. * Support strategic partner-led and partner-assisted opportunities through the sales cycle.

5. Partner Governance & Performance Management

* Establish regular operating cadences with priority partners, including pipeline reviews, business reviews and action tracking. * Maintain visibility into partner performance, pipeline quality, conversion, activity and readiness. * Hold partners accountable to agreed commitments and follow through on action items. * Identify underperforming or inactive partners and develop clear activation, remediation or rationalization plans. * Maintain accurate partner and opportunity information across Freshworks systems and reporting mechanisms.

6. Opportunity & Deal Support

* Support partner registration, opportunity alignment, attribution and commercial processes in accordance with Freshworks policies. * Ensure partner involvement and contribution are clearly documented. * Coordinate with Sales, Finance, Legal, Operations and other teams where partner-related issues affect deal execution. * Escalate partner-related blockers appropriately and drive them to resolution. * Protect a consistent customer experience while ensuring the partner receives the appropriate support.

7. Cross-Functional Collaboration

Work closely with

* Sales / Account Executives: account planning, opportunity creation and conversion * Solution Consulting: technical readiness, demos and solution positioning * Customer Success: expansion, adoption and partner-supported customer outcomes * Marketing: campaigns, events, demand generation and partner marketing * Partner Enablement: certifications and capability development * Operations / Finance: commercial processes, attribution and operational execution * Leadership: partner strategy, performance reviews and regional priorities

Role Boundaries

The Channel Manager is accountable for partner growth, activation, engagement and partner-led pipeline to ensure larger market share.

Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured through a combination of partner productivity, pipeline creation, revenue contribution and ecosystem health, including:

* Partner addition and activation * Partner-sourced and partner-influenced pipeline * Partner-attributed revenue / ARR * Partner pipeline conversion * Revenue/Quality of activated partners * Partner readiness and certification * Joint account-planning coverage * Partner-led GTM activity and resulting pipeline * Strategic partner engagement and business-plan execution * Partner productivity and contribution to regional growth * Accuracy of partner attribution and opportunity governance

The focus is on productive partners and measurable business outcomes, not simply the number of partners recruited.

* 7+ years of experience in channel sales, alliances, partner management, indirect sales or B2B technology sales. * Experience working with partners such as SIs, MSPs, VARs, distributors, cloud partners or technology specialists. * Experience managing enterprise technology sales cycles and partner-led opportunities. * Experience working across multiple countries or markets is strongly preferred. * Experience in SaaS, ITSM, ITOM, ITAM, cybersecurity, cloud or adjacent enterprise technology categories is an advantage.

* Strong commercial and business-development mindset. * Ability to build trusted relationships with both partners and internal sales teams. * Strong understanding of indirect sales and partner economics. * Ability to identify where a partner can create genuine incremental value. * Strong pipeline-management and forecasting discipline. * Excellent communication, presentation and negotiation skills. * Ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct authority. * Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, matrixed environment. * Strong analytical skills and ability to use data to manage partner performance.