Program Manager, Channel Enablement

Job description

Job ID 1017341 Date posted 2/5/2018 Primary Location Portland, Oregon, United States; Santa Clara, California, United States Other location Portland,Oregon,United States of America Job Category Business Planning Schedule Full time Shift No shift premium (United States of America)

Summary:

Aruba Networks, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, is a leading provider of next-generation networking solutions for the mobile enterprise. We have an exciting opportunity for an energetic team player to fill the role of a Channel Enablement Manager. This is an individual contributor role that will report to the Director, Worldwide Partner Programs.

As Channel Enablement Manager your goal is to enable and empower channel partners to sell Aruba networking products and solutions.  In this role you will be responsible for developing, executing and supporting sales and technical enablement programs for the Aruba Networking division worldwide providing the right content, messaging/positioning and proper tools to ensure the Aruba Channel salesforce and our partners are ready to successfully go-to market with Aruba networking solutions.  We are looking for a highly energetic individual with strong communication skills, technical expertise, and sales, training and/or marketing experience who can develop and deploy enablement plans from the ground up.  This role will partner with Product Line Management and the Product Marketing teams to define and execute channel launch activities and drive enablement on new product introductions (NPI’s).   A thorough understanding of networking technologies and the channel in the high-tech industry is required as well as an understanding of various partner business models (VARS, Distribution, SI’s, SP’s OEM’s).

Key Responsibilities:

·  Lead channel sales and technical enablement initiatives for specific go-to-market campaigns for the Aruba Channel Sales teams and Partners – define enablement objectives, develop internal and partner enablement plans, execute, and assess the effectiveness of those plans. 
·  Create channel enablement programs to support new product launches (NPI’s).
·  Create effective messaging/positioning, and sales/support tools and content for programs and products sold by all channel go-to-market motions (Distributors, VAR’s, SI’s, SP’s, OEM’s)
·  Lead planning, coordination and execution of partner training activities such as channel sales webinars, etc.
·  Evaluate and engage with external vendors for creation of new messaging and tools such as playbooks, selling guides, whiteboards, etc.
·  Coordinate enablement initiatives to support opportunities with specific verticals like education, retail, healthcare etc.
·  Create easy to use sales-kits and technical collateral to support partner readiness for various campaigns/solution areas.
·  Create partner segmentation to understand specific needs and provide more relevant enablement support.
·  Identify the need for new partner content and work with PSM to create those assets.
·  Keep internal and partner facing areas up-to-date with the most current information.
·  Act as the worldwide focal point for all global Channel Enablement initiatives, and be a trusted advisor to the field and Channel Enablement teams in each region. Ensure the enablement programs are relevant and aligned to Aruba Channel Business priorities and support the regional channels teams with local deployment.
·  Research trends and share industry best practices on enablement tools and processes

Key Success Criteria:

The key measures of success for this position is whether the defined enablement objectives are fully developed and deployed in accordance with the plan, and whether the CAM’s, partners and key stakeholders are satisfied with the quality of the enablement program.  This role will be measured on whether CAM’s and partners are well-equipped with the content, training, knowledge of available resources, and core assets/curriculum necessary to effectively position the value of Aruba solutions. Strong communication skills, product knowledge, sales/technical expertise, and an ability to execute will be essential to deliver high quality results and meet the prescribed business outcomes for partner satisfaction and revenue growth.

·  Ability to execute: this role requires an individual who can manage multiple stakeholders and multiple projects with ease - to organize, prioritize and deliver results. Comfortable under pressure and comfortable in uncertainty.
·  Competitive: Has a remarkable drive to win. Insightful and proactive in driving change. Both through sales performance, gaining essential feedback to improve offers or introduce new offers.  Act as a trusted advisor to sales leadership, sales reps, product marketing and product managers.  Understand the result of your efforts will enable our sales channels to meet their strategic revenue objectives.
·  Highly organized: excellent organizational and time management skills are a must, analytical skills and ability to interpret data a plus
·  Self-starter/Creative: there is a huge opportunity in this role to drive impact and improve productivity across the sales teams and sales channels. You know how to inspire and lead those you do not directly manage
·  Inquisitive: ability to sit back and ask: is this program working? How do we know?  What do we need to change in order to make it more effective?  Ability to see the bigger picture of why what we do matters and how to drive impact
·  Communicative: role requires a true people person, someone who enjoys interacting with a wide variety of stakeholders from reps to senior sales management, vendors, partners, customers and other internal teams

Required Qualifications:

·  Bachelor’s degree in business, marketing, communications, or relevant field of study – or equivalent practical experience.
·  Minimum 5-7 years of work experience (3+ years of channel sales enablement/channel-product marketing/training experience in IT Networking preferred).
·  Teaching / Coaching Experience on Sales related topics is a plus
·  Extensive experience with designing and creating sales and technical content and launching enablement programs and projects from the ground up
·  An understanding of IT networking channels is required (specific experience with any wireless technologies will be a plus)
·  Thorough understanding of the channel in the high-tech industry and various partner business models
·  Familiarity with IT networking technologies and comfort in articulating technical product features and differentiation
·  Program management experience in an IT channel or product marketing organization is a plus. 
·  Self-directed,  excellent verbal and written communication skills 
·  Strong knowledge of Word, Excel and PPT
·  Outstanding organization and time management skills - strong business acumen with an ability to prioritize multiple functions and tasks
·  Flexibility to work in a rapidly changing environment and less defined organization
·  Strong analytical skills and an attention to detail
·  Team player with highly effective interpersonal skills and an ability to work cross functionally and at all levels of the organization.
·  Global role supporting different regions, 20-30% travel may be required.

Location:

·  Ideally this position will be based out of the Aruba HQ office in Santa Clara, CA, but consideration will be given for other locations if necessary.

Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company

Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, is a leading provider of next-generation network access solutions for the mobile enterprise. The company designs and delivers Mobility-Defined Networks that empower IT departments and #GenMobile, a new generation of tech-savvy users who rely on their mobile devices for every aspect of work and personal communication. To create a mobility experience that #GenMobile and IT can rely upon, Aruba Mobility-Defined Networks™ automate infrastructure-wide performance optimization and trigger security actions that used to require manual IT intervention. The results are dramatically improved productivity and lower operational costs.

Aruba, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, or any other protected characteristic. The EEO is the Law poster is available athttp://www1.eeoc.gov/employers/upload/eeoc_self_print_poster.pdf .