Lead - Channel Sales

Organisations everywhere struggle with the costs and complexities of software solutions. Freshworks offers a fresh vision for how the world works, building uncomplicated service software that delivers exceptional customer and employee experiences.

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.

Responsibilities:

• 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 organisation and establish clear mutual accountability.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 rationalisation plans.
• Maintain accurate partner and opportunity information across Freshworks systems and reporting mechanisms.

• 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.

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

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

Qualifications:

• 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.

Skills:

• 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.