Director of Vendor Management

Climb Global Solutions•Eatontown, NJ

About The Position

Climb is seeking a strategic, sales-driven Director of Vendor Management to lead its North American Vendor Management organization and accelerate growth across its vendor portfolio. The role owns the strategy, execution, and performance of Climb’s North American vendor business. It leads and develops Vendor Managers, establishes go-to-market strategies for each vendor line, strengthens executive-level vendor relationships, and ensures the team meets the revenue, gross margin, and growth objectives in Climb’s corporate business plan. The three primary growth initiatives are reseller recruitment, reseller enablement, and demand generation. The role works closely with Climb’s Sales and Marketing organizations and vendor sales and marketing teams to deliver measurable results. The Director will lead a high-performing team across the United States, including remote and in-office employees, set expectations and KPIs, coach team members, and foster ownership, accountability, collaboration, urgency, and continuous improvement. They will own the performance and profitability of the North American vendor portfolio, develop measurable growth plans, monitor performance, and identify corrective actions and new initiatives. They will establish annual targets and quarterly milestones, oversee business reviews, and report portfolio performance, opportunities, risks, and recovery plans to senior leadership. The role also develops executive-level vendor relationships, aligns vendor strategies with Climb’s Sales organization, and strengthens coordination across Vendor Management, Sales, Marketing, Operations, and other internal teams. It monitors technology, channel, competitive, and market trends; evaluates potential vendor relationships; and provides data-driven recommendations to senior leadership on vendor investments and portfolio priorities. Success means building a team of business owners who understand their numbers, maintain actionable vendor growth plans, build productive reseller relationships, and consistently convert strategy into measurable revenue and profitability.

Requirements

At least 8 years of progressive sales, channel, vendor management, or business development experience within IT distribution, a technology vendor, or the reseller/channel ecosystem.
At least 5 years of leadership experience, including managing and developing remote and in-office employees.
Demonstrated success growing revenue and profitability against measurable business objectives.
Strong knowledge of the two-tier IT distribution model and reseller/channel go-to-market strategies.
Experience building and executing vendor business plans, sales strategies, and partner-development initiatives.
Proven ability to build credibility and influence with senior and executive-level stakeholders.
Strong commercial and financial acumen, with the ability to translate data into action.
Experience managing a business through CRM, pipeline, forecasting, KPI dashboards, and performance reporting.
Strong communication, presentation, negotiation, and problem-solving skills.
Bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of cybersecurity and the broader IT security market is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop a high-performing team of Vendor Managers across the United States, including remote and in-office employees.
Set clear team expectations, KPIs, and accountability, aligning individual goals with Climb’s growth strategy.
Coach team members on partner recruitment, opportunity identification, pipeline development, sales execution, vendor management, and complex business conversations.
Conduct performance and development discussions and identify opportunities for team members’ continued growth and career progression.
Build a team culture centered on ownership, accountability, collaboration, urgency, and continuous improvement.
Own performance of Climb’s North American vendor portfolio and drive year-over-year sales and gross profit growth.
Develop and oversee strategic growth plans for each vendor, with measurable goals for revenue, gross margin, pipeline, reseller recruitment, reseller productivity, and customer profitability.
Partner with Vendor Managers to identify performance gaps, opportunities, and corrective actions.
Ensure vendor marketing strategies and demand-generation initiatives align with sales objectives and are executed effectively.
Oversee quarterly business reviews and ensure Vendor Managers communicate results, opportunities, challenges, and forward-looking strategies.
Identify programs, sales motions, partner initiatives, and tools that can create incremental growth and improve execution.
Establish growth expectations and annual plans for each vendor line, including revenue targets, key initiatives, reseller recruitment goals, and pipeline requirements.
Set quarterly milestones and monitor vendor pacing against annual sales and gross profit targets.
Use historical performance, pipeline, reseller productivity, and market opportunity to identify needed investments or corrective actions.
Identify underperforming vendor lines early and develop plans to close performance gaps.
Drive incremental revenue through new reseller recruitment, growth within existing partners, reactivation of dormant partners, and demand generation.
Hold Vendor Managers accountable for understanding year-over-year performance, forecasts, pipeline coverage, partner productivity, and actions needed to achieve targets.
Communicate portfolio performance, growth opportunities, risks, and recovery plans to senior leadership.
Develop executive-level relationships across Climb’s vendor portfolio and position Climb as a strategic growth partner.
Support Vendor Managers in complex vendor and reseller situations and help remove barriers to growth.
Partner with Climb Sales leadership to turn vendor strategies into actionable opportunities for the sales organization.
Strengthen communication and alignment across Vendor Management, Sales, Marketing, Operations, and other internal teams.
Champion strategies to recruit new resellers, grow existing relationships, retain key partners, and win back inactive business.
Monitor technology, channel, competitive, and market trends to identify growth opportunities.
Maintain a strong understanding of the IT security landscape and other high-growth technology segments relevant to Climb’s portfolio.
Evaluate potential vendor relationships based on strategic fit, market opportunity, partner demand, and growth potential.
Provide senior leadership with data-driven recommendations on vendor investments, strategic priorities, opportunities, and risks.
Help shape the longer-term direction and composition of Climb’s North American vendor portfolio.