What are the responsibilities and job description for the Channel Account Manager position at Fortress Safety?
🚀 Build the Channel That Powers Machine Safety Across the Midwest
Partner Development Manager (Also known in the industry as: Channel Account Manager • Channel Sales Manager • Business Development Manager – Channel)
Location: Central Midwest (MN, WI, IL) - Hybrid
Salary: $100,000–$115,000 base
Imagine owning an entire territory's worth of distributor and reseller relationships — Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois — and being the person who turns those partnerships into real, measurable growth. That's this role. If you love the buzz of channel sales, know how to get the best out of resellers and integrators, and you've got a technical curiosity for how things like sensors, interlocks, and machine safety systems actually work — this could be one of the most rewarding moves of your career.
Why this role is a genuine step up: You won't be managing a spreadsheet of accounts — you'll be building a growth engine. You'll shape how Fortress Safety shows up across an entire regional partner network, mentor distributors to sell smarter, and directly influence how safely factories and machine builders across the Midwest operate. It's commercial, it's technical, and it's genuinely purpose-led: every deal you help close protects real people on real production floors.
🔧 What you'll be doing:
- Owning and growing relationships across your assigned network of distributors, integrators, and channel partners — becoming their go-to trusted advisor, not just their supplier contact
- Getting hands-on in joint sales calls, guiding technical conversations, and pushing deals through to close
- Building strategic partner business plans with real KPIs and shared revenue targets — not just wish lists
- Scouting and recruiting new strategic partners who fit where Fortress is heading next
- Partnering with our Safety Services team to deliver training that makes your partners genuine product experts
- Teaming up with marketing to launch co-branded campaigns and lead-gen activity that actually moves the needle
- Presenting partner performance and growth opportunities directly to leadership
- Leading commercial negotiations and keeping partnership agreements sharp, fair, and compliant
💡 What you'll bring:
- A track record of success in B2B or channel-led sales — ideally within industrial automation, machine safety, sensors, or adjacent technical markets
- Real experience working through distributors, integrators, or resellers (not just direct end-user sales)
- Strong commercial instincts and the confidence to align partner activity to a bigger regional strategy
- Comfort living in a CRM — forecasting, pipeline discipline, and partner performance tracking are second nature to you
- The ability to influence without formal authority, and to thrive in a matrixed, cross-functional environment
- A confident, personable communication style — you build trust fast, whether in a boardroom or a factory floor walkthrough
- A proactive, self-starting mindset with genuine enthusiasm for travel across your territory
🎁 What we offer:
- 24 days holiday 9 office closure days
- 401(k) matching and profit-sharing potential
- Company car or car allowance
- 14 weeks fully paid parental leave
- Group healthcare (medical, dental, vision) with family/partner options
- Employee Assistance Program and long service recognition
🌍 About Fortress Safety Since 1977, Fortress Safety has been protecting people and equipment in hazardous environments worldwide — from our UK HQ in Wolverhampton to operations across the USA, Europe, Australia, China, and India. As part of Halma plc (a UK FTSE 100 company with 8,000 people across 50 businesses), we're backed by scale but built on purpose: keeping people safe, every day.
🤝 Inclusion & Belonging At Fortress, we don't just accept difference — we celebrate it. We're committed to building an inclusive environment for everyone, and if you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, just let us know.
👉 Ready to build something that matters? Apply now — or send me a message directly, I'd genuinely love to talk to you about this one.
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Salary : $100,000 - $115,000