Distributor Business Development Manager, APJ

Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale — unleashing the potential of businesses and people. The Elastic Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together the precision of search and the intelligence of AI to enable everyone to accelerate the results that matter. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI. What is The Role As Distributor Business Development Manager, you will own Elastic's distribution relationships and unmanaged Elastic partner strategy with distribution partners across APJ region. The successful candidate will connect Elastic's sales teams, partner teams, and distributors in the region. Their main goal is to drive pipeline generation with the help of distributors. They will also enable resellers and execute co-sell strategies. Additionally, they will work on growing new business and increasing expansion ARR through the partner ecosystem. This role requires a candidate with strong partner sales acumen, regional experience and proven track record of growing business with distributors. You will work with cross-functional teams, and focus on driving execution of Elastic sales plays, deep technical alignment and enablement of distributors and will scale business through distributor led partner ecosystem. As a business leader, you will conduct executive business reviews with both the distributor and Elastic leadership teams. You should be capable and comfortable delivering demonstrations of Elastic products. You will arrange technical workshops and certification boot camps with distributors and Elastic reseller teams. Additionally, you will create and improve sales plays. And most importantly drive business execution across distributors and distributor-led partner ecosystem. What You Will Be Doing Distribution Strategy & Business Planning: • Manage business plans with distribution partners. Set quarterly targets for the pipeline and for recruiting resellers. Prioritize segments for Elastic's Enterprise, Public Sector, and Commercial business. • Build and maintain executive-level relationships with distribution executive team, and drive business growth initiatives with Elastic Field Sales teams, Managed Partners teams, and distributors • Develop and execute a distribution GTM playbook aligned to Elastic's Fiscal year priorities and key performance indicators such as: partner-sourced pipeline, New & Expansion business targets and reseller coverage model. • Work with Global Partner Sales Operations to track distributor performance using KPIs. These KPIs include partner-sourced ARR, deal registration volume, pipeline coverage ratio, and reseller activation rates. Distributor and Partner Ecosystem Enablement and Development: • Onsite & Virtual - Independently design and deliver technical enablement programs for reseller sales engineers, architects, and pre-sales teams — onsite at distributor offices, reseller HQs, and industry events, as well as in virtual/webinar formats. • Build and maintain a reusable enablement content library: demo environments, hands-on lab guides, discovery decks, competitive battle-cards, and certification study aids tailored to the Elastic platform (Search, Observability, Security). • Run monthly/quarterly distributor enablement days with coordinated technical tracks (observability, SIEM/security analytics, vector/AI search) and business tracks (program updates, incentives, pipeline reviews). • Drive reseller technical certifications and training completions through proactive cohort scheduling, remediation support, and accountability reporting back to Elastic Partner Enablement. • Deliver or co-deliver Elastic product demonstrations for reseller-led opportunities, serving as the technical point of contact for pre-sales support through distribution when a dedicated SE is unavailable. Reseller Ecosystem Development: • Identify, recruit, and enable net-new resellers through distribution partners; manage tiering and partner program alignment. • Drive reseller activation through demand generation programs, MDF utilization, and joint marketing motions with distributors • Maintain a healthy, active reseller pipeline across APJ markets Cross-Functional Collaboration: • Partner with Elastic Regional Sales field managers (RVPs, AEs) to integrate distribution into account and territory planning. • Own execution across Elastic account segments - Work with Global Partner Sales Operations & Strategy on distributor discount structures, incentive programs, and data integrity within Salesforce/Impartner. • Collaborate with Elastic's Marketing team to develop and deploy partner-funded demand generation campaigns through public sector distribution partners. • Escalate and resolve distributor-facing channel conflicts, pricing disputes, and deal registration exceptions in coordination with Global Partner Sales leadership and Deal Desk. What You Bring • 7+ years of channel sales or partner management experience, with at least 3 years focused on distribution. • Demonstrated track record of driving partner-sourced revenue through distributor-managed reseller ecosystems. • Proven ability to independently deliver sales pitches and business value proposition to partners, ability to showcase product or solution demos, co-deliver hands-on workshops, and lab-based training — to Sales and technical audiences (SEs, architects, pre-sales). • Experience building or managing a self-sustaining partner enablement program: content design, delivery cadence, certification tracking, and outcomes measurement. • Hands-on fluency with at least one of the following domains: observability/monitoring, SIEM/security analytic