Vendor Alliances Manager

Established in 1982, Bytes has grown rapidly and now employs over 800+ people across 6 locations in the UK and Ireland. Our turnover in Financial Year 2024 was in excess of £2bn. We work with SME’s, corporates and public sector organisations to modernise and digitally transform their IT infrastructures.

We invest in our employees through on-going support, training and advice to help them achieve their career aspirations, rewarding success both financially and personally. There is opportunity to grow and move internally which can be seen through our long-standing employees who have developed existing and new skills to move into senior positions in the organisation leaving space for new team members to begin their journey.

Your Future Starts Here

Why Bytes?

• Over 700 staff (plans to double in size over the next 5 years)
• Operating from modern, hybrid working environments with offices in Leatherhead, Reading, London, Manchester, Port Solent and Dublin.
• Winners of an array of industry awards
• Sunday Times Top 100 Best Places to Work
• Excellent training and career prospects offered

Bytes works with our customers to help them achieve their business outcomes through delivering a comprehensive range of technology-focussed support/professional/managed services. We actively seek to drive consumption, adoption, and customer satisfaction with the objective of tangibly contributing to customer success and growth.

PURPOSE OF JOB:

Join our hardworking and dynamic team within the thriving Bytes community! This role is part of our Vendor Solutions Team.

In this sales-focused position, you'll be responsible for managing and developing strategic vendor relationships with Bytes, acting as a commercial and partnership expert.

Your goal will be to increase revenues and profits within our Vendor Solutions, working alongside sales teams and customers to create, win, and optimize sales opportunities.

You'll take ownership of various customer-facing opportunities, including upsell, expansion, and renewal engagements, across all customer segments: mid-market, corporate, enterprise, public sector, and channel.

Regular interaction with key stakeholders within the Vendors and the internal sales team is essential, so strong communication skills across these areas are crucial.

You'll also collaborate closely with the (Job Title TBC) to build and own the Go-To-Market strategy and resources for the aligned vendors. This includes creating sales collateral, supporting marketing plans, and working with peers on multi-vendor messages.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Business Planning and Strategy

• Collaborate with the Head of proposition/alliances to own the creation and monitor the execution of the vendor business plan, ensuring the outcomes align with core business objectives.
• Track and manage direct vendor rebates.
• Organise, prepare, and co-present on vendor QBRs.
• Co-ordinate sales enablement, focus days, sales-based events and vendor networking
• Manage certification and specialisation requirements with vendors, working alongside Vendor Operations to ensure we remain compliant.
• Working closely with the marketing lead, ensure marketing activities are incorporated into the plan and communicated effectively with the vendor to encourage promotion. You will be expected to create relevant and appropriate content and messaging for each sales segment, supporting the marketing team with execution and follow-up of all initiatives

Sales and Deal Management

• Be responsible for the delivering the expected Vendor GP against the annual target. You will be measured directly against this.
• Own the progress and reporting of Renewal Retention, Refresh Potential & Cross Sell/ Upsell (to include bi-annual tech update meetings set with clients).
• Support AM’s, Specialists, and the vendor in new business customer opportunities.
• Sell Bytes back into the vendor, building relationships and finding customer opportunities through the vendor.
• Review and report against deal registrations for strategic vendors, tracking a win/loss ratio and utilising this information to inform future activity.
• Undertake and review loss analysis data
• Review whitespace data and present this, along with insights to the relevant sales teams and Specialists to drive impactful customer engagement.

Internal Systems and Documentation

• Maintain our internal SharePoint (Compass) vendor pages, including min margins on the portal
• Own the accuracy of the vendor taxonomy
• Work with internal supply chain team and distribution partners to ensure our processes are efficient, including marketplace offers.
• Utilise internal SharePoint (Compass) to promote news and updates about managed vendors.

Personal Requirements

• Have a deep commercial understanding of relevant vendors partner programmes
• Growth mindset and positive attitude to continuous learning, including sales and product topics.
• Comfortable presenting vendor specific updates to sales and Specialists
• Able to explain the USPs and value delivered by their vendors
• Understanding where their vendors compliment other vendors

QUALIFICATIONS , EXPERIANCE & SKILLS

Educational Qualifications:

• Minimum GCSEs (A-C) English & Mathematics - Essential
• Educated to A-level standard - Desirable

Personal Attributes

• Vendor Sales Accreditations - Desirable
• Experience of Selling software solutions - Essential
• Experience in commercially compiling complex (vendor) quotes - Desirable

Years of Experience

• 2-3 years’ experience in a similar role - Desirable
• Customer facing experience - Essential
• Vendor development management experience - Essential

Other Requirements

• Commercial / Bid awareness - Essential
• Excellent presentation delivery - Essential
• Accuracy & Attention to detail - Essential
• Excellent organisational and customer service skills - Essential
• Excellent Time Management & Project prioritisation - Essential
• Multi-tasking Team player - Essential
• Outgoing and enthusiastic - Essential
• Copes well under pressure - Essential

CORE COMPETENCIES & SKILLS

• Regarded as trusted advisor in proposition area.
• Commercial creativity skills across product, services, and support.
• Ability to develop and maintain relationships across Bytes, customer, and vendor community.
• Ability to articulate proposition area to all levels, including up to Exec level.
• Pro-active approach to maintaining customer base and driving new sales.
• Tenacious, outgoing, and quick to learn
• Adaptable and forward thinking