Job Description
JULY is seeking a senior distribution leader to build and expand our institutional and channel partnerships across the retirement plan marketplace. This role owns national relationships with advisor home offices, broker-dealers, custodians, fiduciary platforms, payroll providers, and emerging distribution channels — with a mandate to create scalable, repeatable growth paths for JULY’s Regional Sales Directors.
The Director of Strategic Accounts & Channel Development is responsible for architecting channel strategy, negotiating commercial alignment with partners, driving advisor penetration within those partners, and ensuring JULY becomes a preferred provider within their distribution ecosystems.
This is a high-impact, outward-facing role for a candidate who brings commercial discipline, political navigation skills, and a strong understanding of the retirement plan landscape.
Primary Responsibilities
Channel Strategy & Leadership
- Build and lead JULY’s national channel and institutional distribution program.
- Identify, prioritize, and onboard new strategic partner channels that can materially expand advisor reach and sales velocity.
- Develop multi-year channel roadmaps, including segmentation, penetration strategies, commercial alignment, and performance expectations.
- Negotiate partner agreements, product positioning, service alignment, and home-office approvals.
Strategic Account Ownership
- Serve as the primary executive relationship owner for top-tier partner firms and distribution platforms.
- Conduct regular business reviews with partner leadership, ensuring clear expectations, growth plans, and performance accountability.
- Drive expansion within existing partners, including deeper advisor adoption, increased producing advisors, and broader product penetration.
Sales Execution & Advisor Growth
- Build partner-specific go-to-market strategies that accelerate advisor activity and new plan production.
- Collaborate with Regional Sales Directors and other growth leaders to coordinate field engagement and maximize opportunities within partner ecosystems.
- Deliver high-impact presentations, product positioning sessions, and training to partner home offices and advisor networks.
- Work with partners to design joint marketing programs, advisor education initiatives, targeted campaigns, and content strategies.
- Represent JULY at conferences, national sales meetings, and partner events to strengthen visibility and drive engagement.
Collaboration & Internal Alignment
- Partner with Business Development and Product teams to tailor channel-specific solutions, integrations, and service models.
- Work with Marketing to refine advisor targeting, partner campaigns, and pipeline acceleration strategies.
- Support the Internal Sales Desk through partner intelligence, advisor lists, and targeted outreach guidance.
- Provide structured feedback to improve systems, automation, and analytics supporting channel distribution and lead flow.
Analytics, Reporting & Accountability
- Maintain a disciplined and transparent pipeline aligned with partner strategies and JULY sales objectives.
- Analyze partner production data to assess advisor activity, penetration rates, and revenue contribution.
- Report trends, risks, and opportunities to senior leadership with clear recommendations for action.
- Monitor ROI on partner programs and adjust strategies based on performance results.
Success Metrics
- Revenue / Assets Sold from assigned strategic accounts and channels.
- Advisor Penetration within each partner.
- Growth Rate in plan count and assets from top distribution partners.
- New product creation/expansion from top distribution partners.
- Win Rates on partner-sourced opportunities.
- Partner Engagement demonstrated through business reviews, campaigns, and field alignment.
Qualifications
Required
- Bachelor’s degree.
- 7–12+ years of institutional distribution, channel sales, or strategic account leadership experience.
- Deep knowledge of qualified plans, ERISA rules, and plan design.
- Success managing home-office relationships.
- Strong commercial acumen, negotiation skills, and executive presence.
Preferred
- Experience building or scaling a national channel program.
- Background in TPA or recordkeeping distribution.
- QKA, QPFC, or similar designation.
- Entrepreneurial mindset.
About JULY
JULY is a fast-growing, technology-forward retirement plan services company supporting over 8,500 employers and 250,000 participants. We pair innovation with hands-on expertise to deliver exceptional experiences to financial advisors, institutions, and plan sponsors.
