Business Development Partner, Strategic Accounts & Channel Partners

Cerence is seeking a Business Development Partner to drive revenue growth through direct customer engagement and channel partner relationships. This role will focus on identifying, developing, and closing customer opportunities while supporting and expanding Cerence's distributor network.

The ideal candidate is a customer-facing sales professional who can manage the entire opportunity lifecycle, from lead qualification and discovery through proposal development, negotiation, and deal closure. The role will also serve as the primary point of contact for customers, ensuring strong engagement, pipeline development, and execution of joint business activities.

Key Responsibilities

Direct Customer Engagement & Revenue Growth (50%)

• Own and manage a portfolio of direct customer opportunities across Cerence's non-automotive businesses.
• Conduct customer discovery sessions to understand business needs and technical requirements.
• Develop and deliver customer presentations, product demonstrations, and solution proposals.
• Coordinate with Product Management, Engineering, and Solutions teams to develop customer offerings.
• Prepare quotations, commercial proposals, and statements of work.
• Manage sales opportunities through the entire customer lifecycle, including negotiation and deal closure.
• Maintain accurate pipeline forecasting and CRM updates.
• Identify upsell and expansion opportunities within existing accounts.

Distributor & Channel Partner Management (30%)

• Serve as the day-to-day business lead for assigned distributors and reseller partners.
• Conduct regular pipeline reviews and business planning discussions.
• Support distributor enablement activities, including product training and sales support.
• Organize and execute two distributor workshops annually.
• Assist in the recruitment and onboarding of new channel partners, with emphasis on North American growth.
• Coordinate joint customer pursuits and co-selling opportunities with distributors.

Market Development & Events (10%)

• Represent Cerence at industry conferences, trade shows, and customer events.
• Support lead generation and follow-up activities from industry events.
• Develop relationships with key ecosystem partners and industry stakeholders.
• Provide market feedback and competitive intelligence to internal teams.

Cross-Functional Coordination (10%)

• Act as the voice of the customer within Cerence.
• Work closely with Product, Engineering, Marketing, and Operations teams to support customer requirements.
• Help prioritize customer requests and coordinate responses across functions.
• Support go-to-market initiatives and new product introductions.

Success Measures

First-Year Objectives

• Achieve assigned bookings and revenue targets.
• Close new customer opportunities across direct and channel-led engagements.
• Grow distributor-generated pipeline and customer opportunities.
• Successfully execute two distributor workshops annually.
• Improve partner engagement and participation in joint sales activities.
• Establish relationships with targeted strategic distributors in North America.

Qualifications

Required

• 3-7 years of experience in business development, sales, account management, or channel management.
• Track record of developing and closing technology-related business opportunities.
• Experience managing customer relationships and sales pipelines.
• Strong presentation, communication, and negotiation skills.
• Ability to work effectively across product, engineering, and commercial teams.
• Willingness to travel as needed.

Preferred

• Experience selling software, SaaS, AI, voice technologies, or enterprise technology solutions.
• Experience working with distributors, VARs, systems integrators, or channel partners.
• Familiarity with CRM systems and pipeline management.
• Experience participating in industry conferences and customer events.

Ideal Profile

This is someone who is:

• Hungry and commercially driven.
• Comfortable talking to customers daily.
• Able to independently run opportunities from qualification to close.
• Strong at coordinating internal resources to win business.
• Interested in supporting channel partners but primarily measured on revenue generation and deal closure.

Location & Travel

• Location: Remote — United States, Canada.
• Travel: approximately 30% to customer sites.

What we offer  

• We offer a generous compensation and benefits package (in addition to the base salary), including:  

• Salary range $96,000.00 USD- $144,000.00 USD It is not typical for offers to be made at or near the top of the range. The actual salary will be determined based on experience and other job-related factors.  

• Eligible commission based on performance up to 80,000.00 USD

• Insurance coverage (medical, dental, vision, life, and disability)  

• Paid time off  

• Paid holidays  

• 401(k) USA retirement plan with an employer match 

• Equity awards for certain positions and levels  

• Remote and/or hybrid work available depending on the position All compensation and benefits are subject to the terms and conditions of the underlying plans or programs, as applicable, and may be amended, terminated, or replaced from time to time.  

About Cerence 

Cerence is a global leader in conversational AI and voice technologies, expanding innovations beyond automotive into robotics and physical AI. 

Equal Opportunity Employer 

Cerence is committed to providing equal employment opportunities and creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

Cerence Inc. (Nasdaq: CRNC and www.cerence.com) is the global industry leader in creating unique, moving experiences for the automotive world. Spun out from Nuance in October 2019, Cerence is a new, independent company that has quickly gained traction as a leader in the automotive voice assistant space, working with all of the world’s leading automakers – from Ford and Fiat Chrysler to Daimler, Audi and BMW to Geely and SAIC – to transform how a car feels, responds and learns. Its track record is built on more than 20 years of industry experience and leadership and more than 500 million cars on the road today across more than 70 languages.  

As Cerence looks to the future and continues an ambitious growth agenda, we need someone to join the team and help build the future of voice and AI in cars. This is an exciting opportunity to join Cerence’s passionate, dedicated, global team and be a part of meaningful innovation in a rapidly growing industry. 

Cerence is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sex, sex stereotyping, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, religion, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, citizenship status, sexual orientation, protected military or veteran status, genetic information and other protected classifications. Cerence Equal Employment Opportunity Policy Statement.

All prospective and current Employees need to remain vigilant when it comes to executing security policies in the workplace. This includes:

- Following workplace security protocols and training programs to familiarize with the ways to maintain a safe workplace.
- Following security procedures to report any suspicious activity.
- Having respect for corporate security procedures to allow those procedures to be effective.
- Adhering to company's compliance and regulations.
- Encouraging to follow a zero tolerance for workplace violence.

- Basic knowledge of information security and data privacy requirements (e.g., how to protect data & how to be handling this data).

- Demonstrative knowledge of information security through internal training programs.