Director, Product Marketing; Vendor Ecosystem

Description

Position Title
:
Director of Product Marketing, Vendor Ecosystem

Department
:
Marketing

Reporting To
:
Head of Marketing

Location
:
Hybrid (Chicago, Illinois or Dallas, Texas) 1 day/week in-office

This is a high-impact leadership role responsible for shaping the strategy, positioning, and go-to-market execution for our evolving vendor ecosystem.

Avant is a distributor of 300+ vendors providing IT services spanning connectivity, UCaaS, CCaaS, Colo, IaaS, and security services, generating well over $2B of vendor revenue annually. It sits in between 300 vendors and thousands of large and small channel partners (AKA Trusted Advisors) it helps enable, ranging from VARs such as CDW and e-plus, to one- and two-person consultant companies.

Avant is the largest distributor for brand names such as ZOOM, Comcast, Equinix, Genesys, among many others.

Our ecosystem is dynamic and continually adapting to shifts in the marketplace, emerging technologies, and the changing needs of Trusted Advisors (TAs) and end customers. We are looking for a Director of Product Marketing who can define how we communicate the value of this ecosystem clearly, credibly, and strategically — while navigating the complexity that comes with scale and varied partner relationships.

You will own the outbound marketing strategy for how our vendors are represented, prioritized, and activated across our TA and end-customer communities. This includes not only messaging and campaign execution, but also the development of strategic collateral and enablement materials that empower TAs to confidently educate and sell to their end customers.

This role requires someone who thrives in complexity, exercises strong judgment, and can balance diplomacy with strategic clarity. You will be the dedicated leader for vendor ecosystem product marketing — effectively a team of one in this specific domain – with support and expertise from SMEs across the company. Success requires a true doer: someone who can independently build strategy, create materials, and drive execution.

At the same time, this role is highly matrixed, requiring strong orchestration across partnerships, sales, training, marketing, product, and executive leadership. The ability to influence without direct authority and align diverse stakeholders around a clear strategy will be essential.

Employees located in the Greater Chicagoland Area or Dallas/Frisco area are currently expected to work from the office 1 day per week; however, this is subject to change.

• Serve as the single-threaded product marketing owner for the vendor ecosystem, driving clarity, accountability, and forward momentum across a highly cross-functional environment.
• Develop and lead the overarching product marketing strategy for our vendor ecosystem.
• Create clear positioning frameworks that reflect our evolving market strategy and partner portfolio.
• Translate ecosystem complexity into structured, digestible narratives for TAs and customers.
• Assess how and why existing customers engage with vendor solutions and apply these insights to help refine AVANT’s value proposition, messaging, and go-to-market approach in context of our vendor portfolio.
• Establish thoughtful prioritization models for vendor visibility and activation based on business objectives, partnerships, and negotiated agreements.
• Ensure vendor representation is balanced, intentional, and aligned with long‑term ecosystem health.

• Manage marketing strategy across a large and diverse vendor base with varied strategic relationships.
• Partner closely with internal stakeholders across sales, partnerships, training, product, and marketing to understand negotiated agreements, growth priorities, and vendor commitments.
• Orchestrate cross‑functional stakeholders across sales, partnerships, training, product, and marketing in a matrixed organization, ensuring alignment without direct reporting authority.
• Design go‑to‑market approaches that maintain strong vendor relationships while avoiding unintended favoritism.
• Build trust and credibility with vendors…