Business Development Advisor - IBM

Responsibilities

The Business Development Advisor will act as a commercial navigator to help sellers identify and execute hardware and software opportunities. They are responsible for managing deal registrations, coordinating with technical specialists, and driving customer adoption through proactive engagement.

Requirements

Candidates should possess strong relationship-building skills, commercial judgment, and the ability to manage multiple priorities effectively. While specific product knowledge is not required, a strong learning mindset and experience with business systems are essential for success.

Skills

• Business Development
• Relationship Building
• Sales Support
• Customer Success
• Account Management
• Hardware Sales
• Software Sales
• Deal Registration
• Commercial Navigation
• Communication
• Problem Solving
• Gainsight
• Data Analysis
• Project Coordination
• Technical Fluency

About this role

Help CDW Canada sellers turn opportunities into meaningful customer outcomes. As a Business Development Associate (BDA), you will be a trusted commercial navigator for hardware and software: connecting sellers with the right people, uncovering opportunities within existing customer environments, and keeping renewals and growth initiatives moving.
Working within the Partner Business Development team, you will proactively develop opportunities and support the execution of agreed programs across Canada. You will combine relationship-building, customer adoption and reliable commercial follow-through, bringing in Solution Architects and other specialists when technical expertise is needed.
What you’ll do
· Proactively review install-base and renewal opportunities with sellers. Identify expansion, refresh and modernization needs, clarify the customer opportunity, and connect the account team with the appropriate CDW resources.
· Become a dependable contact for CDW sellers across hardware and software. Help navigate partner programs, coordinate follow-up, and route commercial questions or technical requirements to the right specialists.
· Keep opportunities moving through accurate deal registration, program and deal-process coordination, timely follow-up and clear handoffs. Take ownership of the next action while working within agreed processes and responsibilities.
· Participate in Customer Success Advocate activities. Use the Gainsight customer-success platform to support conversations with clients about usage and adoption, document insights, and surface opportunities to help customers gain more value.
· Develop your commercial and technical fluency through sales learning and training. Complete the program’s quarterly IBM badge requirements and apply that knowledge to more confident seller and customer conversations.
· Support quarterly business reviews by maintaining useful activity and opportunity information, preparing updates, and following through on agreed actions. Help track progress in partner revenue growth, profitability and net-new customer activations.
What you bring
The essential capabilities are curiosity, sound commercial judgement and dependable execution. You should be able to demonstrate the following through relevant work, education or equivalent experience:
· Clear communication and relationship-building skills, including listening to customer needs, asking useful questions and working constructively with sellers, partners and specialists.
· A proactive approach to finding opportunities and following through, with the organization and attention to detail to manage several priorities, accurate records and timely handoffs.
· Comfort using business systems and interpreting activity and opportunity information to prioritize work, spot gaps and communicate progress.
· A willingness to learn hardware, software and partner processes, complete ongoing learning and badges, and recognize when to involve a technical or commercial specialist.
IBM product or partner-program knowledge, experience supporting sales or customer success, and familiarity with Gainsight or similar systems are useful assets, not prerequisites. A strong learning mindset and transferable experience matter.
Why this role
You will build national relationships and practical knowledge across hardware and software portfolio while contributing directly to customer and seller success. The work combines commercial problem-solving, customer conversations and hands-on execution, giving you opportunities to see how technology adoption, renewals and modernization connect to business growth.
What success looks like
Sellers know they can rely on you to make opportunities easier to navigate. Renewal and expansion opportunities receive proactive attention, customer usage and adoption insights lead to useful next steps, and registrations and handoffs are accurate and timely. You complete quarterly learning requirements and provide clear business-review updates. Your contribution supports partner revenue growth, profitability and net-new customer activations, alongside a stronger customer experience.
At CDW, we strive to offer market-competitive total rewards packages to attract and retain talent. As such, we are committed to pay transparency and ensuring fair compensation for all our coworkers. Each of our roles is assigned a salary range that is informed by multiple sources of market data. We determine individual pay within a given range based on a candidate's prior experience, knowledge, skills and abilities. This approach allows us to offer competitive and equitable salaries that reflect the value and responsibilities of each role at CDW. Salaries are based on a 40-hour workweek, and paid on a bi-weekly payroll schedule.
Pay range: OTE $92K-$94K, depending on experience and skill set
CDW is committed to being an AI-fluent organization
We’re looking for people who bring curiosity, a learner’s mindset, and a willingness to engage with ever-evolving technology and tools. We value adopting AI as a partner, openness to experimentation, and a shared interest in learning together on AI. Our goal is to create a culture where AI enhances—not replaces—human creativity and decision-making. You don’t need to be an expert today; what matters is your readiness to explore, adapt, and grow with us as we integrate AI responsibly and effectively into our work.
Additionally, CDW is committed to fostering an equitable, transparent, and respectful hiring process for all applicants. During our application process, our goal is to understand your experience, strengths, skills, and qualifications. As an AI forward company, we see AI not just as a tool, but as a catalyst for new ways of thinking, creating, and communicating. We encourage candidates to embrace an AI mindset, one that’s curious, adaptive, and ready to explore what’s possible. We welcome thoughtful use of AI to expand your perspective and elevate how you share your story, while ensuring ...

About CDW

IT Services and IT Consulting · 10,001+ employees · headquartered in Vernon Hills, IL