Title: National Head - Distribution Partnerships

Location: Gurgaon / Mumbai

Purpose of the Role:

Our Client is building a field-led distribution channel that converts existing Mutual Fund Distributors (MFDs) and Independent Financial Advisors into companies-empaneled distribution agents for bonds and other fixed-income products. The National Head will design, build and run this channel end to end. That means hiring the team, defining the agent value proposition, onboarding and training agents, and owning the revenue the network generates.

This is a 0 to 1 build with a clear path to a multi-hundred-crore distribution engine. The person must be both a strategist who can design the model and a hands-on operator who will personally open doors with large distributors in the early months.

Key Responsibilities:

1. Channel Strategy and Model Design:

- Define the target agent universe: segmentation of MFDs by AUM, geography, client profile, fixed-income affinity and tech-readiness.

- Design the agent proposition with Finance, Marketing and Compliance: commission and payout structure, empanelment process, incentives, tiering, contests and recognition.

- Build the city-wise rollout plan, with a phased sequence of cities, team deployment and agent targets per city.

- Set up the operating cadence: MIS, dashboards, review rhythms and funnel metrics from agent prospecting through onboarding, activation and repeat business.

2. Team Building and Leadership:

- Hire, onboard and mentor the 15 - 20 member field team (Regional Heads, City Managers, Relationship Managers and Business Development Managers) across key metros and Tier-1/2 cities.

- Define role clarity, territories, targets, incentive plans and performance management for the team.

- Build a coaching culture: joint calls, pipeline reviews and capability building.

3. Agent Acquisition (business development):

- Lead conversations with large and influential distributors, distributor associations, cluster leaders and national distribution houses.

- Convert existing MFDs into companies agents by articulating the value of fixed income as an add-on to their existing client base.

- Establish a repeatable acquisition playbook covering lead identification, pitch, empanelment, documentation and activation.

4. Agent Enablement and Training:

- Own the training architecture: product knowledge (bonds, SDIs, FDs, G-Secs, debt MFs, SIFs and so on), platform and process walkthroughs, compliance do's and don'ts, and client-conversation and objection-handling skills.

- Work with Product and Marketing on collaterals, pitch decks, comparison tools, webinars and in-person agent meets.

- Ensure agents are certified and compliant before they transact, in line with applicable SEBI, AMFI and company requirements.

5. Agent Management and Revenue Ownership:

- Actively manage the agent base: activation, first-transaction conversion, share of wallet, retention and reactivation.

- Own the national P&L for the channel: agent count, active agents, AUM / TIV sourced, revenue and cost of acquisition.

- Run tiered management: key-account treatment for top agents, pooled management for the long tail.

6. Cross-Functional and Governance:

- Partner with Product, Technology, Operations, Compliance, Legal and Finance to resolve agent-facing issues quickly (onboarding friction, payouts, platform features).

- Ensure strict adherence to regulatory and internal compliance norms on distribution, suitability and mis-selling.

- Feed market intelligence (competitor payouts, agent feedback, product gaps) back to leadership.

Educational Qualification / Work Experience & Skills:

- PG / MBA / Graduate with 15 - 20 years in financial services sales and distribution (flexible down to about 10 years for an exceptional candidate).

- At least 8 - 10 years in third-party distribution (MFDs / IFAs / banks / national distributors) of mutual funds, bonds, fixed deposits, PMS/AIF or similar financial products.

- At least 5 years leading multi-city field teams (a minimum of 10+ people, ideally with managers reporting to them).

- Proven track record of building or scaling a distributor / agent channel from a small base, rather than just maintaining an existing one.

- Prior exposure to fixed income / debt products (bonds, NCDs, corporate FDs, debt MFs) is a strong plus. Where the candidate lacks this, strong MFD relationships should compensate.

- Experience in a fintech or platform environment, or familiarity with digital onboarding and transaction flows, is preferred.

- Currently manages at least a 30 - 100+ member team, directly or indirectly, with a distributor or partner-facing revenue target.

- Certifications (value-add): AMFI / NISM mutual fund certifications (for example NISM Series V-A), plus any relevant NISM certification for fixed income or distribution. CFP or CWM is a plus but not required.

- Deep understanding of the MFD ecosystem: how distributors earn, think, choose products and platforms, and what makes them switch or add a product.

- Channel strategy and sales-force design: territory planning, span of control, incentive design.

- Financial product knowledge of bonds, fixed income and debt instruments (or the ability to learn fast).

- Familiarity with the regulatory landscape (SEBI, AMFI, OBPP framework and related distribution norms).

- Strong analytical ability: funnel metrics, cohort and agent-productivity analysis, P&L ownership.

- Entrepreneurial and hands-on: comfortable with ambiguity, building processes from scratch and travelling extensively.

- Strong people leadership: attracts, hires and retains good field talent, and coaches rather than just directs.

- Persuasive, credible senior-level relationship builder, able to engage with a veteran distributor as an equal.