Lead Sales Development Manager

Location: London

Salary: Competitive basic salary + uncapped commission

Sector: Energy / Commodity Market Intelligence

Job Type: Permanent

Role overview:

We are looking for an experienced Lead SDR Manager to take ownership of a brand-new Sales Development function within an established and growing organisation.

This is an exciting greenfield opportunity for someone who enjoys building teams, creating sales processes and developing people from the ground up.

You will initially lead a small team of approximately 4 SDRs, with the opportunity to grow the function as the business scales.

This is not a traditional management position where you simply manage from the sidelines. We are looking for someone who is prepared to lead from the front, coach by example and remain hands-on with outbound sales activity during the early stages of the function.

As the team becomes established and processes mature, the role will naturally evolve towards a greater management and leadership focus.

Responsibilities:

• Build and establish the company's SDR Function from the ground up
• Recruit, onboard, train and develop a high-performing SDR team.
• Create and implement outbound sales processes, scripts, KPIs and performance standards.
• Lead from the front by participating in outbound calling and appointment setting, particularly during the initial build phase.
• Coach SDRs through call reviews, role plays, 1-to-1s and ongoing performance development.
• Set clear activity, appointment and revenue targets and ensure the team consistently delivers against them.
• Monitor key metrics including calls, conversations, appointments, conversion rates and pipeline generated.
• Identify performance gaps and implement structured coaching and improvement plans.
• Work closely with the Account Executive team to ensure SDR-generated opportunities are properly qualified and handed over.
• Analyse lead quality and conversion data to continually improve SDR performance.
• Establish a clear career development and progression pathway for SDRs.
• Build a strong, accountable and commercially focused sales culture.
• Continuously refine the SDR strategy as the team grows.

The ideal Candidate:

We are looking for someone who has already demonstrated that they can build and develop a successful outbound sales team.

You will ideally have:

• 3 - 5 years proven experience as an SDR Manager, SDR Team Leader, Sales Development Manager, B2B Sales Manager or similar.
• Strong experience managing outbound SDR/BDR teams.
• A proven track record of recruiting, coaching and developing salespeople.
• Experience establishing or improving SDR processes and sales structures.
• Strong understanding of outbound prospecting, cold calling and appointment setting.
• A highly data-driven approach to sales management, with a strong understanding of conversion metrics.
• Experience working within a SaaS, subscription, technology, data or information-led sales environment.
• Strong commercial awareness and an ability to manage performance against revenue and activity targets.
• The confidence to be hands-on and make outbound calls yourself when required.
• A genuine passion for developing people and building high-performing sales teams.

The ideal candidate:

• The successful candidate will be someone who enjoys building rather than inheriting.
• You will be comfortable coming into an environment where the SDR function is still being established, analysing what is currently working, identifying gaps and putting the right structure in place.
• You should be equally comfortable coaching an SDR through a difficult call, analysing conversion data, setting team strategy or picking up the phone yourself.
• Most importantly, you will know how to create a team that eventually becomes self-sufficient, accountable and consistently high-performing.

Why Join the organsation:

• Opportunity to build an SDR function from scratch.
• Direct influence over the company's sales development strategy.
• Opportunity to recruit and shape your own team.
• Genuine progression as the SDR function expands.
• High level of autonomy and ownership.
• Opportunity to make a measurable impact on revenue generation.
• Join an organisation operating within the SaaS/data and commodities intelligence space.
• Work with a product providing subscription-based access to intelligence and live financial data across areas including energy, oil and gas.