Sales Development Representative Job Description
A sales development representative job description template covering cold outreach, quota, the base-versus-OTE pay split, and the promotion path to AE.
A Sales Development Representative books meetings; that is nearly the entire job. The role sits at the top of the sales funnel, running outbound calls, emails and social touches to get a qualified conversation onto an Account Executive's calendar, and it does not include closing. Compensation reflects that split: SDR pay is mostly base salary with a smaller variable component tied to meetings booked and meetings that turn into real pipeline, weighted more toward the guaranteed half than an AE's pay is.
This is a high-churn role industry-wide, and it's designed that way — most companies build the SDR seat as a one-to-two-year proving ground rather than a career destination. Whether the promotion path is real varies enormously by company, and "clear path to Account Executive" is close to universal wording in SDR postings whether or not it reflects what actually happens there. The better question to ask in an interview is how many SDRs were promoted to AE in the last year, and how long they'd been in the seat when it happened.
Day to day, the job runs on visible numbers: a weekly target for dials, emails and meetings booked, usually on a dashboard the whole team can see. That transparency suits people motivated by a clear, immediate scoreboard, and wears on people who aren't — it's worth being honest with yourself about which one you are before taking the role.
Brindlow · Raleigh, NC
Full-time · Hybrid
$45,000 – $55,000 base ($65,000 – $80,000 OTE)
About the role
Brindlow's SDR team generates the pipeline the Account Executive team closes, working target accounts among mid-market manufacturers and distributors who are candidates for our supply chain visibility platform. You'll research accounts, run outbound sequences across phone, email and LinkedIn, qualify inbound leads from marketing campaigns, and book discovery meetings that hold up once an AE gets on the call.
The team is eight SDRs reporting to a Sales Development Manager, based in our Raleigh office on a hybrid schedule — three days a week in, two remote. You'll sit with the team you're learning from, which is deliberate.
What you'll do
- Research and prioritize target accounts within Brindlow's ideal customer profile of mid-market manufacturers and distributors.
- Run outbound sequences across phone, email and LinkedIn to generate interest from cold and warm prospects.
- Qualify inbound leads from marketing campaigns and website form-fills.
- Book qualified discovery meetings for Account Executives, and hit a weekly quota of meetings held, not just scheduled.
- Keep call notes and CRM records detailed enough that an AE isn't starting a discovery call from zero.
- Partner with marketing on what messaging is actually landing, and flag what isn't.
- Hit weekly activity targets for calls, emails and social touches.
- Sit in on AE discovery calls periodically to learn how a qualified meeting turns into a deal.
What we're looking for
- 0-2 years of sales or customer-facing experience — this is an entry-level role, and prior quota-carrying sales experience is not expected.
- Comfortable with high call volume and routine rejection; most outreach doesn't convert, and that has to be fine with you.
- Clear, confident verbal and written communication.
- Organized enough to run a large account list without things quietly falling through.
- Coachable — this role runs on call reviews and manager feedback, and it moves fast for people who act on it.
- Basic comfort with a CRM and outbound tools, or a demonstrated ability to pick up new software quickly.
Nice to have
- Prior internship, retail, or hospitality experience — anything with real, live customer interaction.
- Experience with a sales engagement platform such as Outreach or Salesloft.
- A demonstrated interest in B2B software or the supply chain and logistics space specifically.
- A bachelor's degree, though it isn't required — several current AEs on this team started as SDRs without one.
Benefits
- Medical, dental and vision coverage, with employee premiums covered in full.
- 401(k) with a 4% company match.
- Base salary plus uncapped variable tied to meetings held and meetings that convert to pipeline.
- A defined promotion track to Account Executive, formally reviewed at twelve months.
- Twenty days of paid time off plus company holidays.
Salary range
As posted for this sample role. Real pay varies by employer, location and experience.
$45,000–$55,000/ yr
ATS keywords for this role
The applicant tracking system (ATS) — the recruiting software a hiring team searches and filters applicants with — will screen for these. Weight shows how central each one is to this specific posting.
Required and central (4)
Important (8)
Mentioned in passing (4)
Frequently asked questions
Is a Sales Development Representative the same thing as "inside sales"?
Related but not identical. "Inside sales" is a broad, older term for any selling done remotely rather than in the field, and some companies still use it to mean the whole non-field sales org, including closers. SDR is narrower and specific to the pipeline-generation half of that world — prospecting and qualifying, not closing. Read the responsibilities section rather than the title when a posting says "inside sales."
How long does it usually take to get promoted from SDR to Account Executive?
At companies with a genuine track record, a commonly cited range is twelve to eighteen months, but the range exists because the promise varies so much by company. Ask specifically how many SDRs were promoted in the last year and how long they'd been in the role — a company that can't answer that plainly probably doesn't have the track record the posting implies.
Is the base salary or the variable pay bigger for an SDR?
Usually the base. Unlike an Account Executive's pay, which often splits close to fifty-fifty between base and variable, an SDR's compensation is weighted more toward the guaranteed base — commonly something like seventy percent base to thirty percent variable — because the role is measured on activity and meetings rather than closed revenue.
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