Director, Sales & Business Development - Articulate

Job Title: Director, Sales & Business Development
Job Location: United States
Job Listing URL: https://jobs.lever.co/articulate/65318c9d-86f6-426f-986d-094243e442f1
Job Description: As Director, Sales & Business Development, you will lead, scale, and continuously improve the teams responsible for generating qualified sales pipeline across both inbound and outbound motions. You will own the strategy, structure, and performance of our pipeline generation engine, encompassing process excellence, enablement partnerships, and the operating rhythm that turns marketing demand and proactive prospecting into high-quality, sales-ready opportunities.

You will define and optimize the right structure for the business, distinct SDR (inbound) and BDR (outbound) teams versus a blended model, while building a metrics-driven, human-centered culture that consistently meets or exceeds pipeline goals. As a cross-functional leader, you’ll partner closely with the VP of Global Direct Sales, Marketing, and Revenue Operations to align demand generation and sales development strategy, driving predictable and scalable growth.
What You'll Do:
Architect & own charter, coverage, and operating playbooks for inbound SDRs and outbound BDRs; evaluate and evolve team structure (separate vs. blended) based on performance data and GTM strategy.
Lead the transformation of reactive inbound handling into a proactive, integrated inbound + outbound engine tied to ICP and segment priorities.
Directly lead a blended team of individual contributors and one front-line manager, with accountability for building future leadership capacity as the function scales.
Serve as senior escalation point for complex prospect situations and pipeline-critical blockers, ensuring alignment with broader revenue strategy and business goals..Own responsive, high-quality coverage of inbound interest across phone, chat, email and other emerging channels; continuously improve speed-to-lead, qualification depth, and conversion to sales-accepted opportunities.
Build and optimize targeted outbound programs (cold calling, email sequences, and social/LinkedIn engagement) to create net-new pipeline from ICP accounts; ensure disciplined cadence execution.
Define and manage KPIs (response SLAs, conversation/meeting rates, SAL→SQL conversion, pipeline created, forecast quality); maintain transparent dashboards for stakeholders.
Partner with Revenue Operations and Sales Enablement on onboarding, training, sales assets, territory design, equitable goals/comp plans, and tooling adoption.
Implement and refine processes that maximize productivity and improve handoff quality to closing teams; enforce CRM hygiene.
Ensure rigorous opportunity qualification (e.g., BANT) across inbound; encourage advanced methodologies (e.g., MEDDPICC/Challenger) where appropriate.
Drive effective use of CRM and sales engagement tools (Salesforce, Outreach/Salesloft, ZoomInfo); evaluate and adopt best-in-class technologies.
Forecast pipeline contribution by segment/region; communicate insights, risks, and remediation plans to executive stakeholders.
Partner tightly with Marketing on MQL definitions, lead routing rules, campaign feedback, and experiments to raise conversion rates.
Foster and scale a human-centered, inclusive culture; recognize performance, maintain high morale, and improve retention.
Meet and exceed pipeline targets; continuously identify opportunities to improve efficiency, quality, and scale.
What You Should Have:
5+ years building and leading multi-level inbound (SDR) and outbound (BDR) pipeline-generation teams with a track record of exceeding goals.
Demonstrated strength in change management and process optimization across high-volume motions.
Mastery of CRM and sales engagement platforms (Salesforce; Outreach and/or Salesloft; ZoomInfo).
Strong analytical acumen with the ability to define and manage KPIs, forecast performance, and drive data-informed strategy.
Outstanding executive communication and influence skills, with experience aligning senior stakeholders across the business.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience.
Nice to Haves:
SaaS background; familiarity with e-learning solutions a plus.
Working knowledge of MEDDPICC and Challenger; deep experience with BANT.