Head of Sales Development, Mailchimp

Job Overview

Are you ready to lead and scale an ambitious team driving the growth engine for one of our fastest-growing business segments? Join as the Head of Sales Development, where you’ll play a critical role in defining the strategy, developing the team, and driving the success of our mid-market new business sales function.

This function is still in its early stages, built with a scrappy, entrepreneurial spirit over the last year, and is now showing strong momentum. As we accelerate, we need a proven leader who can steer the Business Development Representative (BDR) teams toward operational excellence, rapid pipeline growth, and a culture of high performance. Your work will directly empower our mid-market sales team to deliver exceptional results while shaping the foundation for scalable growth in years to come.

Why This Role Matters:

This is a pivotal leadership position for our mid-market new business team. You’ll have the opportunity to shape how we acquire and engage customers in this critical segment while scaling a function that is still in its early days. For the right candidate, this is a chance to make an outsized impact on the trajectory of the business and build a legacy of empowering customers, teams, and transformation.

Responsibilities

As the Head of Sales Development, you will:

Leadership & Team Management:

• Build a world-class Sales Development organization by coaching and motivating leaders to drive performance, accountability, and continual improvement.
• Lead BDR Managers and their respective teams of BDRs to deliver on business objectives
• Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence, attracting and retaining top talent.

Strategy & Execution:

• Define and execute the vision, strategy, and roadmap for sales development, aligned to the growth objectives of our mid-market new business sales team.
• Partner with Marketing, Sales, and other cross-functional teams to create and refine demand generation strategies and lead qualification processes.
• Develop frameworks to ensure quality handoffs from Marketing to BDRs and then to the Mid-Market Account Executives.

Pipeline Growth:

• Drive sustainable pipeline generation through outbound prospecting, inbound lead qualification, and ecosystem partner channel development.
• Ensure that the BDR team delivers high-quality opportunities that convert into closed deals, contributing to the growth of the mid-market segment.
• Use data-driven insights and metrics to continuously refine strategy, processes, and resource allocation for maximum pipeline impact.

Operational Excellence:

• Establish scalable systems, processes, and tools to improve team efficiency and productivity.
• Implement and maintain rigorous performance tracking, forecasting, and reporting mechanisms to ensure alignment with corporate goals.
• Collaborate to enhance lead scoring models, CRM workflows, and Sales-Marketing alignment.

Coaching & Development:

• Act as the primary mentor for BDR Managers, ensuring they are equipped to coach their teams effectively.
• Develop and execute training programs to continuously upskill the BDR team on prospecting techniques, product knowledge, and industry insights.
• Encourage feedback and foster an environment of experimentation to refine go-to-market efforts.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Partner closely with Mid-Market Sales leaders to ensure alignment between Sales Development and New Business goals.
• Work hand-in-hand with Marketing to optimize demand generation campaigns and outbound messaging strategies.
• Represent the Sales Development function in executive leadership meetings, sharing insights, challenges, opportunities, and results.

Qualifications

• Experience:
  • 10+ years of experience in sales development, business development, or new business sales roles, with 5+ years in leadership positions managing managers and teams.
  • Proven success building and scaling sales/BDR teams within a fast-growth, scrappy, or startup-like environment, especially around new market segments.
  • Deep understanding of mid-market sales dynamics and long-cycle consultative selling.
• Leadership:
  • Exceptional leadership skills with a proven track record of inspiring and motivating teams to deliver results.
  • Experience coaching leaders to cultivate talent and scale organizations effectively.
  • Executive presence with the ability to influence and communicate effectively across all levels of the organization.
• Strategy & Results:
  • Demonstrated ability to define and execute innovative strategies that drive pipeline growth in alignment with business priorities.
  • Hypothesis-driven and analytical thinker with a data-informed approach to optimizing processes and decision-making.
• Collaboration:
  • Strong cross-functional experience working with Marketing, Sales, and Revenue Operations to drive shared initiatives.
  • Ability to build trusted relationships across teams and functions, empowering alignment and shared accountability.
• Technical Skills:
  • Expertise with CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce), sales enablement platforms, and analytics frameworks for data-driven decision-making.
  • Familiarity with modern outbound techniques (e.g., sequencing tools, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, etc.).
• Cultural Fit:
  • Entrepreneurial mindset and willingness to roll up your sleeves to build from the ground up.
  • Customer-obsessed with an unwavering commitment to delivering value.

Location: Mountain View or NYC or Atlanta with the expectation of occasional travel for team offsites, leadership meetings, and customer-facing opportunities.