Director, Sales Development

Position Overview:  

The Director, Sales Development (EMEA) will build and lead a high-performing outbound BDR organisation from our Galway hub (hybrid), with responsibility for a Galway-based team and a remote DACH BDR team. You will directly manage BDR Managers (including one based in DACH), Team Leads, and potentially 1–2 tenured BDRs to stay close to the front line. The team’s mission is to generate high-quality Initial Meetings (IMs) from true cold outbound (phone, email, social) with net-new prospects, while Account Executives (AEs) own opportunity creation and close. 

You will be a hands-on outbound expert who still actively prospects to model excellence, building a consistent, predictable flow of AE-accepted IMs that convert into qualified pipeline and revenue across EMEA. 

Key Responsibilities 

In this role, you will own the strategy, execution, and coaching needed to build a world-class outbound engine for EMEA. 

• Execute the EMEA outbound strategy (ICP, target account lists, channel mix, messaging, sequencing) to consistently deliver high-quality, AE-accepted Initial Meetings from net-new accounts. 

• Lead from the front by actively prospecting into priority accounts to test messaging, demonstrate best practices, and translate live learning into coaching and playbooks. 

• Coach and develop BDR Managers, Team Leads, and tenured BDRs; define clear scorecards, operating rhythms, and career paths for each layer of the team. 

• Define and enforce clear IM acceptance criteria with Sales and ensure airtight handoffs (pre-IM prep, context-rich notes, next steps, and CRM hygiene) so AEs can reliably convert IMs into opportunities. 

• Run a continuous experimentation program (A/B tests across messaging, cadences, channels, and value props) and operationalise winners into scalable EMEA playbooks. 

• Align closely with Marketing, RevOps, and Product Marketing/Enablement on data quality, lists, intent/signals, territories, messaging, and enablement to maximise outbound effectiveness. 

• Lead a distributed team across Galway and DACH with clear operating rhythms, time-zone-aware coverage, and periodic in-person sessions to build culture and performance. 

Required Experience/Skills  

• 6–10+ years in B2B SaaS top-of-funnel roles (BDR/SDR/AE) or equivalent experience, including 2–4+ years leading BDR or outbound sales teams with a strong track record of generating high-quality IMs from cold outbound. 

• Demonstrated personal excellence in outbound prospecting (phone, email, social, video), with the ability and willingness to still execute at a high level. 

• Proven ability to coach and apply structured qualification methodologies (e.g., MEDDICC/MEDDPICC) and to leverage modern sales tools, including AI-powered prospecting and research, across the EMEA team. 

• Metrics fluency across the top of funnel (coverage, connect/reply rates, held rate, AE acceptance, IM-to-opportunity conversion) and the ability to translate data into daily actions and coaching. 

• Experience leading distributed teams across EMEA and thriving in a fast-paced, high-growth environment. 

 

We know that not everyone ticks every box. If you’re excited about building high-performing outbound teams and scaling predictable pipeline across EMEA, we’d still love to hear from you. 

 

How we’ll measure success 

• Outbound Initial Meetings (IMs) booked, held, and AE-accepted (monthly) against goal. 

• Engagement quality: show rate, connect/reply rates, and IM quality as defined by agreed acceptance criteria. 

• IM-to-opportunity conversion, with AEs owning opportunity creation and BDRs accountable for IM quality and handoff. 

• Target-account coverage and penetration: contact coverage, multi-threading, and engagement momentum across EMEA. 

• Process excellence: handoff SLAs, data quality, and the predictability of IM forecasts. 

• People and capability: BDR ramp time, retention, quota attainment, adoption of playbooks/tools, and manager/Team Lead development and bench strength. 

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