Senior Sales Development Representative (SDR)

Senior Sales Development Representative

Company: Scholarly

Location: Denver metro area preferred; open to remote

Compensation: $80,000 – $130,000+ total cash compensation (base + performance bonus), based on experience and performance

About Scholarly

Scholarly is building the next generation of AI-powered software for higher education with a faculty-first focus. As institutions face a wave of digital transformation, our mission is to become the AI-native system of record for faculty data. Our platform unifies fragmented workflows into a single, intelligent system – powering annual reviews, promotion & tenure, appointment tracking, and more – while eliminating manual data entry and improving decision-making for institutions. We’re a mission-driven, product-focused team shaping the future of higher education.

Position Overview

Scholarly is seeking a Senior Sales Development Representative to drive top-of-funnel growth and help shape our outbound sales engine. This is an ideal role for an experienced SDR who thrives in fast-paced environments, can bring structure and creativity to outbound prospecting, and wants to have a direct, visible impact at a fast-growing startup.

This role is a mix of hands-on prospecting, strategic pipeline development, and playbook building. You’ll own outreach to senior higher education leaders – partnering with provosts, deans, associate deans, IT leaders, and faculty affairs offices – while also refining the messaging, sequences, and targeting strategies that let the rest of the sales team scale behind you.

We’re looking for someone who is comfortable switching between a high-volume outbound cadence, a thoughtful personalized email to a provost, and an internal strategy session on pipeline optimization. This role will have the opportunity to grow into an Account Executive position with strong performance.

Key Responsibilities

Prospecting & Pipeline Generation

• Conduct strategic research to identify and prioritize prospects within higher education institutions, including provosts, deans, associate deans, VP of Faculty Affairs, and IT leadership.

• Execute multi-channel outbound campaigns – cold calls, personalized emails, LinkedIn outreach, and event-based touchpoints – to generate qualified pipeline.

• Engage with prospects to understand their institutional needs, challenges, and goals related to faculty data management, workflows, and administrative efficiency.

• Clearly communicate the value proposition of the Scholarly platform, with a deep understanding of key features, competitive differentiators, and customer pain points.

• Qualify leads and schedule product demos and discovery meetings for Account Executives and company leadership.

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date records of all interactions and pipeline activity in HubSpot.

Strategy & Playbook Development

• Build and continuously improve outbound sales playbooks – messaging templates, objection handling guides, targeting criteria, and outreach sequences.

• Analyze outreach performance data to refine strategies, improve conversion rates, and identify new market opportunities.

• Stay current on trends in higher education, EdTech, and AI to inform prospecting strategies and conversation positioning.

Internal Collaboration & Leadership

• Collaborate closely with Account Executives, Marketing, and Product to align on messaging, ideal customer profiles, and campaign strategy.

• Provide market feedback to the product and engineering teams based on prospect conversations to help shape future product developments.

• Manage stakeholder communications with clarity, confidence, and a bias for action.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.

• 2+ years of experience in sales development, business development, or a related sales role; bonus points for experience in the education technology or higher education sector.

• Proven track record of meeting or exceeding pipeline generation and meeting-setting targets.

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build rapport and engage with senior-level stakeholders.

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail; able to manage high-volume outreach without sacrificing quality.

• Self-motivated and goal-oriented, with a passion for achieving targets and driving results in a fast-paced environment.

• Proficiency with CRM software (HubSpot is our CRM) and sales engagement tools (e.g., ZoomInfo, Starbridge, LinkedIn Sales Navigator).

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills; comfort communicating with executive-level contacts in higher education.

• Comfort with technical concepts such as SaaS platforms, AI, and data integrations (not required to be technical, but must be fluent in discussing a software product).

• Passion for higher education, EdTech, or mission-driven software preferred.

Why Join Scholarly

• Take on a highly visible, high-impact role that directly drives company growth. Successful Senior SDRs will have the opportunity to advance into Account Executive or other sales leadership roles.

• Work directly with the founders and senior leadership team.

• $80,000 – $130,000+ total cash compensation (base + performance bonus) depending on experience and results.

• Health, dental, and vision insurance.

• Equity in a fast-growing startup.

• Flexible work environment with hybrid options.

• Opportunity to grow into a leadership role as the company scales.

• The chance to be part of a mission-driven startup making a significant impact in higher education.