Business Development Manager

About Us

Encord is the universal data layer for AI that helps 300+ AI teams train and run models on the right data. Our platform indexes, curates, annotates, and evaluates data across the full AI lifecycle, from development through production.

Trusted by Woven by Toyota, AXA, UiPath, Zipline, and more. We're an ambitious team of 100+ working at the frontier of AI and have raised $60M in Series C funding from Wellington Management, CRV, Next47 and Y Combinator.

The Role

We're hiring a Manager, Business Development to lead, coach, and scale our Commercial Associate (CA) team as we grow our San Francisco go-to-market presence.

This is a high-impact leadership role focused on team development, outbound excellence, and cross-functional execution. You'll work closely with Sales, Growth, and RevOps to build a high-performing outbound engine — while developing early-career commercial talent into the next generation of Encord sellers.

This role is ideal for someone who enjoys both people leadership and building systems, and who thrives in an environment where not everything is fully defined yet.

• Lead and scale a high-performing Commercial Associate team focused on outbound pipeline generation
• Coach, develop, and review performance through 1:1s, feedback, and clear expectations
• Hire, onboard, and retain top early-career commercial talent
• Build and maintain world-class onboarding, training, and enablement programs
• Drive best-in-class outbound execution using data, CRM insights, and GTM tooling
• Partner cross-functionally with Sales, Marketing, Enablement, and RevOps to align pipeline and execution
• Continuously improve workflows, tooling, and signal quality as the team scales
• Represent Encord externally and support global growth initiatives as needed

• Proven experience managing and coaching early-career sales or business development teams
• A strong track record of building and scaling outbound programmes in B2B SaaS (ideally Series B–C)
• An effective communicator and mentor who brings clarity, energy, and structure to teams
• Comfort working with data — you don't just report metrics, you act on them
• Experience with modern GTM tools (e.g. Apollo, Clay, Gong, HubSpot)
• Strong commercial intuition and the ability to partner cross-functionally
• Interest in AI/ML or experience selling to technical buyers is a plus

• 5+ years in B2B SaaS sales, business development, or GTM roles, with a track record of performance in high-growth environments ideally at Series B–C stage
• 2+ years directly managing or coaching early-career BD, SDR, or Commercial Associate teams, with demonstrable impact on ramp time, quota attainment, and team retention
• Proven success building and scaling outbound pipeline programmes — you've built the playbook, not just run it
• Experience owning the full talent lifecycle for early-career commercial hires: sourcing, hiring, onboarding, and ongoing development
• Strong command of modern GTM tooling (e.g. Apollo, Clay, Gong, HubSpot) and CRM workflows, with the ability to use data to diagnose performance gaps and drive action
• Cross-functional instincts — comfortable partnering with Sales, Marketing, RevOps, and Enablement to align execution and improve pipeline quality
• Bonus: Experience selling to technical buyers or in AI/ML adjacent markets; prior experience building outbound programmes from scratch in an early-stage or pre-process environment

• Competitive salary, commission, and meaningful equity in a high-growth start-up
• Clear, accelerated growth opportunities as the company scales rapidly
• Strong in-person culture: 3–5 days/week in our newly launched North Beach loft office
• Flexible PTO to fully recharge
• 18 paid vacation days in the U.S. plus federal holidays
• Annual learning & development budget
• Comprehensive health, dental, and vision coverage
• Frequent travel opportunities across the U.S., London, and Europe
• Bi-annual company offsites, twice-weekly team lunches, and monthly socials