Sales Development Representative

SALES DEVELOPMENT REPRESENTATIVE
HYBRID /WASHNGTON DC (1 - 2 days/week in the office)
SALARY: US$55K - $60K plus Commission

Inside Higher Ed provides the latest news, analysis and solutions for the entire higher education community. Inside Higher Ed is owned by Times Higher Education (THE), the world’s most authoritative source of data, analysis and information on higher education, with five decades’ experience dedicated to the field.

Our mission is to provide forward-looking insights and services to the entire higher education community, empowering individuals and organizations to excel and transform learners’ lives.

Basic Scope and primary objectives

We are looking for a proactive and ambitious Sales Development Representative (SDR) to join our commercial team. This role is the engine of our sales growth, sitting at the very top of the funnel and with a very clear outbound focus. This “hunter” role involves high volume prosecting and is responsible for initiating contact, generating and qualifying leads across our portfolio of solutions for our regional managers and directors to close.

By understanding the unique challenges faced by university leaders, academics and administrative staff, you will identify how IHE and THE can best support their institutional mission. This is a fantastic opportunity for a commercially minded individual to launch their career in sales within a globally respected organization. This role will play a key part in creating and improving early-funnel quality, ensuring only well-qualified leads enter the pipeline to increase conversion rates and support more accurate forecasting.

Key Responsibilities

• Outbound Prospecting: Initiate contact with potential clients through cold calling, personalized email campaigns, and social media outreach (LinkedIn).

• Research & Target Identification: Identify and research target accounts to identify key decision-makers and stakeholders.

• Lead Qualification: Qualify leads based on agreed framework to determine fit.

• Meeting Scheduling: Book demos and discovery meetings for regional managers and directors.

• CRM Discipline: Maintain, log, and update all activities, calls, and emails in CRM system to ensure data integrity.

• Metric Tracking: Meet or exceed daily and monthly quotas, such as 40–50+ calls per day and 10–40 emails per day, resulting in a consistent pipeline.

• Sales & Marketing Alignment: Work closely with the marketing team to provide feedback on campaign quality and lead intelligence, helping to refine targeting for future campaigns

Person Specification

Essential Skills/Qualifications

• Outbound Experience: 1-3 years of experience in sales, business development, or cold outreach.

• Proven Communicator: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex value propositions clearly and concisely to C-level executives.

• Resilience & Drive: A positive and “gritty” mindset with the resilience to handle rejection and the hustle to consistently hit daily activity and meeting-setting targets.

• Active Listener: A natural curiosity to understand client needs rather than just pitching a product. You should be consultative by nature.

• Organizational Prowess: Ability to manage a high volume of leads, prioritize tasks effectively, and follow through diligently in a fast-paced environment.

• Tech Savvy: Comfortable learning new tools. Experience with Salesforce and Acoustic is a plus.

• Data-driven mindset: Comfortable using dashboards, activity metrics, and lead insights to guide daily priorities.

• Team Player: A collaborative spirit, eager to share insights with the team and learn from senior sales colleagues.