Business Development Lead, Enterprise

About this role

Perplexity is seeking a Business Development Lead to build and scale our enterprise BDR team. In this role, you will hire, coach, and lead a team of BDRs generating qualified pipeline for our Enterprise Account Executives. This role is ideal for a hands-on sales leader who has built pipeline generation functions before and wants to shape the outbound motion of one of the fastest-growing enterprise businesses in AI.

RESPONSIBILITIES

- Hire, onboard, and coach a team of BDRs, establishing the ramp plan, operating cadence, and performance bar

- Own the BDR contribution to sourced pipeline and qualified opportunities

- Design and iterate the outbound playbook, including account targeting, vertical messaging, and multi-channel prospecting

- Partner with Enterprise AEs on account planning, lead routing, and handoff quality

- Build vertical fluency on the team so reps can hold credible conversations with buyers in industries such as Financial Services, Legal, Life Sciences, and Consulting

- Coach reps to position Perplexity's full product suite, matching the right entry point to each account

- Run the operating rhythm: weekly 1:1s, call and message reviews, pipeline inspection, and a clear performance scoreboard

- Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, RevOps, and Strategic Finance on lead quality, source attribution, and compensation design

- Develop BDRs into future Account Executives and build a strong internal talent pipeline

QUALIFICATIONS

- 4+ years in SaaS sales or business development, including 1 to 2+ years directly managing a BDR or SDR team

- Proven track record of building or scaling a pipeline generation team in a high-growth environment

- Prior closing experience strongly preferred

- Skilled at coaching reps on outbound prospecting, qualification, and executive engagement

- Data-driven operating style with the ability to define, track, and improve conversion metrics

- Experience with modern prospecting tools and AI-native sales workflows

- Exceptional written and verbal communication; comfortable engaging with senior stakeholders internally and externally

- Experience with CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce)

- Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

The cash compensation for this role is $180-240k OTE based on experience level.

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