Director, Sales Development

About this position

Rippling gives businesses one place to run HR, IT, and Finance. It brings together all of the workforce systems that are normally scattered across a company, like payroll, expenses, benefits, and computers. For the first time ever, you can manage and automate every part of the employee lifecycle in a single system.

Take onboarding, for example. With Rippling, you can hire a new employee anywhere in the world and set up their payroll, corporate card, computer, benefits, and even third-party apps like Slack and Microsoft 365—all within 90 seconds.

Based in San Francisco, CA, Rippling has raised $1.4B+ from the world’s top investors—including Kleiner Perkins, Founders Fund, Sequoia, Greenoaks, and Bedrock—and was named one of America’s best startup employers by Forbes.

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We are seeking a highly motivated and strategic Director of Sales Development to lead and scale our Sales Development Representative (SDR) team. This role is responsible for driving pipeline growth, optimizing sales development processes, and ensuring alignment between marketing, sales, and revenue operations. The ideal candidate is a data‑driven leader who masterfully leverages AI to improve top‑of‑funnel initiatives and day‑to‑day workflows for SDRs, partnership with AEs, and overall execution on how to improve our GTM strategy.

A proven track record of building high‑performing sales development teams and delivering measurable results as a senior leader in a fast‑paced environment is required.

As the Director of Sales Development, you will own, design, and build the function that fuels Rippling’s future growth in the Mid‑Market and Enterprise spaces. You will optimize our account‑based strategy to improve efficiencies throughout the sales funnel and partner with marketing and sales to create revenue velocity.

• Develop and execute a comprehensive sales development strategy to drive qualified pipeline growth.
• Lead, mentor, and scale a high‑performing SDR team (ICs, Managers, Senior Managers), ensuring continuous coaching, training, and professional development.
• Build and foster a high‑performance culture of accountability and continuous growth.
• Identify and solve challenges across your team.
• Align SDR strategy with marketing and sales leadership to optimize lead generation and conversion rates.
• Optimize key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track team performance, efficiency, and success.

• Implement best practices for outbound prospecting, including call scripts, email sequences, and social selling strategies.
• Leverage sales technologies (CRM, sales engagement tools, analytics platforms) to optimize SDR workflows and improve efficiency.
• Monitor and refine lead qualification processes to ensure high‑quality opportunities for the sales team.
• Work closely with Revenue Operations to analyze performance data and adjust strategies as needed.

• Partner with Marketing to ensure seamless lead handoff and optimize lead scoring.
• Collaborate with Sales Leadership to optimize pod pairings and handoff gaps.
• Partner with Rev Ops on segment analysis, book transitions, forecasting, capacity planning, and reporting.
• Identify and drive enablement strategies with your segment leader to ensure ICs and Managers build and improve the skills necessary to reach quota.
• Align with HR on all performance management cases and provide coaching on best practices.

• 5+ years of leadership experience in sales development or inside sales, with at least 2 years in a 3rd‑line leadership position.
• Proven track record of scaling and managing SDR teams in a high‑growth environment.
• Strong understanding of sales methodologies and lead‑generation best practices.
• Expertise in Salesforce, Nooks, Outreach, Zoominfo, Apollo, and AI.
• Excellent leadership, coaching, and communication skills with the ability to motivate and inspire teams.
• Data‑driven mindset with the ability to leverage analytics for decision‑making.
• Exper…