Sales Development Representative job description template
A template you can use, plus the part most templates skip: how to assess each requirement once candidates start applying.
SDRs create qualified pipeline through outbound and inbound follow-up. It is a high-volume, high-rejection role where consistency and coachability predict success better than charisma. A good sales development representative job description separates genuine must-haves from preferences, describes what the person will actually do, and defines the criteria interviewers will assess against.
About the role
SDRs create qualified pipeline through outbound and inbound follow-up. It is a high-volume, high-rejection role where consistency and coachability predict success better than charisma.
Also advertised as: SDR, BDR, Business Development Representative.
Responsibilities
- Prospect and research target accounts
- Run outbound sequences across email, phone and social
- Qualify inbound leads promptly
- Book qualified meetings for account executives
- Maintain accurate CRM records
Requirements
Essential
- Resilience and consistency in a high-rejection environment
- Clear written communication
- Coachability
- Basic commercial curiosity
Nice to have
- Prior SDR experience
- Your market or ICP
- CRM and sales tooling familiarity
Keep the essential list genuinely essential. Long requirement lists measurably reduce applications from candidates who would meet your actual bar, with a stronger effect among under-represented groups. Everything you can train, move to nice-to-have.
How to assess each requirement
This is the part most job description templates omit, and it is the part that determines whether the description was worth writing. Each requirement needs a way to test it:
| Requirement | How to assess it |
|---|---|
| Resilience and consistency in a high-rejection environment | Ask: "What did your daily activity actually look like in your last role?" |
| Clear written communication | Ask: "Talk me through your best-performing outbound message and why it worked." |
| Coachability | Ask: "How do you research an account before reaching out?" |
| Basic commercial curiosity | Ask: "You have had three weeks below target. What do you do?" |
Full question set with strong and weak answer guidance: sales development representative interview questions.
On salary
Publish a range. Pay transparency requirements are expanding across the EU and parts of the US, candidates increasingly filter out roles without one, and omitting it mainly advantages whoever negotiates hardest — which correlates with confidence rather than contribution. See compensation bands.
Generate a version specific to your company and role with the free job description generator.