Manager, Sales Development (Strategic) - Newsela

About the Role

As the Manager of Sales Development, you will help lead the growth engine of our sales team by coaching and developing a team of Sales Development Representatives (SDRs). Reporting to the Director of Strategic Sales, you will play a key role in designing and implementing lead generation strategies that drive success in strategic conversations with District and School Administrators. Your ability to continuously improve team performance and exceed territory goals will be integral to Newsela’s mission of bringing meaningful classroom learning to every student.

What You'll Do

• Lead & Coach: Lead, coach, and develop a team of onshore SDRs who play a critical role in initiating partnerships with K–12 schools and districts.
• Drive Performance: Own SDR team performance across meetings, qualified pipeline generation, conversion rates, and territory coverage; use data to identify opportunities to strengthen execution and business outcomes.
• Collaborate Cross-Functionally: Partner with sales leaders and Account Executives across the Customer organization to align on account strategy, lead follow-up, meeting quality, territory priorities, and shared goals.
• Strategize: Develop and implement lead-generation strategies that resonate with district and school administrators and support strategic sales motions.
• Build Processes: Build scalable processes, outreach playbooks, cadences, and enablement that improve SDR productivity and create a consistent prospect experience.
• Talent Development: Recruit, onboard, develop, and retain high-performing SDR talent while providing clear coaching, feedback, and performance management.
• Leverage Tech Stack: Utilize Salesforce, Salesloft, Gong, and other sales tools to manage team performance, workflows, and reporting effectively.
• Adopt AI: Drive thoughtful adoption of AI tools and best practices to improve SDR productivity, personalize outreach, strengthen prospect research, and streamline inbound and outbound workflows.

What You'll Bring

• Experience: 4+ years of sales experience or 1+ years of SDR management, with a proven track record of coaching others (prior people management experience is highly desired).
• Accountability: Direct experience hitting goals, holding yourself accountable, and coaching others to succeed against metrics.
• Strategic Mindset: Strong ability to develop and execute lead generation strategies across your team.
• Talent Identification: Strong ability to identify and develop talent.
• Technical Proficiency: Proficiency in Salesforce and other sales tools to manage and support a remote team effectively, with experience coaching using platforms such as Gong, Salesloft, and Slack.
• Collaboration: Excellent inter-departmental collaboration skills and an understanding of how to partner across teams to achieve company goals.
• Mission Alignment: Passion for education and alignment with Newsela’s mission of transforming learning experiences for students and teachers.
• AI Curiosity: Experience experimenting with and leveraging AI to drive greater efficiency in outbound and inbound lead generation.

Compensation & Benefits

• Base Salary: $80,000
• On-Target Commission (OTC): $40,000
• On-Target Earnings (OTE): $120,000
• Additional Benefits: Incentive stock options, comprehensive benefits package, and variable compensation eligibility.