Business Development Lead, Enterprise

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.