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Introduction

At IBM Global Sales, we bring together innovation, collaboration, and expertise to help clients solve their most complex business challenges. Working across industries and geographies, you’ll partner with colleagues, clients, and partners to co-create solutions that drive digital transformation and lasting impact.Success in Global Sales is built on curiosity, empathy, and collaboration. You’ll connect technical understanding with strong people skills, building trusted relationships and shaping solutions that improve business and society. With world-class onboarding, continuous learning, and a supportive culture, IBM offers the tools and opportunities to grow your career. Join us and be part of a global team that’s passionate about driving innovation and making a difference.

Your role and responsibilities

A Digital Sales Development Manager career within IBM means being a leader. A conductor who sets the tone for collaboration, innovation, and growth across your team of digital Sales Development Representatives (SDRs). It means cultivating a 'one team' culture across IBM sales and marketing teams, 3rd party ecosystem sales partners, and clients within their markets and /or territories. All-the-while ensuring they're obsessing over delivering client value.

Excellent onboarding training will set you up for positive impact and success, whilst ongoing development will continue to advance your career through its upward trajectory. Our sales environment is fast-paced and supportive. Always connected to a wider team, you'll be surrounded by other leaders and colleagues. People who are always willing to help and be helped as you scale your business, with and through your team, as they compel clients to invest in IBM's people, products, and services.

Required education

Bachelor's Degree

Preferred education

Master's Degree

Required technical and professional expertise

The SDR Team mission is to identify, engage, and qualify high-potential customers through strategic outreach, data-driven insights, close alignment with the extended sales and marketing organization —building a scalable, high-quality pipeline that drives revenue growth and strengthens our go-to-market strategy. SDR teams are one of IBM’s key engine of pipeline creation with high focus on driving new client acquisition and accelerating revenue through data-driven outreach, intelligent engagement, value-based qualification and close alignment with Sales, Marketing, and Ecosystem partners. As the front door to IBM, SDRs play a crucial role in shaping the company brand reputation, ensuring every client interaction is positive, professional, and aligned with our brand values.

You are responsible and accountable to drive the SDR Mission and the SDR Team you lead towards success.

As a Digital Sales Manager overseeing an SDR team, you will be accountable for:

Consistently achieving all Digital SDR Sales KPIs deployed / released to you and your team, across every Quarter, keeping a focus on your primary responsibilities.

1. End to end Sales Execution for qualifying incoming client inquiries such as Hand Raising Moments, Client Interests, Qualified Buying Groups, live chat/calls. Additionally, you will drive and execute the strategy for warm prospecting in designated territories and for specific products in your Market aligned SDR team.

2. Consistent Coaching and Mentoring of every SDR in your team, ensuring that they remain proficient in product knowledge, digital tools, call execution, strictly following Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and overall digital sales development processes to drive accelerated performance. This responsibility includes ongoing call monitoring, real-time guidance, update meetings, fostering cross team collaboration, and structured coaching initiatives to enhance both individual and team effectiveness. Fusing best-in-class traditional and contemporary digital selling techniques (website lead nurturing, social selling, inbound follow-up, outbound outreach etc.,) you'll facilitate the successful landing of opportunities from MQL (Marketing Qualified Leads) identification to SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) qualification. To drive the success required, you, as an SDR Manager will implement targeted coaching plans that emphasize mentorship, skill development, and technical expertise, designed to achieve measurable progress within a defined timeframe.

3. Demonstrate Operational Excellence through managing key performance indicators, simplifying processes, and optimizing resources for improved productivity and results. Strictly follow all SDR SLAs and sales development processes. You will as well act as a quality gatekeeper, reviewing all opportunities created by the SDRs to ensure accuracy, completeness, and high-value potential, thereby maintaining the standards required for pipeline progression in accordance with Sales Development Process Flow – thus making SQL into HQL (Highly Qualified Lead). Streamline sales development workflows for increased efficiency and reduced cycle times. Implement best practices sharing for lead qualification, follow-up, and opportunity handoffs. Regularly review outreach scripts, email templates, and call strategies based on performance data. Document Sales Performance KPIs achievement and performance assessment of every SDR at the end of each quarter.

4. Sales Meetings and Reviews: Conduct regular sales performance cadence meetings and reviews, focusing on key metrics and lessons learned.

5. Digital Selling & Technological Proficiency: Equip the team with digital selling techniques, including social selling and engagement through automation tools. Drive adoption of sales acceleration platforms like SalesLoft, ISC, and AI-driven insights for more effective outreach. Ensure continuous upskilling on new digital tools and selling methodologies.

6. Foster a high performance, results- driven and customer centric culture by identifying and addressing obstacles and promoting best practices in our SDR teams. Inspire a culture of sales and social selling excellence that provides value to clients and sponsors. Train SDRs to understand customer pain points and align solutions with business challenges. Ensure personalized, value-driven outreach that resonates with different buyer personas. Lead the way by being a role model for your team for innovation, adaptability and growth through continuous learning by staying updated on industry shifts, emerging sales methodologies, and best practices.

7. Cross-Teaming and Collaboration to deliver unique client experiences and accelerated business growth you should closely work with Territory Sales, Digital Sales Specialists and Ecosystem( BP) to develop and execute strategies that maximize market penetration in key territories to drive IBM revenue growth. Build a strong opportunity pipeline through working with Client Interests and Warm prospecting, ensuring seamless handoffs to the appropriate Opportunity Owner (OO) or Business Partner. Establish relationships with your IBM counterparts ( Marketing and extended Sales organization) for understanding business challenges, markets and clients dynamics, trends, pain points and to align SDR sales plays/ focus areas to those.

Required Experience:

• Team Leadership and Coaching: Experience in team leadership, consistently exceeding sales KPIs in cloud, data, AI, automation, security, or storage. Ability to act as a manager, mentor and coach, providing continuous feedback and development opportunities for SDRs; Track records in building high-performance culture by setting clear expectations and holding the team accountable, motivating and inspiring teams to achieve and exceed targets;

• Strategic Thinking & Planning Develop and execute sales strategies aligned with your mission business goals and market opportunities. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Marketing, Sales, and Ecosystem partners, to optimize pipeline growth.

• Data-Driven Decision Making: Use analytics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track team performance and identify areas for improvement. Leverage sales tools to optimize prospecting efforts and HSQL creation;
• Sales Development Techniques: Proficiency in agile and modern sales techniques for quick and effective delivery.
• Interpersonal and Communication Skills: Excellent interpersonal, communication, and collaboration skills, including senior leadership networking and influencing in sales.

Preferred technical and professional experience

• Previous Sales Leadership and People Management Experience.

• Familiarity with IBM's Products and Services: Prior experience working with any of IBM's products and services (training covering IBM's portfolio will be provided).
• Previous experience in working in complex Market/Geo Sales organizations - with multiple countries, different dynamics, cultures.