Global BDR Manager
Description
The Role / Role Scope.
Linnworks is a fast-growing, international SaaS scale-up, selling to ecommerce brands and retailers across the UK, Europe and North America. Our BDR team is the front door to our pipeline: every inbound demo request and every outbound conversation starts with them.
We are looking for a BDR Manager, based in the UK with a global remit, to lead that team and make it the most effective, AI-powered top-of-funnel function in our market. You'll manage inbound and outbound BDRs across the UK and US, partner closely with Sales, Marketing, Partners and RevOps, and own the targets that feed our Account Executives.
The traditional SDR model of high-volume activity and generic sequences is breaking. This is not a role for someone who wants to run the playbook they ran last time. You'll be the one who rewrites it: redesigning how our BDRs research, prioritise, personalise and convert, so a small, sharp team generates outsized pipeline across two regions.
Responsibilities.
Lead and Develop a Global Team
You won't just manage activity; you'll build careers. You'll lead inbound and outbound BDRs across the UK and US and turn them into the next generation of Account Executives.
Hire and Onboard: Recruit, ramp and retain top BDR talent across both regions, with a structured onboarding plan that gets new hires productive fast.
Coach to a Standard: Run weekly 1:1s, call reviews and skills sessions focused on discovery, objection handling and written outreach.
One Team, Two Time Zones: Build a consistent culture and operating rhythm across the UK and US, with fair coverage of both markets.
Make AI the Engine, Not an Add-On
You'll set the bar for how AI is used across our top of funnel, and lead by example.
Design AI-First Workflows: Embed AI into account research, prioritisation, personalisation, call summaries and follow-up so BDRs spend more time in real conversations.
Build the Toolkit: Develop and maintain shared prompts, agents and playbooks; test new AI sales tools and decide what earns a place in the stack.
Raise Capability: Coach every BDR to use AI confidently and well, without letting outreach become generic.
Measure the Impact: Track what AI changes in speed-to-lead, conversion and output per head, and share what works.
Own Pipeline Generation
You are accountable for the number. Inbound and outbound both report to you, so you'll balance speed on inbound with precision on outbound.
Inbound: Own speed-to-lead, qualification standards and handoff quality
Outbound: Shape territory, account selection and multi-threaded sequences against our ICP in the UK and US.
Forecast and Report: Set targets, forecast meetings and pipeline, and report performance to Sales and Revenue leadership.
Improve the GTM Engine
You'll look beyond your own team to make the whole funnel work better.
Partner with Marketing: Feed back on lead quality, messaging and what prospects are asking about; co-own lead scoring and SLAs.
Partner with Sales: Agree what a qualified meeting looks like and keep the BDR-to-AE handoff tight.
Partner with RevOps: Keep CRM and sales engagement data clean, and improve routing, dashboards and process.
Experiment: Run structured tests on channels, messaging and plays, then scale what wins.
Your Team
You'll lead a mixed inbound and outbound team across two regions, reporting into Sales leadership.
Experience
2+ years leading SDR/BDR teams in B2B SaaS, with a track record of hitting or beating pipeline targets.
Experience managing both inbound and outbound motions, ideally across more than one region or time zone.
A history of hiring, coaching and promoting BDRs into AE or senior roles.
Hands-on experience as a high-performing BDR or SDR yourself.
Deep familiarity with CRM and sales engagement tools (HubSpot or Salesforce; Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo or similar).
Bonus: experience selling to ecommerce brands or knowledge of platforms such as Shopify, BigCommerce or Amazon.
Skills & Attributes
AI-Native: You already use tools like ChatGPT, Claude or AI sales platforms every day, have rolled AI workflows out to a team, and can show the results.
Forward-Thinking: You spot where the GTM motion is heading and act before the market forces it.
A Coach First: You get energy from developing people and hold a high bar with empathy.
Data-Driven: You don't just report on conversion; you explain why it moved and what you'll change.
Commercially Sharp: You understand how BDR activity turns into revenue and can talk credibly with Sales, Marketing and leadership.
Clear Communicator: Excellent written and verbal English, comfortable leading across UK and US working styles.
What Success Looks Like
First 30 Days: You know every BDR, the funnel data and the stack. You've shadowed calls in both regions and mapped where time and pipeline are lost.
By 90 Days: You've shipped a refreshed AI-enabled workflow, set clear targets and SLAs with Marketing and Sales, and built a reporting rhythm leadership trusts.
By 12 Months: The team consistently hits its pipeline targets, output per BDR is measurably higher, and at least one BDR has been promoted.
You'll be measured on qualified meetings and pipeline generated, meeting-to-opportunity conversion, speed-to-lead on inbound, ramp time for new hires, and team retention and progression.
The Reality of the Role
To be transparent, this isn't a "maintenance" role.
The Pace: We move fast. You'll need to be comfortable with 80% certainty and 100% action.
The Ambiguity: AI tooling changes monthly. You'll be writing the playbook while we're playing the game.
The Hours: Leading a UK and US team means regular late-afternoon and early-evening overlap with US colleagues.
The Stakeholders: You'll work with high-drive leaders who value directness, data and commercial logic.
What you'll bring to the role.