Business Development Manager, Enterprise

Perplexity is hiring a Business Development Manager in San Francisco to lead and grow its enterprise BDR team. The role focuses on recruiting, training, and coaching reps who generate qualified pipeline for the enterprise sales team, while also improving outbound strategy, account targeting, and handoff quality. It calls for at least four years in SaaS sales or business development, including some direct management experience, along with a strong record of building pipeline in a fast-moving environment. This position would suit a hands-on sales leader who enjoys coaching teams, working with data, and helping shape enterprise outbound motion in an AI company.

Perplexity is seeking a Business Development Manager 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.