Business Development Lead

This role is located in Somerville, MA — We are a hybrid work environment and are in the office 3+ days/per week.

Tulip, the leader in AI-native frontline operations, is helping companies around the world equip their workforce with composable, connected apps, leading to higher quality work, improved efficiency, and end-to-end traceability across operations. Tulip’s cloud-native, no-code platform, powered by embedded AI, is driving the digital transformation of industrial environments through composable, human-centric solutions that go beyond disrupting the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) category.

A spinoff out of MIT, Tulip is headquartered in Somerville, MA, with offices in Germany, Hungary, Singapore, Israel and Japan. Tulip has been recognized as a World Economic Forum Global Innovator, a 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast award winner, one of Energage’s Top Workplaces USA, and one of Built In Boston’s “Best Places to Work” and “Best Midsize Places to Work.”

About You

You've done the BDR/SDR work yourself and you're ready to lead the people who do it — and you treat pipeline as a revenue commitment, not an activity metric. You know what great pipeline generation looks like, how to coach someone toward it, and how to tie a team's output directly to opportunities created and cARR influenced. You're equally at home building the systems — playbooks, tooling, comp, reporting, and the AI that makes the team faster — and developing the humans on a distributed team, and you thrive in cross-functional ambiguity translating between Sales, Marketing, and Operations. You see the BDR function as both a revenue engine and a talent engine for the commercial org, and you want to build it that way.

What skills do I need?

• 5+ years in sales/business development, including 2+ years managing or leading a BDR/SDR team
• Proven track record building and scaling inbound and outbound pipeline-generation motions and hitting team opportunity and pipeline targets
• Strong people leader who can coach, develop, and performance-manage a distributed team and build clear, motivating career paths
• AI-forward operator who uses AI to scale prospecting, qualification, and reporting — and pushes the team to build it into their daily motion
• Fluency with the modern BDR stack — Salesforce, sales engagement and AI prospecting tools, and pipeline reporting and analytics
• Skilled cross-functional operator who can align Sales, Revenue Marketing, and GTM Operations around a shared account model
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent working experience

Nice to Have

• Experience with account-based (ABx/ABM) motions or pod-based selling structures
• Familiarity with manufacturing or industrial software (MES, ERP) or other complex enterprise sales

Key Responsibilities

• Own the BDR methodology, playbooks, and qualification standards — designed and measured centrally, and tuned for each sales pod's territory reality
• Manage day-to-day operations, performance, and career development for a distributed team of BDRs embedded across US and EMEA sales pods
• Co-develop with Commercial leadership the BDR compensation plan, quota-setting, ramp model, and accelerators, keeping the team's incentives aligned with their pods' targets
• Build and maintain the central BDR tooling and AI stack, reporting, and pipeline benchmarks — deploying AI agents and buying signals for prospecting, qualification, and reporting so every BDR runs a consistent, measurable, AI-accelerated motion
• Partner with Frontline Sales Managers on account allocation, AE briefing, and pod operating rhythm while owning the BDR development track end to end
• Run the BDR career framework (BDR → Sr. BDR → AE, plus cross-functional paths) as a talent pipeline for the commercial org, in partnership with Sales leadership
• Partner with Revenue Marketing on lead-follow-up SLAs, ABx alignment, and campaign coordination

Key Collaborators

• Sales pods including Frontline Sales Managers and Account Executives
• Revenue Marketing
• Product Marketing
• GTM Operations
• Sales and GTM Operations leadership 
• This role reports to Head of GTM Strategy with dotted line to Head of Sales, and expected to an active partner to all Frontline Sales Managers

Working at Tulip

We know even great candidates experience imposter syndrome. Even if you don't match every requirement, applying gives you the opportunity to be considered.

We're building a strong, diverse team that values hard work, families, and personal well-being. Benefits of working with us include:

• Direct impact on product and culture
• Company equity
• Competitive benefits package including Health, Dental, Vision, Short-term Disability, Long-term Disability, Life Insurance, AD&D Insurance, Flexible Spending Account (FSA), Commuter Benefits, Parental Leave, and 401(K)
• Flexible work schedule and unlimited vacation policy
• Learning & Development program
• Virtual and in-office global company events and happy hours
• Fitness subsidies
• An inclusive, dog-friendly office with diverse and inspiring colleagues

We are an equal opportunity employer. At Tulip, we celebrate all. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. Help us build an inclusive community that will transform frontline operations.

The compensation information displayed on each job posting reflects the range for new hire pay rates for the position across all US locations. Within the range posted, actual compensation will be determined depending on multiple factors including job-related knowledge & skills, experience, business needs, geographical location, market compensation data, and internal equity. Expected compensation ranges for this role may change over time. The salary range for this position is $100,000 - $125,000 per year, and is eligible for on-target-earnings (OTE).