Business Development Team Lead

Zip is the AI platform for enterprise procurement — built for humans and agents working together. By orchestrating procurement across teams, tools, and suppliers with the help of AI agents, companies can secure the resources they need to innovate faster than ever before.

The world’s most influential enterprises trust Zip, including T-Mobile, OpenAI, AMD, Mars, Dollar Tree, and more. Together they’ve saved over $8 billion and processed over $500 billion in spend. Zip’s team includes product leaders from Apple, Airbnb, and Meta, as well as former procurement leaders from United Health, Sanofi, MGM Resorts, Discover, and NASA.

Backed by Adams Street, Alkeon, BOND, CRV, DST, Tiger Global, and Y Combinator, Zip has raised $371 million, most recently at a $2.2 billion valuation and has been recognized by Forbes Fintech 50, Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies, Inc. Best in Business, and LinkedIn Top Startups.

The Role

We are seeking an experienced and motivated Business Development Team Lead to drive our business development efforts while leading by example. In this hybrid role, you will not only lead a team of business development professionals but also actively contribute to the sales pipeline by managing your own book of business and generating qualified sales opportunities. You’ll serve as a coach, mentor, and strategist for your team, while also being hands-on in prospecting, lead generation, and outreach activities. The ideal candidate will possess a strong combination of leadership skills and business development expertise, helping to inspire and guide the team to success while consistently hitting their own sales targets.

What You'll Do

Team Leadership & Coaching:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of business development representatives, ensuring they meet or exceed sales targets and KPIs.

• Provide real-time coaching, feedback, and best practices to help your team continuously improve their sales skills and strategies.

• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, performance reviews, and team huddles to address challenges, celebrate wins, and set goals for growth.

• Develop and execute training programs that help the team improve their lead generation, sales techniques, and product knowledge.

• Foster a positive, high-performance culture by motivating the team, creating a collaborative environment, and encouraging accountability.

• Business Development:

• Actively manage your own pipeline of high-value prospects, including prospecting, cold calling, email outreach, and lead qualification.

• Conduct cold outreach to source qualified sales opportunities via cold calling, emails, and LinkedIn; setting an example for your team in terms of activity, results, and sales best practices.

• Effectively manage and prospect into your account book to identify the best accounts and prospects to reach out to.

• Demonstrate expertise in sales processes, lead management, and value selling techniques to help team members navigate complex deals.

Strategic Leadership:

• Develop and execute business development strategies that align with company goals.

• Identify areas of opportunity within the BD organization and implement solutions to improve on these areas

• Work closely with BD leadership to define sales targets, business development goals, and performance expectations.

• Collaboration & Cross-Functional Engagement:

• Collaborate with sales, sales operations, and enablement teams to ensure proper sales enablement, messaging, and targeted outreach materials.

• Provide feedback to leadership and cross-functional teams regarding trends in BD, team performance, and outreach efforts.

• Partner with senior business leaders on high-value opportunities, participating in strategic conversations to improve the BD function.

Performance Metrics & Reporting:

• Regularly track, measure, and report on individual and team performance, ensuring alignment with KPIs and sales objectives.

• Use CRM tools (e.g., Salesforce, HubSpot) to maintain accurate records of sales activities, opportunities, and client progress.

• Analyze sales data to optimize processes and identify areas for improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, or a related field (or equivalent experience).

• Must have prior experience being a successful BDR for 1+ year

• Must have experience being part of a scaling BDR team

• Must have prior experience training and coaching BDRs

• Proven track record of success in business development, lead generation, and closing deals.

• Must have Team lead experience in the past and 2+ years as BDR

• Strong leadership, coaching, and mentoring skills, with the ability to drive team performance and inspire others.

• Ability to balance a player role (actively contributing to sales) while also managing and developing a team.

• Strong communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to coach, motivate, and influence others.

• High proficiency in CRM systems and sales enablement tools.

• Strong organizational and time management skills, with the ability to prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.

• Experience in developing and implementing strategic process and enablement materials to increase team efficiencies

• Deep understanding of Outbound Sales Development, including email copywriting, cold calling, objection handling, and qualifying

• Demonstrated data driven approach to problem solving and coaching

• Able and wanting to work in our London office

Nice to Have

• Experience in Procurement, Finance, or Tech

• Familiarity with sales methodologies (e.g., SPIN Selling, Challenger Sales).

• Experience with both inbound and outbound sales strategies.

• Ability to drive process improvements and optimize team performance based on data insights.

Perks & Benefits

At Zip, we’re committed to providing our employees with everything they need to do their best work.

• 📈 Start-up equity

• 🦷 Health, vision & dental coverage

• 🌴 Flexible PTO

• 💻 Apple equipment plus home office budget

We're looking to hire Zipsters and that means hiring people who take ownership, communicate openly, have an underdog mindset, and are excited to increase the pace of innovation for every business in the world. We encourage all candidates to apply even if your experience doesn't exactly match up to our job description. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workspace where everyone (regardless of age, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, and more) feels like they belong. We look forward to hearing from you!