Gartner found B2B buyers spend only 17% of their buying journey meeting with potential suppliers, so your SDR team is competing for tiny windows of attention. If your sales development job description is just an activity list (send X messages, make Y calls), you are hiring for busywork, not pipeline.

What is a sales development job description?

A sales development job description is a hiring document that defines the SDR’s mission, responsibilities, and measurable success criteria, usually tied to qualified conversations, sales accepted meetings, and pipeline contribution. A strong JD is outcome-based (what “good” produces), not task-based (what “busy” looks like), and it includes KPIs plus a scorecard so managers can coach and evaluate consistently.

SDR tool stack (recommended) comparison table

Even the best JD fails if the role is set up without the right systems. Here is a practical baseline stack, with Kakiyo included as the most advanced option for autonomous LinkedIn conversation management.

Kakiyo

What it does (2 sentences): Kakiyo autonomously manages personalized LinkedIn conversations at scale, from first touch through qualification to meeting booking. It is built for teams that want outcomes (qualified meetings) without forcing SDRs to live in the inbox all day.

Standout feature (1 sentence): Unlike classic LinkedIn automation that mainly sends steps, Kakiyo runs the full multi-turn conversation, qualifies leads with an intelligent scoring system, and books meetings, with human override controls.

Who it’s for (1 sentence): SDR leaders and revenue teams running LinkedIn-first outbound who want to scale conversations without sacrificing qualification standards.

Pricing: Contact sales via the Kakiyo website.

Pros

• Autonomous conversation management, not just connection requests and follow-ups.
• Qualification plus meeting booking built into the workflow.
• Prompt customization, A/B testing, templates, analytics, and real-time control.

Cons

• Not a fit if your team only wants basic sending automation.
• Requires clear qualification criteria to get the best results.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

What it does (2 sentences): Sales Navigator helps SDRs find the right people and accounts using LinkedIn’s filters, intent-like signals, and list building. It is the starting point for building clean target lists and multithreading buying groups.

Standout feature (1 sentence): Saved searches and alerts make it easier to time outreach around job changes, growth signals, and account activity.

Who it’s for (1 sentence): Any SDR doing outbound prospecting to mid-market and enterprise accounts.

Pricing: Paid plans (varies by region and contract), see LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

Pros

• Best-in-class B2B prospecting filters on LinkedIn.
• Strong workflow for account lists and buying group mapping.

Cons

• Does not manage conversations or qualification by itself.

HubSpot Sales Hub

What it does (2 sentences): HubSpot Sales Hub centralizes lead and deal tracking, outreach sequences, tasks, and reporting. It is commonly used by SMB and mid-market teams that want an all-in-one system.

Standout feature (1 sentence): Fast setup for sequences and basic reporting without heavy RevOps overhead.

Who it’s for (1 sentence): Teams that want a simpler CRM + sales engagement foundation.

Pricing: Paid plans (varies by edition), see HubSpot Sales.

Pros

• Quick implementation for startups and lean SDR teams.
• Reporting and activity capture in one place.

Cons

• LinkedIn conversation execution and evidence capture can still be fragmented.

Outreach

What it does (2 sentences): Outreach is a sales engagement platform for building sequences, managing tasks, and driving consistent follow-through across channels. It is typically deployed in larger SDR orgs with enablement and operations support.

Standout feature (1 sentence): Strong sequencing governance and enterprise workflow control.

Who it’s for (1 sentence): Mature teams that need process standardization and scale.

Pricing: Contact sales, see Outreach.

Pros

• Robust sequencing and workflow management.
• Good fit for standardized plays across teams.

Cons

• Optimized for step-based sequences, not autonomous multi-turn LinkedIn conversations.

Calendly

What it does (2 sentences): Calendly removes friction from scheduling by letting prospects book time instantly. It reduces back-and-forth in chat and email, which directly improves booked-to-held conversion.

Standout feature (1 sentence): Routing and booking rules make it easy to send the right meeting type to the right calendar.

Who it’s for (1 sentence): Any SDR booking meetings in volume.

Pricing: Free plan available, see Calendly pricing.

Pros

• Faster scheduling with less admin work.
• Easy to standardize meeting types and handoffs.

Cons

• Does not qualify leads, you still need good conversation control.

Sales development job description template (copy/paste)

Use this as an ATS-ready starting point. The key is that every responsibility maps to an observable output, and every KPI has a clear definition.

Job title

Sales Development Representative (SDR)

Role summary

You will generate qualified pipeline by converting a defined ICP into qualified conversations and sales accepted meetings. You will use LinkedIn (and supporting tools) to run respectful, personalized outreach, capture qualification evidence, and book meetings that AEs accept and progress.

What success looks like (outcomes)

• Consistently produces sales accepted meetings from the target ICP.
• Captures auditable qualification evidence (fit, intent, next step) in CRM notes or the handoff packet.
• Runs controlled experiments (messaging, ICP slices, offers) and improves conversion rates over time.

Core responsibilities

• Build and maintain target lists (accounts, personas, buying groups) aligned to the ICP.
• Execute outbound outreach on LinkedIn (and other approved channels) with high personalization standards.
• Manage multi-turn conversations, respond quickly, and move prospects toward a clear next step.
• Qualify in-thread using a defined rubric (fit, intent, constraints, timeline), and document evidence.
• Book meetings with clear agendas and confirm attendance, reschedule when needed.
• Produce clean handoffs to AEs (context, what triggered interest, what was confirmed, recommended next step).
• Maintain CRM hygiene (stage definitions, disposition reasons, timestamps, and required fields).
• Participate in weekly calibration (review threads, define what “qualified” means, fix drift).

KPIs (measured weekly and monthly)

• Qualified conversation rate (replies that meet your definition of qualified).
• Sales accepted meetings (count and acceptance rate).
• Meetings held rate (held divided by booked).
• Meeting to opportunity conversion (lagging, but non-negotiable).
• Evidence quality (QA score from thread and handoff reviews).

Requirements

• 0 to 2+ years in sales, customer-facing, recruiting, or other high-communication roles (adjust to your level).
• Ability to write short, clear, respectful messages that earn replies.
• Comfort running structured experiments (A/B tests, clean notes, learning loops).
• Discipline with CRM updates and qualification evidence.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with LinkedIn-first outbound and Sales Navigator.
• Familiarity with qualification frameworks (BANT, MEDDIC, fit-intent-evidence models).
• Experience working alongside AI-assisted workflows (prompting, QA sampling, escalation rules).

Working norms

• You will be coached on messaging, qualification, and handoff quality.
• You will be measured primarily on meeting quality and downstream conversion, not raw activity.

KPIs for SDRs (definitions you can actually manage)

Most SDR KPI problems come from vague definitions. If your team cannot explain a metric in one sentence, it will get gamed.

Two anchor data points worth keeping in mind when setting expectations:

• Buyer attention is scarce: Gartner reports B2B buyers spend 17% of the purchase journey meeting with potential suppliers, across all vendors they consider. Source: Gartner press release.
• LinkedIn is a decision-maker channel: LinkedIn has long reported that 4 out of 5 members drive business decisions. Source: LinkedIn Marketing Solutions.

KPI definitions table

Use this table as your internal contract. It makes hiring, onboarding, and coaching dramatically easier.

SDR scorecard (performance + quality, not vanity activity)

A scorecard should do two things: make performance reviewable and make coaching obvious.

Weekly operating scorecard (example)

This is a simple format you can paste into a spreadsheet. Add target thresholds after you baseline your own funnel.

Hiring and interview scorecard (so you stop “vibe hiring”)

Score candidates on observable skills that map to the job. Weights should reflect your motion.

30-60-90 day expectations (what a manager should actually coach)

This keeps onboarding focused on outcomes, not random tasks.

Which tool should you choose?

• If you want autonomous AI conversation and LinkedIn lead qualification, use Kakiyo.
• If you want the best LinkedIn prospecting filters and list building, use LinkedIn Sales Navigator.
• If you want a lightweight CRM plus sequencing in one place, use HubSpot Sales Hub.
• If you want enterprise-grade sequencing governance, use Outreach.
• If you want faster scheduling and fewer no-shows, use Calendly.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a sales development job description include? It should include the SDR’s mission, responsibilities mapped to outcomes, required skills, and a measurable KPI section. The best JDs also include a quality gate (AE acceptance) and a scorecard so performance is coachable.

What are the most important KPIs in a sales development job description? Prioritize positive reply rate, qualified conversation rate, meetings held, AE acceptance rate, and meeting-to-opportunity conversion. These metrics connect activity to pipeline quality and prevent teams from optimizing for spam volume.

How do you write a sales development job description template for 2026? Write it around conversation quality, evidence-based qualification, and clean handoffs, then add clear metric definitions and QA expectations. If you use AI in outreach, include responsibilities for oversight (prompt discipline, sampling, escalation rules) so autonomy does not create brand risk.

What is an SDR scorecard? An SDR scorecard is a set of leading and lagging metrics plus quality checks used to review performance weekly and monthly. It typically includes outreach conversion, qualification quality, meeting outcomes, and learning velocity (experiments shipped).

How do you set SDR quotas without encouraging bad behavior? Use paired metrics, for example meetings held plus AE acceptance, or replies plus qualified conversation rate. This forces quality to rise with volume and makes it harder to “game” the dashboard.

Request a demo of Kakiyo to automate LinkedIn conversations, qualify leads with scoring, and book meetings while your SDRs focus on closing.