Sales Development Manager

Location: London, UK (Oval)

Type: Full Time (5 days in office - remote working options during school holidays)

Salary: up to £40,000 - £50,000 (OTE)

Hours: 7am - 4pm

I’m searching for a Sales Development Manager to take a leading role within our high-performing SDR team. You’ll set the standard, share your experience, and help train and mentor, while uplifting those around you.

If you have proven success in outbound sales or experience in EdTech/Education Recruitment, and you’re ready to make an impact in the education space, this could be the role for you.

Zen is a Social Enterprise that is transforming the Education staffing space. UK schools spend over £2bn a year on supply staff, £600m of that goes straight to recruiters. 

We built a better way: a tech-driven platform that connects schools with teachers directly, saving time, money, and stress.

Since launching in 2017, we’ve saved schools over £30 million, and we’re just getting started. In 2024, we closed the largest EdTech funding round in Europe and are expanding fast across the UK and US.

As a Sales Development Manager, you’ll play a vital role in growing our impact, while helping shape and support the team around you.

Let’s get specific. Here’s what you’ll be doing day-to-day:

- Lead, coach, and develop a team of SDRs through regular one-to-one sessions, call coaching, deal reviews, and feedback

- Design and deliver structured onboarding, ongoing training, and group coaching sessions

- Set clear expectations around activity, quality, and outcomes, leading by example

- Run daily stand-ups, weekly team meetings, and performance reviews

- Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, and peer learning

- Track and analyse key SDR metrics including activity, conversion rates, and meeting quality

- Use data to identify performance gaps and coach individuals towards improvement

- Provide clear reporting and insights to senior sales leadership on team performance and trends

- Support performance management conversations where required

- Actively participate in outbound sales development by prospecting, qualifying, and booking meetings for Account Managers and AEs

- Manage your own pipeline and outreach activity using the Zen platform

- Demonstrate best-in-class outbound behaviours that the team can learn from

You’ll lead from the front, balancing hands-on sales development with coaching and developing a growing SDR team. This is a role for someone who enjoys setting the standard, not managing from the sidelines.

You’ll have meaningful input into how the SDR function operates, from training and messaging to outreach strategy and performance standards, helping shape the next phase of the team’s growth.

As Zen continues to grow, this role offers a strong pathway into senior sales leadership or commercial roles, with increased responsibility as the team and market expand.

You’ll thrive here if you:

- Have strong experience in outbound sales, ideally within B2B SaaS, EdTech, or a similar consultative sales environment

- Are a proven high performer who has consistently hit or exceeded sales development targets

- Have experience coaching, mentoring, or leading SDRs, whether in a formal management role or as a senior team member

- Enjoy balancing hands-on sales activity with developing others and leading by example

- Are confident running one-to-ones, delivering feedback, and facilitating group training or team sessions

- Are comfortable using data and metrics to understand performance, diagnose issues, and drive improvement

- Communicate clearly and credibly with senior stakeholders, both internally and externally

- Are naturally collaborative and enjoy working closely with peers across sales and commercial teams

- Are motivated by results, ownership, and continuous improvement

- Care deeply about doing work that has purpose and impact, and are excited by Zen’s mission

- Thrive in a fast-paced, office-based team environment and enjoy being part of a highly engaged sales floor

Let’s be honest — this isn’t for everyone:

- You expect results without putting in consistent effort

- You’re not open to feedback or learning from mistakes

- You prefer rigid, slow-moving environments

We move fast and respect your time.

1. Intro call with a member of our people team - A quick chat to get to know each other and cover the basics

2. Online first stage interview  - To talk in more detail around your experience and career aspirations

3. Technical task & final interview at our office - A sales cold call role play and a culture interview with two team members

4. A final call with a member of the senior leadership team

Competitive base salary + uncapped commission

Equity in the company

25+ days holiday (and we actually encourage you to take them!)

Central London office with gym, showers, café, and bike parking

5 Days in the office during term time (reduced hours and WFH options during summer holidays)

Electric car and cycle-to-work schemes

Life coaching, health insurance, and life insurance

A team that celebrates wins, lifts each other up, and cares about making a difference

If this sounds like your kind of role, don’t overthink it — apply now. We’re excited to meet you.

At Zen, we strive to build a culture of equity and inclusion where everyone is respected, valued and appreciated. We welcome applicants with diverse backgrounds, experiences and perspectives — just like the staff who teach through Zen and the children at the schools we work with.

We’re committed to building a team that reflects the diversity of our community and creating a workplace where everyone can thrive.