Director Sales Development

Schaumburg, IL • Sales & Marketing Job TypeFull-timeDescriptionThis role is ideally located in Schaumburg, IL.Paylocity is an award-winning provider of cloud-based HR and payroll software solutions, offering the most complete platform for the modern workforce. The company has become one of the fastest-growing HCM software providers worldwide by offering an intuitive, easy-to-use product suite that helps businesses automate and streamline HR and payroll processes, attract and retain talent, and build a strong workplace culture. While traditional HR and payroll providers automate basic HR processes such as payroll and benefits administration, Paylocity goes further by developing tools that HR and businesses need to compete for talent and deliver against the expectations of the modern workforce. We give our employees what they need to succeed, including great benefits and perks! We offer medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and a 401(k) match, as well as perks that support you, your family, and your finances. And if it’s career development you desire, we provide that, too! At Paylocity, people matter most and have always been at the heart of our business. As part of the Sales & Marketing team, you’ll help us solve challenges and succeed as you grow and understand the unique needs of our clients and tailor easy-to-use solutions to deliver the performance they need. With a position in Sales & Marketing, you’ll strengthen our relationships with clients, anticipate their needs, and think outside the box to unlock new possibilities. Position Overview: As the Director of Sales Development, you will lead our Sales Development Representative (SDR) team and own top-of-funnel pipeline generation. This role involves leading a team of SDRs, partnering with marketing and sales leadership, and optimizing inbound and outbound strategies to drive growth. You’ll be responsible for recruiting, onboarding, and developing SDRs, creating an efficient and scalable pipeline model, and ensuring tight alignment with the sales and marketing goals. This position requires strong leadership skills, collaboration with cross-functional teams, and a proven ability to drive high performance in a metrics-driven environment. Reports To: Senior Director, Demand GenerationKey Responsibilities:Team Leadership:Lead and scale a high-performing SDR team covering the U.S. market to achieve targets for lead generation, scheduled meetings and qualified pipeline. Establish clear performance expectations, deliver ongoing feedback, and conduct regular evaluations to ensure success. Provide mentorship and coaching to the SDR team and its leaders, driving career progression and skill development in outbound prospecting and sales qualification. Create and implement structured training programs to enhance team skills in prospecting, objection handling, and sales tools. Sales Development Strategy:Align SDR quotas and activities with company-wide marketing and sales goals, focusing on enterprise. mid-market and SMB pipeline growth within key target verticals.  Develop and execute inbound and outbound strategies to maximize speed-to-lead, conversion, and multi-threading for senior decision makers. Drive collaboration between marketing, sales, and operations to refine account scoring, lead qualification criteria, and seamless handoffs between teams. Participate in account-based marketing (ABM) efforts to identify and engage high-value accounts, leveraging data-driven insights to optimize outreach. Act as a "Voice of the Prospect" liaison between Marketing and Sales, providing feedback to create winning marketing campaigns, messaging strategies and offers. Performance Management:Set team-wide pipeline targets and develop individualized plans to achieve them, ensuring accountability to company-wide lead volume goals. Monitor key performance metrics every week, including outbound call/email volume and response rates, speed-to-lead, meeting completion rate, pacing against targets, addressing performance gaps with data-driven solutions. Collaborate with marketing and sales leadership to refine and improve the SDR process based on performance insights. Process Optimization & Technology:Continuously evaluate and optimize business development processes, tools, and workflows to improve team effectiveness as well as the prospect experience. Ensure best-in-class technology utilization of SDR tech stack, including Salesforce, Salesloft, Intercom, Drift, 6Sense, ZoomInfo, Sales Navigator, and other prospecting tools. Implement A/B testing of outreach cadences, messaging, and offers to improve engagement and results. Maintain a structured playbook for outreach strategies tailored to different verticals and business segments, with a focus on scalability and efficiency. Qualifications:7-10 years of experience in sales development or sales roles, with 5+ years of leadership experience, preferably in enterprise SaaS or a high-growth tech environment. Proven success in driving revenue growth through effective SDR team management and outbound sales strategies. Expertise in CRM systems (Salesforce), sales engagement platforms (Salesloft, Outreach), web chat (Intercom, Drift) and prospecting tools (ZoomInfo, Sales Navigator). Strong strategic thinker with exceptional analytical skills and the ability to turn data into actionable strategies. Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with a proven ability to build relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Experience hiring and scaling large teams (15+ SDRs) is a plus. Bachelor's degree is preferred or commensurate experience.  Chicago-based or open to 50% travel.  Paylocity is an equal-opportunity employer. Paylocity is committed to the full inclusion of all individuals. We recruit, train, compensate, and promote regardless of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age, veteran status, and other protected status as required by applicable law. At Paylocity, we believe diversity makes us better.    We embrace and encourage our employees’ differences in age, culture, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion or spiritual belief, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other characteristics that make our employees unique. We actively cultivate these differences through our employee resource groups (ERGs), employee experiences, perspectives, talents, and approaches to drive innovation in the software and services we provide our customers.   We comply with federal and state disability laws and make reasonable accommodations for applicants and employees with disabilities. To request reasonable accommodation in the job application or interview process, please contact accessibility@paylocity.com. This email address is exclusively designated for such requests, aligning with federal and state disability laws. Please do not send resumes to this email address, as they will be removed. The pay range for this position is $120,000-190,000yr; however, base pay offered may vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. This position is eligible for our variable commission plan and an annual restricted stock unit grant based on individual performance in addition to a full range of benefits outlined here. This information is provided per the relevant state and local pay transparency laws for the location in which this position will be performed. Base pay information is based on market location. Applicants should apply via .