UK

United Kingdom · Sales · Director/VP (16-20 years)

Director, Sales Development / New Business

Here is the whole job, in plain words. What it is, what you decide, how you're judged, how people get here and where they go next. Then the part no course gives you: twelve AI tutors who learn your work.

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  • Experience bandDirector/VP (16-20 years)
  • Reports toVP, Sales or Chief Revenue Officer
  • UK framework levelUsually a director, accountable for a division and its numbers

Also advertised as VP of Sales Development · Head of New Business Acquisition · Director of Customer Acquisition Strategy

Built on 43,079 real UK job descriptions we analysed · grounded in what real qualifications cover

Two short quizzes about you

1From this job to a course

The qualifications matched to this job

OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Data Science OTHM Qualifications · Level 7 · covers 1 of 3 standards
NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science NCC Education Limited · Level 5 · covers 1 of 3 standards
Level 6 Award in Data-led Decision Making Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 3 standards
Level 6 Certificate in Professional Sales Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 3 standards
Level 6 Diploma in Professional Sales Institute of Sales Professionals · Level 6 · covers 1 of 3 standards

Matched from the standards this job is measured against: a suggestion, not an official ruling.

The units you would start with

Data Science Foundations OTHM Level 7 Diploma in Data Science
Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Level 5 Extended Diploma in Computing with Data Science
Data-led Decision Making Level 6 Award in Data-led Decision Making
Apply the Concepts of Data Science to Computer Engineering NOCN Level 5 Diploma in Computer Engineering (Information Technology and Data Science)

The future skills this job leans on

AI Fluency working with AI as a thinking partner
Data Fluency turning numbers into a decision
Automation Fluency building AI into how work runs
Foresight Fluency seeing round the corner
Your Plan Illustration

Built for Director, Sales Development / New Business

4 units that map to this job, from the qualifications that cover it.

  1. Data Science Foundations OTHM Qualifications · covers 1 of 3 standards Level 7
  2. Introduction to Data Science and Big Data NCC Education Limited · covers 1 of 3 standards Level 5
  3. Data-led Decision Making Institute of Sales Professionals · covers 1 of 3 standards Level 6
  4. Apply the Concepts of Data Science to Computer Engineering NOCN · covers 1 of 3 standards Level 5
These are the real units behind this job, in the order they rank for it. Nothing here is marked done, because this plan has not been started by anyone yet. Yours would fill in as you go.

2AI and this work

Will AI change your work as a Director, Sales Development / New Business?

Nobody can say exactly how. Here is what this job is being asked for next, and where to start.

The new skills this role is being asked for

  • AI-Driven Sales Orchestration & Automation
  • Predictive Analytics for Go-to-Market Strategy
Why each one is rising

The future skills this job leans on

We'll only ever tell you what we can actually back up. No hype, no scare tactics.

What happens when you start

Next, a free account. We build your Director, Sales Development / New Business plan as you set up, starting with the free Automation Fluency module. No card.

Your first Future Fluency module is free. After that, your AI tutor is £70 a month.

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Keep this read. One email with what AI is changing in this job, the new skills it asks for and where to start free. Nothing else follows unless you confirm your address.

3What this role really is

This role sets the multi-year strategy for finding and engaging new customers, and builds the teams that make it happen. It drives the top-of-funnel revenue for the whole organisation.

4What you'd actually use

The tools this job runs on, and how well you'd need to know each one.

Salesforce (CRM) Strategic

Leading CRM strategy, partnering with Revenue Operations on architecture, evaluating new integrations (e.g., CPQ), and using aggregated data for territory planning and forecasting at an executive level. You're not logging calls, you're shaping the system.

Outreach / Salesloft (Sales Engagement) Architect

Setting the overall platform strategy, defining rules of engagement for the entire department, evaluating platform effectiveness against business goals (e.g., pipeline generation, conversion rates), and negotiating enterprise contracts.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator (Prospecting) Strategic

Using platform data to identify macro market trends and expansion opportunities, managing enterprise-level license allocation, and assessing the ROI of social selling initiatives across the organisation.

ZoomInfo / Cognism (Data Enrichment) Strategic

Negotiating enterprise contracts with data providers, ensuring data compliance (GDPR/CCPA) across all acquisition efforts, and evaluating the strategic impact of data quality on lead conversion and overall pipeline health.

Gong / Chorus.ai (Conversation Intelligence) Strategic

Using market intelligence from aggregated call data to inform product strategy, competitive positioning, and executive-level business decisions. You'll identify macro trends in customer objections or market demand.

Tableau / Power BI (Analytics & Reporting) Expert

Designing and owning the executive-level sales development dashboards, partnering with data teams to model complex forecast scenarios, and presenting data-driven insights with compelling narratives to the C-suite and board.

5What you get to decide, and how that grows

Power in a job isn't your title. It's what you're allowed to decide. Here's how it grows as you move up.

The choiceComing in Where you are nowThe step above
Sales Development Strategy & GTM No input. Executes assigned tasks. Proposes minor optimisations to existing playbooks. Designs and implements new outreach methodologies for specific segments.
Budget Allocation (Sales Development) No budget authority. Suggests tools or resources for personal use. Recommends small-scale tool purchases (e.g., a new data source for £1K-£2K).
Hiring & Organisational Design No hiring authority. Participates in peer interviews. Interviews junior candidates, provides feedback.

6How you'll be judged

The scoreboard, and what is not on it. The hard targets, how often each is actually looked at, and the quiet signals that never reach a dashboard.

New Business Pipeline Contribution
The total value of qualified sales pipeline generated by your teams.
Target · £15M+ in new business pipeline per quarter, consistently.

In Q3, your teams generated £18M in Sales Qualified Pipeline, exceeding the £15M target, which directly fed into our enterprise sales team's Q4 forecast.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
The average cost to acquire a new customer through your sales development efforts, measured against the revenue generated.
Target · <£300K per acquired customer (for target segments).

After optimising our tech stack and team structure, our CAC for enterprise clients dropped from £350K to £280K last quarter, making our growth more profitable.

New Business Revenue Attainment
The actual revenue closed from opportunities sourced by your teams, compared to the overall company new business target.
Target · Accountable for contributing to 80%+ of the company's new business revenue target.

Your teams sourced opportunities that contributed £5M to the total £6M new business revenue closed last quarter, hitting 83% of the target.

MQL-to-SQL Conversion Rate
The percentage of marketing-qualified leads (MQLs) that your teams successfully convert into sales-qualified leads (SQLs).
Target · >25% conversion rate across all inbound channels.

Our MQLs converted to SQLs at 28% last month, showing strong qualification processes and good alignment with Marketing.

Sales Development Efficiency Ratio
A measure of the revenue generated per sales development rep, or pipeline generated per pound spent on the function.
Target · Achieve a 4x+ pipeline-to-cost ratio for the entire department.

For every £1 we spent on Sales Development last quarter, we generated £4.20 in qualified pipeline, demonstrating excellent return on investment.

Strategic Alignment & Influence
How well your sales development strategy aligns with the broader company goals, and your ability to influence key stakeholders (C-suite, Marketing, Product) to support that vision.
  • Regularly invited to C-suite strategy sessions
  • your proposals for new market entry or GTM changes are adopted
  • other department heads actively seek your input on their plans
  • your team's strategy is clearly articulated in board presentations.
Team Leadership & Talent Development
Your ability to attract, retain, and develop top-tier sales development talent, fostering a high-performance culture.
  • Low voluntary churn rate within your department (<10% annually)
  • high internal promotion rate for your managers and specialists
  • positive feedback in internal engagement surveys
  • your team is consistently a net exporter of talent to other sales functions.
Cross-functional Collaboration & Partnership
How effectively you build strong, productive relationships with Marketing, Product, and Sales Operations to ensure a seamless and efficient revenue engine.
  • Jointly owned KPIs with Marketing for lead quality
  • Product team actively seeks your market insights for roadmapping
  • Sales Operations views your team as a key partner in process improvement
  • no 'finger-pointing' between departments when targets are missed.
Market & Competitive Intelligence
Your ability to gather, analyse, and act on insights about the market, competitors, and customer needs to refine our acquisition strategy.
  • Proactively identifies new market segments or competitive threats
  • your team's call intelligence (from Gong/Chorus) regularly informs product messaging or sales playbooks
  • you present actionable market insights to the executive team.

7Would you like it

Both sides. What people enjoy, and what grinds them down.

What people enjoy
Building High-Performing Teams

You'll spend time coaching your managers, designing development programmes, and celebrating team successes. You get a real buzz from seeing your people grow and exceed their goals.

You're excited to see a manager you mentored promote two of their specialists to Account Executives, knowing you helped build that talent pipeline.

Shaping Company Direction

You're actively involved in executive-level discussions about market entry, product strategy, and overall company growth. Your input genuinely influences where we go next.

Your analysis of emerging market segments leads to a new GTM initiative that the CEO champions, with your team at the forefront.

Seeing Strategic Impact

Your decisions on tech stack, team structure, or new outreach methodologies directly translate into millions of pounds in pipeline and revenue. You see the fruits of your strategic labour.

A new sales development playbook you designed increases our SQL conversion rate by 5%, directly adding £2M to the quarterly pipeline.

What frustrates people
  • Dealing with internal politics and getting buy-in from other departments who don't always understand sales development's value.
  • The constant pressure to hit aggressive pipeline targets, often with limited resources or unexpected market shifts.
  • Recruiting and retaining top talent in a competitive market, especially for management roles.
  • The slow pace of large organisational change, where even great ideas can take months to implement.
  • Having to make tough decisions about underperforming managers or programmes, even when it's unpopular.
What this role does not give you
  • Daily direct client interaction or closing deals yourself.
  • A predictable, unchanging routine; expect strategic shifts and market curveballs.
  • The ability to ignore budget constraints or resource limitations.
  • A quiet, solitary work environment; you'll be constantly collaborating and leading.

8Who you work with

This role directly impacts the company's ability to grow, expand market share, and achieve its long-term revenue objectives. You're responsible for the health of our new business pipeline, which is the lifeblood of any growing organisation. Your decisions on strategy, team structure, and technology will have a multi-million-pound impact on our P&L.

Inside the business
  • VP, Sales / Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)
  • Director of Marketing
  • Head of Product
  • Finance Director / CFO
  • Sales Operations Lead
  • Talent Acquisition Lead
Outside the business
  • Strategic Technology Partners (e.g., CRM vendors)
  • Industry Analysts and Consultants
  • Key Data Providers
  • Major Clients (for feedback and insights)

9What you need before you start

Not a wish list. The things you would be expected to already have.

  • A proven track record of 15+ years in Sales, with at least 5-7 years in a senior leadership role managing multiple teams or managers within a sales development or new business function.
  • Demonstrable experience owning and managing a significant P&L (£2M+ annual budget) for a sales development or equivalent function.
  • Experience presenting strategic plans and performance metrics to C-suite executives and/or Board members.
  • A history of successfully scaling sales development teams (from 20 to 100+ reps) in a high-growth environment.
  • Deep expertise in designing and implementing sales development methodologies and tech stacks that drive measurable results.

10What to practise next

Where the job is going, and what to do about it starting this week.

AI Governance & Ethical Implementation

Critical within 6 months. As we use more AI in sales, understanding the ethical implications, data privacy, and potential biases in algorithms becomes paramount. You'll need to establish guidelines and ensure responsible AI use across your teams.

Data Bias Detection & Mitigation · AI Explainability (XAI) · Privacy-Preserving AI Techniques · Establishing AI Use Policies

  • This week: Read up on recent controversies or ethical dilemmas in AI sales.
  • This month: Work with our Legal/Compliance team to draft initial guidelines for AI use in sales development.
  • Month 3: Lead a workshop for your managers on ethical AI use and potential pitfalls.
  • Month 6: Implement a formal review process for any new AI tools before deployment.

Quick win: Start a conversation with your legal team about what 'responsible AI use' means for sales outreach. You'll be surprised how quickly this becomes a priority.

11Staying current once you are in

What people here do to keep up
  • Actively participate in industry forums and executive roundtables (e.g., Sales Development Leadership Council, Revenue Collective) to stay ahead of trends.
  • Mentor emerging leaders both within and outside your organisation, building your leadership brand and network.
  • Publish thought leadership pieces (e.g., LinkedIn articles, industry blogs) on sales development strategy or AI in sales.
  • Regularly engage with venture capital firms and startups in the sales tech space to identify potential innovative partners.
  • Attend executive coaching sessions focused on strategic leadership, board communication, and organisational influence.

12The rising capability

The rising capability

Zavmo analysis

What's rising in its place

This is where the work is heading, and the higher pay with it. Get fluent here and the shift stops being a threat and starts being your edge.

AI-Driven Sales Orchestration & Automation

Critical within 12 months. AI isn't just for automating individual tasks anymore; it's moving towards orchestrating entire sales processes. Competitors are already experimenting with AI to manage lead routing, optimise sequence timing, and even draft full sales proposals. Leaders who don't embrace this will be left behind.

  • Intelligent Lead Scoring & Prioritisation
  • Adaptive Sales Playbooks
  • Automated Content Generation & Personalisation at Scale
  • AI-Assisted Deal Progression

Predictive Analytics for Go-to-Market Strategy

Important within 18 months. The ability to predict market shifts, customer churn, and optimal GTM strategies using advanced analytics will become a core competency. This moves beyond reactive reporting to proactive, data-driven strategic planning, giving us a significant competitive advantage.

  • Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) Modelling
  • Market Opportunity Forecasting
  • Churn Prediction & Prevention (Acquisition Context)
  • Attribution Modelling for Pipeline Influence

13What you’ll use

What you’ll use

Skills this role draws on

Technical

  • Enterprise Sales Strategy & GTM Design
  • Revenue Operations & Analytics
  • P&L Management & Budgeting
  • Sales Methodology & Playbook Architecture

14The pathway

The pathway

How you actually get there, here

How you become one varies far more by country than what one does. This is the UK route. Most people take one of these ways in; the right one depends on where you're starting from.

  1. 1

    Senior Sales Development Manager / Head of SDR

    3-5 years in this role before Director

    Skills to master

    • Mastering team management, optimising specific segments of the sales development funnel, building strong cross-functional relationships with Marketing and Sales, and demonstrating budget management for a smaller team.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Consistently exceeding team pipeline targets by 10%+
    • Successfully promoted 2-3 managers within your team
    • Led a significant strategic initiative that improved SDR efficiency by 15%+
    • Presented departmental strategy to the VP, Sales with confidence and data.
  2. 2

    Regional Sales Director (with SDR oversight)

    2-4 years in this role before Director, Sales Development

    Skills to master

    • Managing both closing reps and SDRs, understanding regional market dynamics, P&L responsibility for a sales region, and developing a holistic regional sales strategy.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Successfully hit regional revenue targets for 3+ consecutive years
    • Integrated SDR and AE teams effectively for improved regional pipeline
    • Demonstrated strong leadership across both new business and existing account teams
    • Developed and executed a successful regional market entry strategy.
  3. 3

    Consulting or Advisory (Sales Transformation)

    3-6 years in consulting before Director, Sales Development

    Skills to master

    • Developing and implementing sales transformation strategies for multiple clients, deep expertise in sales tech and methodologies, strong analytical and presentation skills, and the ability to influence C-suite stakeholders.

    You're ready to move on when

    • Led 3-5 major sales transformation projects for enterprise clients
    • Published thought leadership on sales strategy or sales development best practices
    • Built a strong network of sales leaders across various industries
    • Demonstrated ability to translate strategic recommendations into actionable implementation plans.

15Where this role leads

The long view: This role can lead to chief executive positions, board or advisory work, or venture capital roles focused on sales.

The ten Future Fluencies

Zavmo analysis

The credential is what you can do today. These are what keep you valuable.

A qualification proves you can do the job as it's defined today. These ten are what decide whether you're still the obvious person for it in five years. They're the capabilities employers are now writing into senior roles faster than people are learning them. Zavmo weaves them through whatever you study, so you come out with both: the credential and the fluency.

The highlighted ones are the Fluencies your role leans on hardest, from how Director, Sales Development / New Business is actually changing.

Where it leads

Roles this leads to

Also named as a next step, with no page in the catalogue yet:

  • VP, Sales Development / VP, New Business

How you would learn this

One to one, on the work you already do

A tutor sets the task against your own job and marks the reasoning, at your pace. There is no cohort to fall behind.

A lesson from Data Science Foundations, worked against Director, Sales Development / New Business.

Data Science Foundations Level 7

Applied to your work in Director, Sales Development / New Business

1. To enable the learner to define the scope and landscape of Data Science and differentiate the roles of Data Scientists from other IT professionals. 2. To enable the learner to evaluate key topics within Data Science, including data administration, governance, and big data sources. 3. To enable the learner to describe the architecture and core elements of Apache Hadoop. 4. To enable the learner to analyse the advantages and disadvantages of utilising Artificial Intelligence techniques in a business context. 5. To enable the learner to critically analyse the impact of Big Data on digital transformation within organisations and its effects on users. 6. To enable the learner to review strategies for ensuring data compliance and explain the responsibilities and challenges faced by data specialists.

How the thinking builds
  1. 1 Remember
  2. 2 Understand
  3. 3 Apply
  4. 4 Analyse
  5. 5 Evaluate
  6. 6 Create
An illustration of a Zavmo lesson, built from this role’s own route. The unit, its objective and every criterion above are the awarding body’s own words, not an example.

It is £70 a month, billed monthly. Your free first module is Future Fluency, and you can cancel any time.

See Your Progress Grow Illustration
Director, Sales Development / New Business
  • Enterprise Sales Strategy & GTM Design
  • Revenue Operations & Analytics
  • P&L Management & Budgeting
  • Sales Methodology & Playbook Architecture
This is your Mind Palace on learn.zavmo.ai. Every skill above comes from this role's own record, not an example borrowed from another job. A node lights up when you evidence it, and what you build stays yours between jobs. That is the part a course cannot do.

16The detail, folded away

Everything else the record holds

The career branches in full, how AI is already showing up in the day-to-day, and the questions people ask about this job. Here when you want them, out of the way while you decide.

Where it leads next, rung by rung

Where it leads

The career path, and where it branches

Director, Sales Development / New Business is a start, not a ceiling. Each step below asks for new skills and hands back more autonomy.

  1. VP, Sales Development / VP, New Business

    3-5 years

    Level 7 (C-Suite equivalent)

    • Full P&L ownership for a multi-million-pound business unit
    • Global market expansion strategy
    • Complex organisational design across multiple regions
    • Strategic partnerships and ecosystem development

  2. Chief Revenue Officer (CRO)

    5-8 years

    Level 7 (C-Suite)

    • Defining and owning the entire company's go-to-market strategy
    • Leading M&A due diligence and integration for revenue functions
    • Building and managing a global revenue organisation
    • Driving multi-year revenue transformation initiatives
Working with AI on the job

Working with AI

Where AI is starting to help

Let's be real, at the Director level, your time is precious. You're constantly juggling strategic planning, team leadership, executive reporting, and market analysis. What if you could offload some of the heavy lifting and get back hours every week to focus on what truly matters: driving growth and making big decisions?

AI isn't just for individual contributors anymore. For a Director of Sales Development, it's a game-changer for strategic insights, team optimisation, and executive communication. We're talking about tools that can give you a real edge, helping you see patterns, predict outcomes, and present data with unprecedented speed.

Strategic Forecasting & Scenario Planning

Use AI-powered models to predict pipeline health, identify potential risks, and run 'what-if' scenarios for different market conditions or strategic pivots. Get a clearer, data-backed view of future performance in minutes, not days. This means you can react faster and make more informed decisions about resource allocation.

Market & Competitor Intelligence Synthesis

Leverage AI to quickly digest vast amounts of market research, competitor reports, and industry news. Get concise summaries of key trends, emerging threats, and new opportunities, allowing you to refine your GTM strategy with up-to-the-minute insights. No more sifting through hundreds of pages yourself.

Automated Performance Insights & Coaching

AI tools can analyse your entire team's call recordings and CRM data to spot trends in performance, identify winning talk tracks, and highlight specific coaching opportunities for your managers. Get actionable insights on what's working (and what isn't) across your whole department, without manual review.

Executive Reporting & Board Prep

Use AI assistants to draft initial versions of executive summaries, board presentations, and strategic plans. Input your key data points and get a structured, articulate narrative that saves you hours of writing and formatting, letting you focus on refining the message and preparing for tough questions.

Common questions

Common questions

How do you become a Director, Sales Development / New Business?

Common routes in include Senior Sales Development Manager / Head of SDR (3-5 years in this role before Director), Regional Sales Director (with SDR oversight) (2-4 years in this role before Director, Sales Development) and Consulting or Advisory (Sales Transformation) (3-6 years in consulting before Director, Sales Development). Times vary with prior experience.

Where can a Director, Sales Development / New Business progress to?

This role can lead on to VP, Sales Development / VP, New Business (3-5 years) and Chief Revenue Officer (CRO) (5-8 years), depending on the skills you build.

What new skills matter most for a Director, Sales Development / New Business?

Increasingly, AI-Driven Sales Orchestration & Automation and Predictive Analytics for Go-to-Market Strategy. These are the skills our record of this role lists as growing.

Free tools

Want a read on where you stand?

Three free tools, no account needed. Each one ends with a role, a level and a way in.

Read the Zavmo manifesto to understand how you will be taught Meet your tutors

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17Where to go from here

Other roles at Level 7

Same depth of qualification, different job. Useful if the work appeals but this particular role does not.

 More jobs in sales

Stay in the field you know and move sideways rather than up.
If you leave this industry

The strategic and leadership skills built in this role carry across industries, particularly in B2B SaaS, technology and other high-growth sectors. Experience building scalable acquisition engines is useful to most companies looking to grow.

This role profile is © 2026 Growth Engineering Technologies Ltd. Built from UK occupational standards and regulated qualification data, and written for Zavmo.

You're not behind. You're right on time. The shift is only just beginning. Your role won't look the same in two years. Be the one who leads the change, not the one it happens to. Start my free Automation Fluency module What happens next: a free account, then we build your plan as you set up. No card. Build your plan, see your roadmap and meet the twelve tutors matched to you. All free. When you're ready to start learning, it's £70 a month, billed monthly. Cancel any time and billing stops.