Sales Development Manager – Ascent Program

Workday•Boston, MA

2d•$100,900 - $179,300•Hybrid

About The Position

The Sales Development Manager – Ascent Program will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of Workday's Sales Development organization on a global scale. This role owns the strategy and operations behind how Workday attracts, hires, develops, and retains early career talent for the Sales Development function. It is a strategic leadership role with global scope, directly impacting the quality and readiness of Workday's Field Sales pipeline. The position serves as the central connector between Talent Acquisition, Sales Enablement, Finance, Revenue Strategy & Operations, Global People Business Partners, and Regional SDR Leads, ensuring alignment and seamless collaboration across every stage of the Sales early career talent lifecycle.

Requirements

4+ years of experience in Sales Development AND 2+ years as an Account Executive
2+ years mentoring/coaching experience
Skilled in strategic alignment, with the ability to ensure that early career programs, hiring goals, and talent development initiatives are aligned with the broader objectives of the Sales Development organization and Workday's growth strategy.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field preferred (e.g., Business Administration, Organizational Development, or Marketing)
Experienced in cross-functional stakeholder engagement, with the ability to involve and align individuals and groups across multiple functions, understand the needs and concerns of different partners, and build consensus to ensure successful program outcomes.
Demonstrated proactive thinking, including the ability to anticipate challenges and opportunities in the early career talent landscape and take action in advance to address them.
Skilled in solution planning, with the ability to identify challenges, generate potential solutions, and develop actionable plans to improve operational efficiency and address business needs across the early career hiring landscape.
Understanding of project management principles, including the ability to plan, coordinate, and deliver programs within defined timelines, budgets, and quality standards.
Experienced in developing risk mitigation strategies, including the ability to identify, assess, and proactively address potential risks that could impact program timelines, hiring goals, or talent quality.
Understanding of governance management, including the ability to establish, oversee, and maintain policies, procedures, and frameworks that guide the operations and activities of early career programs across regions.
Proficient in meeting facilitation, with the ability to lead productive discussions that encourage participation, foster open communication, and guide cross-functional groups toward effective decisions.
Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to adapt your style to different audiences and collaborate effectively across teams.

Responsibilities

Managing all SDR Interns and serving as the global lead and strategic owner for the SDR Internship program, including orchestrating the intern experience, building foundational curricula, defining core competencies, and evaluating program ROI and conversion metrics.
Developing and scaling peer-to-peer mentoring and 'onboarding buddy' programs across global regions.
Partnering with Talent Acquisition to design and implement a talent sourcing strategy for recruiting high-performing early career candidates into the Sales Development organization.
Managing the day-to-day operations of the early career hiring process globally, including tracking open requisitions, monitoring interview and hiring status, supporting hire ahead forecasting, and serving as the central point of contact for opening all requisitions.
Bridging the gap between Talent Acquisition and the Sales Enablement team to ensure new hires are onboarded and enabled effectively across all regions, partnering closely with Sales Enablement leadership on readiness programming.
Championing long-term retention and internal mobility by establishing clear, transparent career milestones for early career SDRs.
Partnering with Sales Enablement and People & Purpose to design experiential learning pathways that accelerate time-to-productivity in cross-functional roles.
Continuously auditing and evolving the early career curriculum to focus on job critical skills, while embedding AI-driven sales enablement tools into daily SDR workflows.
Collaborating cross-functionally with Sales Enablement, Talent Acquisition, Finance, Revenue Strategy & Operations, Global People Business Partners, and Regional SDR Leads to ensure consistency, alignment, and impact across all early career programs.
Standardizing global SDR resources and centralized knowledge bases, ensuring transparent, jargon-free documentation of sales strategies, CRM governance, and cross-functional workflows.