Manager, Sales Development (1 year FTC)

Sophos; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Sophos, a cybersecurity leader headquartered in the UK, is hiring a Sales Development Manager in Manchester. The role leads a UK-based SDR team and requires office attendance three fixed days per week (Mon, Wed, Thu).

The position operates within a remote-first culture with hybrid options. You will drive performance across the EMEA SDR function, coach the team, and partner with Sales, Marketing and global leadership to deliver high-quality sales opportunities for Sophos' sales and channel

Qualifications

• Experience in managing a SDR or sales development team.
• Proven track record of delivering targets and revenue growth.
• Ability to influence senior stakeholders and cross-functional leaders.
• Experience with coaching and developing others in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong data-driven mindset and KPI reporting.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a UK-based SDR team of 8 across the EMEA region.
• Set performance standards and deliver regular coaching sessions.
• Collaborate with Sales, Marketing and Operations to drive campaigns.
• Design and deliver training programs with enablement teams.
• Maintain motivation, set goals and offer incentives.
• Engage with senior stakeholders and share performance updates.
• Foster collaboration across the Global SDR leadership.
• Recruit, develop and retain top SDR talent.
• Ensure high-quality, timely communication within the team.

Skills

Team leadership

Sales development

Target achievement

Stakeholder communication

Coaching and mentoring

Change management

Job description

About Us

Sophos is a cybersecurity leader defending 600,000 organizations globally with an AI-driven platform and expert-led services. Sophos meets organizations wherever they are in their security maturity and grows with them to defeat cyberattacks. Its solutions combine machine learning, automation, and real-time threat intelligence with frontline human expertise from Sophos X-Ops to deliver advanced, 24/7 threat monitoring, detection, and response.

Sophos offers industry-leading managed detection and response (MDR) alongside a comprehensive portfolio of cybersecurity technologies — including endpoint, network, email, and cloud security, extended detection and response (XDR), identity threat detection and response (ITDR), and next-gen SIEM. Together with expert advisory services, these capabilities help organizations proactively reduce risk and respond faster, with the visibility and scalability needed to stay ahead of evolving threats.

Sophos goes to market with a global partner ecosystem, including Managed Service Providers (MSPs), Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs), resellers and distributors, marketplace integrations, and cyber risk partners, giving organizations the flexibility to choose trusted relationships when securing their business. Sophos is headquartered in Oxford, U.K. More information is available at www.sophos.com.

Role Summary

The Sales Development Manager is responsible for, but may not be limited to, the management of all of Sophos’ UK based Sales Development Representatives. This comprises a team of 8 SDRs across the EMEA region.

Key to this role is the ability to develop new sales skills and thinking across the team, oversee change programmes and build strong partnerships with other leaders in Sales, Marketing, Operations Team and the wider global SDR community.

It will also require assisting the SDR Director in driving innovation, bringing a new strategic focus to the function and increasing the quality and productivity of the work performed by the wider EMEA SDR Team. As part of this, support for SDRs outside of the UK will be required.

The aim of this role is to build and manage a team of highly adaptable, energised and productive SDRs, capable of consistently delivering a high volume of quality sales opportunities for the Sophos Sales teams and its Channel Partners to successfully progress to order. It is also to increase the levels of communication with senior stakeholders and, through working with them, create new synergies, stronger working practices, and new levels of value for those on both the Sales and Marketing sides of the SDR team.

They must also take responsibility for integrating the team into the wider Sales & Marketing communities, increasing collaboration across the EMEA SDR function, and delivering continued improvement at both a team and individual level. Within this, their skills and experience as a coach or mentor will be essential.

With ambitious plans to innovate and redefine how the EMEA SDR team is seen, performs and defines its success. The job holder must be unafraid of change, able to build a collective purpose, and passionately believe in the importance of Sales Development as a key driver of business growth.

The role requires office attendance in Manchester (3 fixed days per week; Monday, Wednesday and Thursday).

What will you do:

• Team Management: Is accountable for the performance and results of the team. Monitors, tracks and reports on KPIs. Performs regular team meetings and 1-1s. Promotes success, but also addresses underperformance. Uses all of this, in combination, to ensure team targets are hit.

• Team Development: Sets performance standards and, within wider (EMEA) context, targets for team. Develops new skills and awareness, unlocks potential, enables progression and delivers, as part of a wider coaching culture, regular coaching sessions.

• Peer Engagement: Engages positively with other Sales and Marketing leaders. Invites their feedback and shapes their thinking to improve the performance and financial contribution of the SDR team. Presents regular performance updates, new ideas and future plans as part of the Sales and Marketing Management meeting cycles. Able to learn from, raise debate with and positively influence the way this group views and works with the SDR team.

• Sales Methods and Mindset: Builds a sales mentality and methodology throughout. Readies team members for Sales roles. Works with enablement team to design and deliver training programmes that are fit for a modern, progressive and future facing SDR team.

• Maintains Motivation: Sustains energy and purpose across the team through positive leadership, spotting and celebrating good performance, setting meaningful goals, maintaining a strong supportive presence, and providing attractive incentives/SPIFFs.

• Collaborates: Works in tandem with the EMEA SDR Manager to enable and create more time for strategic development of the SDR function. Forms partnerships with colleagues in Marketing and Sales to ensure campaigns are successful (ROI targets are hit), hand offs are seamless (Sales Acceptance Rates are high), and the UKIN SDR team is helping drive revenue growth (high Closed Won rates are sustained). Builds close and productive working relationships with others across the Global SDR Leadership team. Communicates frequently with own team and establishes a strong team ethos across the group.

• Enable Innovation: To achieve higher standards, new levels of success and greater collaboration, is willing to experiment, benchmark and take risks. Is unafraid to break with traditional models of acting and thinking. Regularly creates, shares and, after getting buy in, implements own ideas for improvement.

• Selection and Onboarding: Successfully recruits high calibre and high potential candidates. Designs and arranges extended induction programmes that enable new recruits to add value from early in their Sophos careers.

• Inspire Success: Leads from the front, brings energy, maintains credibility, ensures professionalism and gets people to see new possibilities.

What will you bring:

• Has had or has a strong desire to perform a Management role.
• 3+ Years experience within a sales environment.
• Successful track record in delivering targets.
• Has collaborated with, influenced and achieved productive working relationships with Senior Stakeholders.
• Defined, measured, interpreted and presented performance goals.
• Has successfully overseen change projects.
• Has used coaching to drive positive change and realise potential in others.
• Used to managing mixed priorities and activities.
• Lead, create purpose, maintain motivation.
• Manage/maximise performance and results.
• Collaboration.
• Recruit, develop and retain talent.
• Communication – individual, team and stakeholder.
• Emotional intelligence.
• Uses data to inform decision making.
• Prioritise, delegate and empower.
• Adapt, innovate, create.
• Define and raise standards of performance.

What's Great About Sophos?

Sophos operates a remote-first working model, making remote work the primary option for most employees. However, some roles may necessitate a hybrid approach. While we are a remote first organization, applicants must have legal authorization to work in the jurisdiction where the position is posted, without requiring employer sponsorship.

Our people – we innovate and create, all of which are accompanied by a great sense of fun and team spirit

Employee-led diversity and inclusion networks that build community and provide education and advocacy

Annual charity and fundraising initiatives and volunteer days for employees to support local communities

Global employee sustainability initiatives to reduce our environmental footprint

Global fitness and trivia competitions to keep our bodies and minds sharp

Global wellbeing days for employees to relax and recharge

Monthly wellbeing webinars and training to support employee health and wellbeing

Our Commitment To You

We’re proud of the diverse and inclusive environment we have at Sophos, and we’re committed to ensuring equality of opportunity. We believe that diversity, combined with excellence, builds a better Sophos, so we encourage applicants who can contribute to the diversity of our team. All applicants will be treated in a fair and equal manner and in accordance with the law regardless of gender, sex, gender reassignment, marital status, race, religion or belief, color, age, military veteran status, disability, pregnancy, maternity or sexual orientation. We want to give you every opportunity to show us your best self, so if there are any adjustments we could make to the recruitment and selection process to support you, please let us know.

Data Protection

If you choose to explore an opportunity, and subsequently share your CV or other personal details with Sophos, these details will be held by Sophos for 12 months in accordance with our Privacy Policy and used by our recruitment team to contact you regarding this or other relevant opportunities at Sophos. If you would like Sophos to delete or update your details at any time, please follow the steps set out in the Privacy Policy describing your individual rights. For more information on Sophos’ data protection practices, please consult our Privacy Policy Cybersecurity as a Service Delivered | Sophos