Founding BDR

EES Agency; Nashville (TN); Hybrid; USD 34,000 - 55,000; Full time

Job summary

EES Agency is seeking a founder-level outbound prospecting pro to create and own a new outbound motion. You will design the targeting, messaging, cadences, and qualification bar, then run multi-channel outreach to senior executives and hand qualified opportunities to the sales team.

This role starts as a 6-month contract (1099) with a path to full-time, remote or hybrid work, and a compensating rate aligned with market practice for freelance/prospecting roles.

Qualifications

• Experience building outbound prospecting motions from scratch or major redesigns.
• Ability to define targeting criteria, messaging, cadences and qualification standards.
• 2+ years in complex, long-cycle, executive-level B2B sales.

Responsibilities

• Research target companies and identify triggers that justify a meeting.
• Build and run multi-channel outbound cadences (LinkedIn, email, phone, video).
• Qualify meetings against a clear bar before handing to the closing team.
• Own and refine the outbound playbook: criteria, messaging, cadence, qualification.
• Collaborate with sales leadership to improve approach based on results.

Skills

Outbound prospecting

Multi-channel cadences

Targeting criteria

BANT/MEDDIC qualification

Executive-level B2B sales

Cold outreach

C-suite engagement

Tools

Outreach

Salesloft

Apollo

Job description

EES Agency is a full-service event and experiential marketing company that transforms business objectives into bold, memorable experiences. From high-stakes corporate events to immersive brand activations, our team partners with clients to deliver programs that drive results. We are a fast-moving, creatively-driven agency built on trust, craft, and a relentless commitment to excellence.

WHY THIS INDUSTRY, RIGHT NOW

If you're coming from SaaS or tech sales, you've watched what's happening: AI is compressing software sales orgs, headcount is shrinking, and entire categories of digital products are getting automated or commoditized. It's a hard moment to bet a career on selling software.

Here's what can't be automated: a thousand people in a room together. A leadership summit, an incentive trip, a product launch on the ground in a real destination. Live corporate events are a fundamentally human product — experienced in person, delivered by people, valued because they're not digital. As AI raises the premium on genuine human connection, companies are investing more in bringing people together, not less.

That makes this one of the more durable places in B2B to build a sales career right now. We're not asking you to abandon the skills you built in tech sales — we're asking you to point them at a product AI can't replace.

And if you were the founding sales hire at a startup that folded or got absorbed — the person who built the outbound motion from nothing — you're exactly who we're hoping reads this. You've already chosen building over plugging in once. This is that same seat, at a company with real clients and real revenue.

THE ROLE:

We're hiring our first-ever dedicated outbound prospector — the founding seat of a function that doesn't exist yet at EES. This is a build role, not just an execution role. The targeting model, the messaging, the cadences, the qualification bar — none of it exists yet. You'll design it, run it, prove it, and refine it. Six months from now, EES's outbound playbook will be the one you wrote.

Your job is to get us in the room with senior executives who don't know EES yet. You're not closing the deal — you're earning the first meeting and handing off a qualified opportunity to our sales team.

What You'll Do

• Research target companies and identify the specific trigger — a leadership change, a growth phase, a culture or retention challenge — that gives a senior executive a real reason to take a meeting
• Build and run multi-channel outbound cadences (LinkedIn, email, phone, video) aimed at senior decision-makers
• Qualify every meeting against a clear bar before it's handed to our closing team, so their time goes to real opportunities
• Own the playbook itself: targeting criteria, messaging, cadence structure, and the qualification bar — designed by you, refined against real results
• Partner with sales leadership to refine the approach based on real results, not guesswork

THE STRUCTURE — READ THIS PART

This is a remote or hybrid role, and it starts as a 6-month contract with a clear, defined path to full-time employment. We're being upfront about why: dedicated outbound prospecting is a new motion for EES, and we want to prove it out together before either of us commits long-term. You'll be paid a competitive rate throughout the contract, and the criteria for converting to full-time — tied to qualified meetings generated, not vanity activity metrics — will be spelled out before you start, not decided after the fact.

The mechanics: this is a1099 engagement, with health benefits eligibility beginning at full-time conversion. We know exactly what question someone coming out of a tech layoff is asking, and we'd rather answer it here than make you apply to find out.

If you're someone who wants to build something real and be the person who proves a new channel works, this is designed for you.

REPORTS TO

VP of Sales and Director of Sales

Requirements:

What We're Looking For

• You've built an outbound prospecting motion from scratch — or been the person who materially redesigned one.
• You've made the calls on targeting criteria, messaging strategy, cadence structure, and what counts as qualified — not just executed a system someone else designed. This is the requirement we'll press hardest on in interviews.
• 2+ years prospecting into complex, long-cycle, executive-level B2B deals. Your background doesn't need to be in events or DMC — HR tech, incentive travel, executive education, association/sponsorship sales, and enterprise SaaS are all strong fits
• A real track record of turning a company signal into a specific reason a senior executive takes a meeting — not just high-volume, generic outreach
• Working knowledge of a qualification framework (BANT, MEDDIC, or your own well-reasoned version)
• Genuine experience running multi-touch, multi-channel cadences over weeks — not one-off blasts
• Comfort getting a VP or C-suite executive to agree to a next step, cold

Not required: a background in events, hospitality, or DMC. We'd rather hire someone who knows how to prospect at this level and learn our business than someone who knows our industry but not this skill set.

A Note on Fit:

If your prospecting experience is primarily running plays inside a mature, pre-built sales machine — established ICPs, existing sequences, a playbook handed to you — this role will feel like being handed a blank page. Some people find that energizing. If that's you, we want to hear from you. If not, this isn't the right role, and that's okay.

NICE TO HAVE

• You came up through a company known for strong BDR/SDR training and ramp programs
• You're comfortable with public visibility — or excited to build a presence on LinkedIn and in industry conversations over time
• Experience with sales engagement tools (Outreach, Salesloft, Apollo) or CRM-based cadences
• You've sold specifically to HR/People, Marketing, or Sales leadership before