Senior Sales Development Representative

Ascend; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Meaningful equity

100% health premiums covered for you &

401k with employer matching

Fast growing team with internal promos

Unlimited PTO

Company paid commuter benefits

Parental and family leave

Dog-friendly office

Job summary

Ascend in San Francisco is seeking a Senior Sales Development Representative to drive the go‑to‑market strategy and build the sales pipeline. This early team member will shape outbound strategies, craft messaging, and book demos while collaborating with marketing and product teams.

You will own processes, metrics, and initiatives to scale our SDR function as Ascend expands into new products and customer segments. This is an in‑person role at our SoMa office.

Qualifications

• 9+ months of SDR experience in SaaS is preferred.

Responsibilities

• In your first 30 days, onboard and get up to speed on Ascend, processes, and market; begin generating pipeline via prospecting, cold calling, and demos.
• In your first 60 days, establish key habits and processes to drive predictable results; build dashboards, define outreach strategies, and meet goals.
• In your first 90 days, have in-depth conversations with prospective customers; collaborate with marketing and GTM to identify new opportunities; mentor new SDRs.

Tools

Salesforce

Outreach

LinkedIn Sales Navigator

Apollo

Clay

Job description

Insurance is a $10T industry still running on PDFs, email threads, and manual reconciliation. Ascend is changing that. We built the first and only complete financial operations platform purpose-built for insurance — combining AI-powered accounting automation, payments, and premium financing in a single vertically integrated solution. In five years, we've become the market leader: over 4,000 businesses, including more than half of the 50 largest brokers in the country, trust Ascend to bring clarity to complex accounting operations — from collection to close.

How We Do It

Ascend automates the financial operations that insurers, MGAs, and agencies run every day — and embeds directly into the transactions where money actually moves.

AI is driving the cost of software toward zero. The companies that win won't just sell tools — they'll capture value at the point of the transaction itself. Ascend is built for exactly that moment. Our customers don't just adopt software; they unlock measurable efficiency with a proven 5–7x return on investment.

Our 70+ person team, based in San Francisco and Columbus, brings together deep expertise in insurance, fintech, and AI to build infrastructure the industry has never had.

Why We Do It

The insurance industry intermediates trillions of dollars — and almost none of that infrastructure was built for the modern era. Legacy systems aren't just inefficient; they're a ceiling on what the industry can become.

Ascend's mission is to become the leading financial automation platform for insurance by 2030 — powering the financial operations of the entire industry and transforming the way trillions of dollars move. We're not building another point solution. We're building the financial backbone of insurance.

Your Role

As a Senior Sales Development Representative, you’ll be a driving force behind Ascend’s growth and at the forefront of our go‑to‑market efforts. You’ll help shape our sales development strategy as we expand into new products and customer segments, and play a critical role in executing and scaling what comes next.

We’re looking for someone with a proven history of effective cold calling, a strong drive for continuous improvement, and a creative approach to outreach. As an early member of the SDR team, you’ll be instrumental in defining what “good” looks like and upleveling our SDR function as we scale.

Please note, this role is in-person at our San Francisco office.

Responsibilities Will Include

Objective #1: In your first 30 days, you will onboard and get up to speed on Ascend, our processes, and our market (and begin generating pipeline):

Develop a deep understanding of the problems our customers face, how Ascend solves them, and how to communicate that value to prospective customers

Learn and ask questions about how we operate as an SDR team, as a GTM function, and as a business more broadly

Jump into prospecting, cold calling, cold emailing, and booking demos with guidance and coaching from other team members

Objective #2: In your first 60 days, you will establish the key habits and processes needed to drive predictable and repeatable results:

Work with your manager on a strategic initiative that you will own, build, and implement across the team (for example: defining new enterprise‑specific outreach strategies or building dashboards in Salesforce)

Identify and establish a repeatable process to meet weekly, monthly, and quarterly goals, and build structure around your workflows to ensure consistency

Experiment with different outreach strategies, messaging, cadences, and channels, and attend industry events

Objective #3: In your first 90 days, you will have in-depth conversations with prospective customers and perform alongside the other members of our SDR team:

Collaborate with marketing and the broader GTM function to identify new opportunities and push the team forward

Leverage data and reporting to find areas for improvement and optimization, both individually and across the sales development function

Give feedback to, and receive feedback from, other team members to ensure consistent learnings, and mentor new SDRs as they join

You Might Be a Good Fit If You Are/Have

Some proven experience: 9+ months of SDR experience in SaaS is preferred (but open to ambitious people who break that mold and are eager to grow in their sales career)

Strong communication skills: comfortable speaking on the phone, clear in writing, and able to adapt messaging to the moment

A learner’s mindset: self‑motivated, resourceful, and excited to learn new strategies, messaging, and tools

A creative thinker: eager to experiment with new outreach ideas and constantly looking for ways to improve efficiency and impact

Flexible and agile: excited by the pace of a startup environment and able to adapt quickly to shifting priorities

The ultimate team player: you thrive in collaboration and are energized by team wins above all else

Nice to Haves

Experience with Salesforce, Outreach, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo, or Clay

Exposure to startup environments and comfort with navigating ambiguity

Ping pong skills. Yes, ping pong skills – ask us about this in your initial interview!

All roles at Ascend are 5 days a week onsite at our beautiful office in SoMa!

• Meaningful equity
• 100% health premiums covered for you and your dependents
• 401k with employer matching options
• A fast growing team with an emphasis on promoting from within 80% of all hires in the last 12 months have already been promoted!
• Unlimited PTO
• Company paid commuter benefits
• Parental and family leave
• Dog‑friendly office!

We are committed to equal opportunity employment and embrace diversity within our organization. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.

We encourage candidates to apply even if their experience doesn't precisely match this opportunity. We value diversity and are dedicated to equal opportunity employment.

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