Business Development Representative

Polco is seeking a motivated and curious Business Development Representative (BDR) to join our Revenue Team. You’ll be the engine behind our prospecting efforts and the first voice reaching new customers. Every day, you’ll research, connect, and start meaningful conversations with civic leaders and public officials across the country. This is a great opportunity to develop your sales skills, build relationships in a high-impact sector, and play a vital role in bringing Polco’s mission-driven solutions to more communities nationwide. If you’re proactive, relationship-driven, and excited by both challenge and purpose, we’d love to have you on our team.

This is a hybrid position based out of Polco’s headquarters in Madison, WI. The BDR will work in-person during onboarding and training, and as needed for team collaboration. As you grow in the role and consistently meet performance goals, you will have the flexibility to work from home.

Day-to-Day Tasks & Responsibilities:

• Respond immediately to all inbound inquiries and leads to ensure rapid engagement and advancement through the sales funnel.
• Execute outbound outreach, including:
  • Prospects already in Polco’s database;
  • Warm leads showing prior engagement or interest;
  • Expansion opportunities within existing accounts or partner networks; and
  • New, cold outreach to potential government organizations.
• Research prospects to identify customer challenges, decision makers, and organizational context for personalized outreach.
• Maintain up-to-date records in our CRM, including notes, status updates, and next steps; track activity metrics to ensure accurate pipeline forecasting.

Goals & Expectations:

• Generate qualified meetings for Account Executives (AEs) and ensure seamless transitions from prospecting to discovery.
• Collaborate with team members to refine outreach strategies and support territory-specific campaigns.
• Represent Polco’s mission, values, and platform professionally in every interaction with public sector leaders and staff.
• Master our sales tech stack.
• Adapt quickly within a startup environment, taking initiative to test new outreach approaches and contribute to continuous improvement.
• With experience, begin to partner with Account Managers (AMs) to identify and re-engage dormant accounts or expansion prospects.

Experience & Qualifications:

• Bachelors degree and 1-2 years of experience in a customer-facing, sales, business development, or lead-generation role; experience within the public sector (ideally GovTech) is valuable but not required.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey Polco’s value proposition to diverse government audiences.
• Proven ability to manage high volume outreach while maintaining thoughtful, personalized communication.
• Comfortable with CRM systems (Hubspot a plus), email, phone, and social selling platforms.
• Highly organized, responsive, and motivated to achieve measurable results.
• Comfortable working in a startup or fast-paced environment that requires adaptability and initiative.
• Curiosity about government, civic engagement, and public sector challenges.

Compensation:

• Base Salary: $55,000-$70,000
• On-Target Earnings (OTE): $75,000-$95,000 (base plus commission based on qualified pipeline and meeting goals; commission will be uncapped) 

Base salary will be determined by relevant experience and demonstrated performance potential within the posted range. OTE includes base pay plus uncapped incentive compensation based on achievement of targets related to successful outreach and scheduled meetings.

Perks & Benefits: 

• Exceptional benefits package including dental, medical, and vision coverage.
• Hybrid work environment based out of our Madison, WI headquarters office.
• Flexible work hours, 15 company holidays, and generous paid time off.

To Apply:

Submit an application via the listing on Polco's careers page. You will be asked to share a resume, cover letter, and your personal information. Please upload your application materials as PDFs.