Lead – SWAT / Business Development Representative (BDR), Growth Office

Job Title: Lead – SWAT / Business Development Representative (BDR), Growth Office

Location: Romania or Bulgaria (Bucharest / Sofia preferred; remote within country) 

Reports To: Growth Office / Business Development Leadership (US-based) 

Work Hours: 1:00 PM – 10:00 PM local time

About the Role

The Lead SWAT / Business Development Representative (BDR) will play a pivotal role in the outbound and inbound prospecting efforts of the EXL Growth Office. This is a senior, hands-on role supporting US-based new logo sales executives ("hunters") by acting as their dedicated research, intelligence, and outreach engine. The Lead SWAT will own the end-to-end prospecting support workflow — from account and contact research to messaging development, campaign execution, and meeting generation.

The ideal candidate combines strong research and analytical skills with excellent business writing, a consultative sales mindset, and the discipline to operate independently across time zones in a fast-paced, target-driven environment.

Key Responsibilities

Outbound Prospecting & Campaign Execution

• Collaborate with US-based sales executives to identify, prioritize, and tier target accounts and buying-center contacts.
• Build and maintain high-quality target account and contact lists, ensuring data accuracy and completeness in Salesforce.
• Execute, monitor, and track progress of targeted outbound sales campaigns by line of business and market, across email, phone, and LinkedIn channels.
• Employ a consultative approach to understand prospect needs and articulate the unique value of our products and services.
• Secure qualified first meetings / discovery calls for the sales executives supported, and ensure smooth handoff with full context.

Inbound Prospecting

• Efficiently qualify inbound leads generated through marketing efforts using agreed qualification frameworks (e.g., BANT/MEDDICC-lite criteria).
• Respond to inbound emails and inquiries within the stipulated SLA and seamlessly transition qualified leads to the sales team.

Market & Account Research

• Conduct periodic market, account, and executive-level research on prospects to deepen understanding of their strategic priorities, recent news, organizational changes, and likely pain points.
• Prepare concise account briefs, executive profiles, and pre-meeting prep packs for sales executives ahead of prospect interactions.
• Leverage various databases and tools, including but not limited to ZoomInfo, xIQ insights, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and other tools integrated into Salesforce.

• Monitor competitive activity and industry signals (earnings calls, leadership changes, RFP triggers, M&A, regulatory shifts) and proactively flag opportunities to the sales team.

  
  

Messaging Development

• Create and optimize inbound and outbound call scripts and email sequences tailored to specific industries, personas, pain points, and value propositions.
• Develop targeted messaging by line of business and persona, aligned with overall brand positioning and active marketing campaigns.
• A/B test subject lines, messaging angles, and cadences; iterate based on response data.

Collaboration & Communication

• Foster strong communication, collaboration, and reporting cadences with sales, marketing, SWAT, and other cross-functional teams across geographies.
• Share data insights and feedback from outbound efforts to continually refine message development and outreach approaches.

• Participate in regular pipeline reviews and campaign retrospectives with sales leadership.

  
  

Reporting & Analysis

• Utilize CRM tools to plan and track activities, update prospect information, and generate reports on performance metrics.
• Analyze call, email, and campaign data to identify trends, successes, and areas for improvement.
• Maintain dashboards covering key KPIs: activities completed, response rates, meetings booked, qualified opportunities created, and pipeline influenced.

Key Performance Indicators (Indicative)

• Number of qualified meetings booked per month for supported sales executives
• Qualified pipeline generated / influenced
• Outbound activity volume and response/conversion rates
• Inbound lead response time vs. SLA
• Quality and timeliness of research briefs and prep materials (stakeholder feedback)
   

Required

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent.
• 5+ years of experience in inside sales, business development, sales development (SDR/BDR), or a similar role — preferably supporting analytics, digital operations, digital transformation, consulting, or B2B technology/services sales.
• Demonstrated experience supporting or selling into the US enterprise market, with strong understanding of US business culture and communication norms.
• Excellent written and spoken English (C1/C2 level); ability to draft polished, executive-ready emails and briefs.
• Hands-on proficiency with Salesforce (or comparable CRM) and prospecting tools such as ZoomInfo, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and sales engagement platforms (e.g., Outreach, Salesloft, HubSpot Sequences).
• Strong research, synthesis, and analytical skills; able to turn raw information into actionable insight quickly.
• Self-starter comfortable working independently in a distributed, multi-time-zone team; willingness to work hours overlapping with US time zones.

• Highly organized, with the ability to manage multiple stakeholders, requests, and deadlines simultaneously.

  
  

Preferred

• Prior experience in a SWAT, sales enablement, pre-sales research, or ABM (account-based marketing) function.
• Experience leading, mentoring, or quality-reviewing the work of junior team members.
• Familiarity with intent data, sales intelligence platforms, and AI-assisted research/outreach tools.
• Experience working in or with global professional services, BPO, analytics, or digital transformation organizations.