The Market Development Representative (MDR) sits at the front of Leadership Connect’s sales process, responsible for identifying and engaging prospects, conducting meaningful discovery conversations, and moving qualified leads to our Sales Director team. MDRs here are curious, well-prepared, and skilled at listening — not order-takers. A significant portion of our prospect base works in or around government and public policy — including government contractors, lobbyists, and public affairs professionals — so an interest in how policy gets made and how organizations navigate those environments is central to success in this role. We provide tools to support research and outreach efficiency so you can spend more time in conversations and less time on administrative work.
What to expect in this role:
- Research target accounts and key contacts before outreach, developing a working understanding of their organizational priorities, recent activity, and likely needs
- Identify and prioritize prospects from assigned lists, inbound leads, and self-sourced accounts
- Respond promptly to inbound inquiries and marketing-generated leads, assessing fit and advancing qualified contacts into the pipeline Outreach & Engagement
- Conduct high-volume, multi-channel outreach (phone, email, LinkedIn) to introduce Leadership Connect to prospective clients
- Craft timely, personalized messaging that connects Leadership Connect’s value to each prospect’s context — staying current on policy developments, regulatory activity, and government contracting trends to keep outreach relevant
- Follow up persistently and professionally across outreach sequences to build familiarity and trust Discovery
- Lead early-stage discovery conversations to understand a prospect’s current workflows, data needs, and relationship-building challenges
- Ask targeted questions that reflect an understanding of how government contractors, lobbyists, and policy professionals operate and what drives their decisions
- Listen actively and adapt your approach based on what you learn, rather than delivering a scripted pitch Pipeline Progression & Handoff
- Clearly communicate the value of Leadership Connect, tailored to what matters most to each prospect
- Qualify prospects using defined criteria and deliver handoffs with documented context on needs, priorities, and objections so AEs can continue the conversation without starting over
- Log all prospect activity, notes, and outcomes in CRM (Salesforce or equivalent) with accuracy and consistency Sales Team Collaboration
- Work closely with Sales Leadership to align on prospect profiles, qualification criteria, and meeting standards
- Participate in team meetings to share market feedback and contribute to refining outreach messaging and the broader sales process
About You:
- 1–3 years of experience in sales development, lead generation, business development, or a related outreach-focused role
- Experience leading early-stage discovery and qualification calls, with the ability to research prospects quickly and translate findings into personalized outreach
- Comfortable with multi-channel outreach and familiar with CRM platforms (Salesforce preferred)
- Active listener who asks the right questions, follows the conversation, and adapts rather than pitching from a script
- Resilience and curiosity — handles rejection without losing momentum and takes a genuine interest in how prospects work and where they face challenges
- Sound judgment on when to advance a conversation and when to step back
- Genuine interest in public sector dynamics — including government contracting, lobbying, and policy — and the ability to engage these audiences with relevant, informed messaging Preferred Qualifications
- Experience selling data, research, or SaaS platforms
- Familiarity with government contracting, lobbying, or public affairs — through work experience or genuine personal interest
- Previous exposure to or interest in a policy office, government affairs function, or public sector advisory role
Skills Required
- 1-3 years experience in sales development, lead generation, business development, or related outreach-focused role
- Experience leading early-stage discovery and qualification calls
- Comfortable with multi-channel outreach (phone, email, LinkedIn)
- Familiarity with CRM platforms (Salesforce preferred)
- Active listening and ability to adapt conversation rather than using a scripted pitch
- Genuine interest in public sector dynamics (government contracting, lobbying, policy)
- Experience selling data, research, or SaaS platforms
- Familiarity with government contracting, lobbying, or public affairs through work experience or strong interest
- Previous exposure to or interest in a policy office, government affairs function, or public sector advisory role
What We Do
Leadership Connect is a data-driven decision intelligence company focused on policy & procurement in the public sector. We combine deep research expertise and cutting-edge technology to help clients win business and influence policy across a wide range of specialties and verticals. We work with nearly every U.S. government agency, many S&P 500 companies, and leading organizations in media, consulting, law, banking, and the not-for-profit world. We help everyone from marketing and business development teams to senior leaders prep for important meetings, uncover existing relationships, and build new ones. Our clients trust their reputations to the quality of our data. With our proprietary 24-step information collection process that employs technology and human validation, we continuously identify the key decision makers and influencers you care about most and put them at your fingertips. Clients access Leadership Connect through the web, apps, and data integrations. Only in Leadership Connect: - Leadership Connect is the world's only service that connects bills to legislative staff. - Navigate complex government organizations: Federal, State & Local. - Stakeholder Mapping. See how your organization is connected to another. View a person’s strongest relationships, including family, former coworkers, and members of the same association, to get warm introductions
