Sales Development Performance Lead, Inbound

About the role

As part of a new Center of Excellence, we are creating a new role of Sales Development Performance Lead. This is a manager-level individual contributor within Avalara's global Sales Development organization. The Performance Lead is a practitioner role—XDRs will observe the Performance Lead make live calls as part of the job design. You will earn credibility from doing, not from designating.

We structure the Performance Lead regionally but connect it globally. Each region—US, EMEA, and India—has at least one dedicated Performance Lead. All Performance Leads operate against the same QA scorecard, the same certification framework, and the same Performance Lead charter. A weekly global Performance Lead sync ensures top-performer insights flow from each region to all regions, and that coaching standards remain consistent regardless of geography.

This is a newly created, upleveled role born from a deliberate decision to separate manager accountability from rep capability development. Managers own team accomplishment, daily execution, performance management, and rep accountability. Performance Leads own live modeling, skill transfer, certification execution, workflow discipline, AI/tool adoption, and readiness evidence that helps reps create more Stage 1 opportunities. The Performance Lead measures success through both direct production and measurable skill transfer.

You will report to the Global Sales Director.

Responsibilities

• Guide regional team quota accomplishment, with a primary goal of 75–80%+ of XDRs in the region hitting quota.
• Monitor personal and team performance data daily, surface early warning signals before they become pipeline problems, and translate data patterns into targeted coaching actions.
• Own call quality through live coaching. Conduct weekly live side-by-sides during XDR call blocks—observing, coaching in real-time, and modeling correct behavior on the phone.
• Carry and work a small personal quota of approximately 10-20% of the individual XDR's quota. Make calls alongside the XDR team, invite observation, and use your own live calls as teaching moments.
• Guide Hyperbound scoring and AI-assisted coaching. Assign targeted scenarios and track score progression quarter-over-quarter. Use Hyperbound and Gong data to identify skill gaps that separate high performers from developing ones in your region, including opening, discovery, objection handling, and closing.
• Represent your region in the weekly global Performance Lead sync. Contribute insights on what is working in your region, bring back best practices from other regions, and help maintain a single global standard of quality across US, EMEA, and India XDR teams.
• Contribute to new hire onboarding and ramp programs. Translate what works in live call activity into structured onboarding content that accelerates new XDR time-to-productivity.
• Serve as a field-level adoption owner for AI-enabled XDR execution. Model use of approved AI tools, coach reps on AI-assisted preparation and follow-up, identify workflow friction, and surface automation opportunities that improve speed, quality, and conversion.

Requirements

• 2+ years of XDR (SDR, ADR, or BDR) experience, including experience both as an SDR and ADR (Inbound and Outbound). You have done this job at a high level and can demonstrate it.
• Quota accomplishment history. You know what it takes to hit and have done it repeatedly. You have had success that you can draw upon to teach and coach others.
• Experience mentoring peers—formal or informal. You have made the people around you measurably better and can describe how.
• Working knowledge of the full XDR technology stack: Salesforce, Outreach, ZoomInfo, 6sense, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Gong, and Glean. You use these tools fluently.
• Data fluency. You can read a performance dashboard, identify a pattern, and translate it into a specific coaching action—not a general observation.
• Sandler, Challenger, or LAER objection handling proficiency. You have a familiarity with these frameworks on live calls and can teach them because you practice them.
• Experience with Hyperbound or equivalent AI call coaching tools. Comfort using AI scoring and scenario tools to identify and close skill gaps.
• Cross-regional awareness. Exposure to how XDR motions work in markets outside your own—US, EMEA, or India.
• Work on-site at the Center of Excellence (COE) to support hands-on training, collaboration, and culture-building programs.

AI at Avalara

• Avalara is an AI-first company. AI is embedded in our workflows, decision-making, and products. Success here requires embracing AI as an essential capability.
• You’ll bring experience using AI and AI-related technologies, ready to thrive in an AI-driven environment.
• You’ll apply AI every day to business challenges—improving efficiency, contributing solutions, and driving results for your team, our company, and our customers.
• You’ll grow with AI by staying curious about new trends and best practices, and by sharing what you learn so others can benefit too.

Benefits

• Total Rewards: Great compensation package, paid time off, and paid parental leave. Many employees are eligible for bonuses.
• Health & Wellness: Benefits vary by location but generally include private medical, life, and disability insurance.

Avalara strongly supports diversity, equity, and inclusion, and is committed to integrating them into our business practices and organizational culture. We have 8 employee-run resource groups, each with senior leadership and executive sponsorship.

About Avalara

We’re defining the relationship between tax and tech. We’ve built an industry-leading cloud compliance platform, processing over 54 billion customer API calls and over 6.6 million tax returns a year. We’re a billion-dollar business with a mission to be part of every transaction in the world. Our culture is bright, innovative, and disruptive—like the orange we love to wear. It captures our quirky spirit and optimistic mindset, empowering our people to win.