SDR recruitment · In-house, contract, part-time or outsourced

Hire an SDR · SDR recruitment for in-house, contract and part-time reps

To hire an SDR, first decide whether the seat works inbound or outbound, what it is measured on and who will coach it every week.

Then pick the route (in-house, contract, part-time or an outsourced pod) and test candidates on written outreach, a live call and their CRM notes before any offer.

We recruit SDRs and BDRs, and fractional, interim, part-time and permanent executives.

On every brief we send a shortlist of 3–5, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Brief us on an SDR hire →See the roles

How a brief runswhat we undertake

01Brief30-MINUTE SCOPING CALLDay 0
02Shortlist of 3–5VETTED · RATE BENCHMARK · IR35After the brief
03InterviewsYOU MEET THE SHORTLISTYour diary
04Scoped startFIRST-MONTH OUTCOMES AGREEDYou set the date
05Fractional, interim and permanentIR35 POSITION SET OUTOn every brief

Shortlist3–5

3–5

Shortlist · with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 set out

Vetting · stages before a candidate reaches you

3.0 months

Average SDR ramp · 351 B2B companies, 78% North America-based

The Bridge Group, 2025

15 minutes · video or phone

Book 15 minutes to hire a SDR

Tell us the scope and the days a week. We come back with SDR candidates, their day rates and availability.

0115 minutes, video or phone
02We scope the role and the days a week
03A shortlist of 3–5 after the call
04Fractional, interim and permanent briefs

Prefer email? Use the booking page →

Pick a day that suits · live availability

Open the booking calendar →

On the board · last 3 months

SDR roles jobs on the board

9 on the board · 3 confirmed open

Browse every role on the board →

Live SDR and sales development roles

Fractional recruiting starts with the brief, not the CV pile. Send a SDR brief and we come back with a shortlist of three to five candidates, each through five-stage vetting.

01/ the role

Hire an SDR: what the seat is for

A sales development representative opens sales conversations and hands them on.

The work is prospecting target accounts, qualifying whether there is a real need, and booking meetings for the account executives who close.

Before you hire an SDR, write down which of those jobs matters most to you.

A seat that follows up demo requests needs a different person from one that starts cold with accounts nobody has spoken to.

Some companies call the outbound seat a BDR; read the job, not the letters.

For the roles on the board, see SDR jobs and BDR jobs.

When the seat pays off

An SDR works when the business knows who it sells to and what a qualified meeting looks like.

Without that, a new rep books meetings the account executives do not want.

If nobody owns the sales plan yet, the first hire is the leader, not the rep.

See head of sales jobs for that seat.

The rules an SDR works under

Cold calls and emails to businesses are direct marketing.

The ICO’s guidance on business-to-business marketing says live calls must be screened against the Corporate TPS and TPS registers, and that UK GDPR still applies to a named business contact.

The Telephone Preference Service sets out the screening duty for unsolicited sales calls.

The ICO also notes that a message to someone using a professional networking site in a personal capacity is not business-to-business marketing, so train new reps on both before they dial.

02/ scope

SDR recruitment: how the search runs

1. Write the brief

Set out inbound or outbound, the target (meetings held, qualified opportunities or pipeline created), the tools, and who coaches the rep.

Name the one manager who will listen to the rep’s calls each week.

2. Choose the route

In-house suits a repeatable motion you will run for years.

A contract or fractional SDR suits a test of a new market or a fixed outbound push.

For set days a week, hire a fractional SDR or a part-time rep on your payroll.

In England, an apprenticeship is a route into a first seat: the apprentice is paid at least the minimum wage and given time off to train.

3. Test the work, not the CV

Run four short tests and score each against the same criteria for every candidate.

Written outreach: three cold emails to real accounts on your list, and the follow-ups.

A live call: a manager plays the prospect and raises an objection.

CRM hygiene: hand over rough call notes and ask for the record, the next step and the date.

Coachability: give one piece of feedback after the call and run it again.

The candidate who changes the second call is the one to back.

4. Plan the ramp before the start date

The Bridge Group’s 2025 survey puts average SDR ramp time at 3.0 months, the lowest since 2010 (The Bridge Group).

Its sample is 351 B2B companies, 78% based in North America, so treat it as a direction and set your own first-quarter targets.

Week one is the product, the buyer, the rules and the CRM.

Then shadowing, then live calls with a reduced target that rises month by month.

What we do on an SDR brief

We send a shortlist of 3–5 candidates, each with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.

Every candidate goes through our five-stage vetting first.

03/ comparison

Four ways to add sales development capacity

Who employs the rep, who manages them and who owns the work. Before you hire, choose by how long you need the motion to run.

In-house SDRContract or fractional SDRPart-time SDROutsourced SDR pod

Engaged byYou, as an employeeYou, often through their own companyYou, as an employee on set daysThe provider; you buy a service

Managed day to day byYour sales managerYour sales manager, within the agreed scopeYour sales managerThe provider’s own team leads

Messaging and dataYoursYours, if the contract says soYoursSet out in the service contract

SuitsA motion you will run for yearsA test of a market or a fixed pushSteady volume below a full weekFast volume without building a team

04/ vetting

How we vet SDRs

What we undertake on every brief, before a candidate reaches you.

01
Qualification screen
Verify SDR tenure, sector context and stage fit.
SOURCING
02
Mandate fit
Match to your situation — stage, board dynamics, timing.
MATCHING
03
Reference deep-dive
We take references ourselves, from recent past clients — real outcomes, not titles.
VERIFY
04
Shortlist
Three to five candidates with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out.
SHORTLIST OF 3–5

05/ sdr recruitment agency

SDR recruitment agency: what to ask of one

An SDR recruitment agency finds a rep who then works for you; an outsourced SDR provider supplies reps who work for it.

Know which you are buying before you compare them.

Ask any agency how it tests candidates, and to see the written outreach and call work behind each name.

Ask for pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position on every candidate, so the shortlist can be compared line by line.

Ask how it checks a rep knows the calling and email rules.

The Institute of Sales Professionals, the profession’s membership body, runs sales qualifications and apprenticeships that give a common standard to ask about.

06/ outsourced sdr

Outsourced SDR vs hiring an SDR: which to choose

An outsourced SDR pod can start quickly and the provider carries recruitment and management.

The trade is control: the reps learn your product second-hand, and what they learn leaves with the contract.

Hiring builds the skill inside the business, and the rep can grow into an account executive seat.

It takes longer to start and needs a manager with time to coach.

Many companies test with a contract rep or a pod, then hire once the messaging and the qualified-meeting definition are proven.

Whichever you choose, check that call lists are screened and every call says who is calling, as the ICO’s guidance requires.

07/ what an sdr costs

What an SDR costs: base, OTE and the rules on commission

SDR pay is quoted as a base salary plus commission, and the total at target is the OTE (on-target earnings).

Read the split as well as the total, and write down what earns commission: meetings held, qualified opportunities or pipeline.

Acas says an employee’s entitlement to commission should be in their written statement of employment particulars.

Commission counts towards the National Minimum Wage, and if it falls short the employer must top up pay.

Contract and fractional reps are paid by the day, and their employment status decides their rights.

Where they work through their own company, the off-payroll working rules (IR35) may apply: status depends on how the engagement runs, and a medium or large client makes the determination.

We publish no SDR pay figure until we hold a pay survey we can cite.

Our IR35 guide sets out the status tests.

08/ questions

SDR recruitment FAQ

The questions people ask before bringing in a SDR.

Write the brief (inbound or outbound, the target, who coaches the rep), choose in-house, contract, part-time or an outsourced pod, and test candidates on cold emails, a role-played call, CRM notes and how they take feedback. Plan the first quarter’s ramp before the start date.

An in-house SDR is paid a base salary plus commission, quoted as OTE; a contract rep is paid by the day. On every brief we set out each candidate’s pay or day rate on the shortlist, so you can compare like with like.

Finding, testing and appointing sales development representatives: the reps who prospect, qualify and book meetings for account executives. Good SDR recruitment tests outreach, calls and CRM discipline, not just the interview.

Candidates tested on real outreach and call work, with pay or day rate, availability and IR35 position set out for each. It finds a rep who works for you, which is different from an outsourced SDR provider whose reps work for it.

An outsourced pod starts fast and the provider manages the reps, but the knowledge leaves with the contract. Hiring builds the skill in-house and gives a route to account executive, at the cost of a slower start and a manager’s time.

Four things: written outreach to real accounts, a live call with an objection, CRM hygiene from rough notes, and coachability (feedback, then the call again). Score every candidate against the same criteria.

The Bridge Group’s 2025 survey of 351 B2B companies, mostly North American, puts average ramp at 3.0 months (The Bridge Group). Set a reduced target for the first months and raise it as the rep ramps.

On-target earnings: base salary plus the commission paid when the rep hits target. Acas advises putting the commission entitlement in the written statement of employment particulars.

It depends on how the engagement runs, and the off-payroll working rules apply contract by contract. A medium or large client makes the determination; for a small client outside the public sector, the worker’s own company decides.

Book 15 minutes · shortlist of 3–5

Bring the brief. We architect the team.

A shortlist of 3–5 with day rate, availability and IR35 position set out, after five-stage vetting.

Book a call →Submit a brief