About this role.
Chainguard is seeking a Business Development Manager to lead and scale an APJ-based team of BDRs responsible for outbound pipeline generation. The manager will recruit, onboard, coach, and performance-manage BDRs while improving prospecting, qualification, opportunity creation, and BDR-to-AE handoffs. This role partners closely with Sales, Demand Generation, Marketing, and Product to refine account messaging, campaign feedback loops, and top-of-funnel conversion. Success depends on rigorous KPI management, accurate forecasting, practical enablement, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving cybersecurity and DevSecOps environment. The position is remote in Australia and requires location within the APJ region.
Role DNA
A quick view of the complexity, pace, ownership and collaboration implied by the job description.
Job Complexity
4/5Pace & Pressure
5/5Autonomy Level
4/5Communication Load
5/5Salary analysis
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Core skills
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Sample interview questions
I would first baseline conversion metrics by segment, persona, channel, and BDR to identify the largest constraints. I would then prioritize a small set of repeatable plays, clarify qualification and handoff criteria with AEs, establish weekly coaching around calls and messaging, and review leading indicators such as account coverage, activity quality, meetings, and accepted opportunities.
I begin with objective evidence, including activity quality, conversion rates, call recordings, pipeline hygiene, and adherence to the agreed process. Together, we identify one or two root causes, set measurable weekly improvement goals, provide targeted role-play and feedback, and document progress through regular one-on-ones while maintaining clear expectations and support.
I establish shared definitions for ICP, MQL quality, qualified opportunities, and accepted pipeline, then review performance in a recurring cross-functional forum. Closed-loop feedback on campaign responses, objections, conversion rates, and AE handoffs allows each team to adjust targeting, messaging, and follow-up quickly.
I would combine leading and lagging indicators: capacity and ramp assumptions, account coverage, activity quality, meetings created, meeting-to-opportunity conversion, opportunity acceptance, pipeline value, and historical stage conversion. Forecasts should be reviewed weekly with explicit assumptions and risks rather than relying only on end-of-quarter pipeline totals.
I would segment messaging by stakeholder and use relevant business and technical pain points, such as software supply-chain risk, vulnerability remediation workload, compliance, and developer velocity. I would test concise value hypotheses across channels, use customer evidence where appropriate, and continuously refine messages based on reply quality, meeting conversion, and field feedback.
Chainguard is the trusted source for open source. By delivering hardened, secure, and production-ready builds of all the open source software engineers and AI agents rely on, Chainguard helps organizations build faster, stay compliant, and eliminate risk.
Our customers include Fortune 500 enterprises and global industry leaders, including Anduril, Canva, Fortinet, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, OpenAI, Snap Inc., and Snowflake.
Chainguard is venture-backed by leading investors, including Amplify, IVP, Kleiner Perkins, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mantis VC, Redpoint Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and Spark Capital.
The role, in a nutshell:
As the Manager of Business Development, you will lead and mentor a team of BDRs responsible for outbound opportunity generation. Your role involves hiring and onboarding new BDRs, developing and implementing strategies to optimize the BDR team’s performance, setting and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs), and ensuring alignment with the company’s overall sales goals. You will provide hands-on coaching and development, drive repeatable progress toward pipeline targets, and foster a collaborative environment to enhance productivity and motivation. In addition, you will work closely with the Senior Manager of Business Development, Marketing leaders, and Sales leaders to refine lead generation tactics, manage pipeline generation, and improve top of funnel conversion rates. Your leadership will be crucial in achieving pipeline targets and driving the overall success of the Business Development function at Chainguard.
What you’ll do:
- Continue to build out our growing BDR function, working with recruiting to identify top talent to hire and onboard
- Develop your team’s skills for outbound prospecting, qualifying, and opportunity creation
- Provide ongoing feedback and coaching in recurring weekly 1:1s to ensure BDR team members develop skills and performance over time
- Work closely with the Demand Generation team to provide feedback on MQLs and campaigns
- Work closely with the Sales team to improve outbound strategies and qualification processes while also tackling other areas of improvement
- Work in collaboration with Marketing/Sales/Product to develop effective messaging to outbound into target accounts and convert interest into qualified pipeline
- Work closely with Sales leadership to ensure alignment on your team’s strategy and execution on account coverage, target personas, opportunity quality and BDR to AE hand-off
- Accurately forecast weekly, monthly, and quarterly attainment
- Closely monitor team performance metrics and KPIs with the goal to increase BDR productivity
What we’re looking for:
- 2+ years leading a team of BDRs (Cybersecurity, DevSecOps, Infrastructure, OSS strongly preferred)
- Experience with funnel management across multiple channels and focuses
- Hands-on enablement experience in onboarding and learning & development
- Experience with sales and marketing tools, including CRM platforms, lead generation software, and AI tools
- Strong analytical skills and ability to make data-driven decisions
- Proven ability to effectively recruit, hire, and train new people
- Proven ability to thrive in a fast-paced, unpredictable environment
- Aptitude for identifying challenges and developing creative solutions to enhance team efficiency and effectiveness
- Located in the APJ region
About Us
We live and breathe our company values:
- We are customer obsessed — We focus on delivering solutions to our customers that create value and make their lives better.
- We have a bias for intentional action — We prioritize, plan, try things, and fail fast.
- We don’t take ourselves too seriously (but we do serious work) — We are solving an important problem which takes focus, but we also like to enjoy the journey.
- We trust each other and assume good intentions — We’re transparent with decisions to empower team members to make well informed decisions.
A few of the benefits we offer:
- Flexible & Remote-First Culture: Work remotely with team meetup opportunities, bi-annual destination summits, and a monthly stipend for coworking spaces, phone and internet costs.
- Our Approach to Equity: Receive stock options upon hire and promotion. Plus, you can participate in secondary offerings and have 10 years to exercise your options (yes, you read that correctly: 10 years!).
- 100% Covered Health Insurance: We cover 100% of your health, vision and dental insurance premiums for you and your dependents. Nothing comes out of your paycheck.
- ∞ Flexible Time Off: Take the time you need – to do our best work, we need to recharge and reset.
- 18 Weeks Paid Parental Leave: We offer 18 weeks for birthing parents and 12 weeks for non-birthing parents, with the option to use it all at once or throughout your child’s first year.
If your experience is close but doesn’t fulfill all requirements, please apply. We’re building the best team in technology and are focused on hiring “Chainguardians” with unique backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences.
Chainguard is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, reproductive health decisions, or related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability, genetic information, political views or activity, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. We also consider qualified applicants with criminal histories, consistent with applicable federal, state and local law.
By submitting your application, you acknowledge that Chainguard will process your personal data in accordance with Chainguard’s Global Candidate Privacy Notice.
©2026 Chainguard. All Rights Reserved.
Annual salary information is not provided for this position. Explore salary ranges for similar roles in our Salary Directory ›
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