gtm-role-descriptions

GTM Role Descriptions

Overview

Bad job descriptions attract the wrong candidates and repel the right ones. "Rockstar SDR wanted" gets noise. A constraint-first JD with transparent comp, clear outcomes, and org context gets builders. The mistake: copying a generic LinkedIn template without org placement, quota math, or reporting lines.

This skill is the GTM hiring anchor: job description templates per revenue role, org charts by ARR stage, compensation benchmarks, and where to post. Load sales-team-building for hire sequence timing; load gtm-recruiting for sourcing, closing, and offer negotiation; load hiring-by-role for interview scorecards after the JD is written.

When to Use

• "Write a job description for [SDR/AE/VP Sales/RevOps/GTM Engineer/CSM]"
• "Hire a GTM engineer" / "GTM Engineer vs RevOps"
• "Design our revenue org structure"
• "What's OTE and quota for an AE at our stage?"
• "Comp plan for SDR team"
• "Org chart for $3M ARR SaaS"
• "Job post for first sales hire"

Do not use for interview design alone — use hiring-by-role. Do not use for where to distribute posts — use job-posting-strategy.

Authoritative Foundations

• Betts Recruiting. GTM-specialist recruiting firm. Role definitions emphasize quota attainment history over tenure, stage-fit (startup vs scale-up), and builder mentality. Use Betts for VP+ and hard-to-fill GTM searches.
• Bridge Group. Annual SaaS sales benchmarks: quota-to-OTE ratio (~5:1), ramp time, activity metrics, comp plan prevalence. OTE should be ≤20% of year-1 quota (sales-team-building).
• RepVue. Crowdsourced sales org data — candidates research your comp and culture before applying. Publish honest ranges; misaligned comp kills pipeline.
• Sam Jacobs / Pavilion. Founder of Pavilion; CRO Council sets peer standards for executive comp (multi-gate variable: ARR + NRR + efficiency). VP+ offers → executive-compensation for clause library. Member referrals outperform job boards.
• Winning by Design. POD ratios (SDR:AE:CSM) and when to add roles vs promote.
• Mark Roberge. Hire for Coachable, Curious, Prior success, Intelligent, Work ethic — reflect in "Who You Are" section, not years-of-experience filters.
• Stacey Nordwall (Culture Amp / Pyn). People Ops for SaaS revenue teams: culture-first onboarding, onboarding surveys → manager action, new-manager training before promotion, role-specific ramp paths. Canonical playbook → references/hr-gtm-playbook.md. Pair with Roberge ramp metrics — not interchangeable.
• Pavilion (Sam Jacobs). Compensation Planning 101 for AE/SDR/manager modeling; interactive comp benchmarks at offer time. VP+ → executive-compensation.
• Tito Bohrt (AltiSales). Price the SDR role on fully-loaded cost per qualified meeting (not base ÷ dials) and reject under-comped plans — his public "Dear CFO" argument is that "$50K base / $70K OTE won't bring the right talent." Comp SDRs on qualified meetings held and document the SDR→AE path. Canonical → skills/founder-led/sales-team-building/references/tito-bohrt-sdr-science.md.

Comp strategy (canonical): executive-compensation/references/gtm-compensation-strategy.md (Pattern 35). Bands: references/comp-benchmarks.md. Stage matrix: executive-compensation/references/comp-by-role-stage.md. If SKILL quick-ref differs, follow references/benchmark-reconciliation.md.

Step-by-Step Process

Phase 1: Org Context (Before Writing the JD)

Define where this role sits:

ARR Stage	Typical Revenue Org	Reports To
$0–$1M	Founder sells; maybe 1 full-stack AE	Founder/CEO
$1–$3M	2–3 AEs, 1–2 SDRs, founder or player-coach mgr	Founder or Head of Sales
$3–$10M	Manager + AEs + SDRs + 1–2 CSMs	VP Sales / CRO
$10M+	VP Sales, Sales Ops, Enablement, CS leader	CRO

Full org charts in references/org-by-stage.md. POD design in sales-team-building.

Phase 2: JD Structure (Betts / Constraint-First)

Every GTM JD uses this order — see templates/job-description.md:

1. Title + stage context — "Account Executive (Hire #2, $2M ARR)"
2. Why this role exists — business constraint, not "we're growing"
3. What you'll own — 5–7 outcome bullets (not task lists)
4. What success looks like — 90-day and 12-month measurable outcomes
5. Who you are — achievements, not years (Roberge traits for sales)
6. Org context — reports to, partners with, team size today
7. Compensation — transparent OTE/salary range, equity, benefits
8. How to apply — simple; include work sample or numbers ask for sales

Anti-patterns: rockstar/ninja, "fast-paced," years-only requirements, hidden comp, generic "join our journey."

Phase 3: Role Catalog (Quick Reference)

Full specs in references/role-catalog.md. Compensation ranges are US B2B SaaS benchmarks — adjust by geo and ACV.

Role	OTE / Salary	Quota (if applicable)	When to Hire
SDR / BDR	$58–85K OTE	12–20 qualified meetings/qtr	AEs need pipeline
AE (mid-market)	$130–190K OTE	$650K–$950K ARR	Founder closed 10–20 deals
Senior AE (enterprise)	$170–235K OTE	$850K–$1.2M ARR	$50K+ ACV motion proven
Player-coach Manager	$170–235K OTE	Team quota	2+ AEs at quota
VP Sales	$240–380K OTE	Org ARR target	$5M+ ARR, 5+ reps
RevOps / Sales Ops	$95–150K salary	N/A	CRM/reporting chaos
Sales Enablement	$105–160K salary	N/A	Ramp cost justifies role
CSM	$72–115K OTE	NRR / GRR targets	Churn threatens NRR
Demand Gen Manager	$100–150K salary	SQL/MQL targets	$2M+ ARR, pipeline gap
RevOps (GTM systems)	$110–160K salary	N/A	Multi-tool GTM stack
GTM Engineer	$95–165K salary	OKRs (not quota)	$500K–$2M ARR; Clay/n8n bottleneck
Senior GTM Engineer	$125–165K salary	OKRs + milestones	$2M+ ARR; agency graduate

GTM Engineer (canonical): Role boundaries, hire triggers, comp leveling, tool stack, and onboarding handoff → references/gtm-engineer-hiring.md. JD → templates/gtm-engineer-jd.md. Interview scorecard → hiring-by-role → skills/founder-led/hiring-by-role/templates/gtm-engineer-scorecard.md.

Phase 4: Compensation Plan Elements

Founders: Before picking templates, run founder-comp-playbook — can you afford the hire (% ARR), what negotiation reserve exists, how to walk through equity and quota with candidates.

Pick role-specific template (strategies in references/saas-comp-strategies.md; bands in references/comp-benchmarks.md, updated June 2025 / H1 2026):

Role	Template
SDR	templates/comp-plan-sdr.md
AE	templates/comp-plan-ae.md
Manager	templates/comp-plan-manager.md
VP / CRO	templates/comp-plan-vp-cro.md + executive-compensation (clauses)
SPIFF / bonus	templates/comp-plan-spiff.md
Generic	templates/comp-plan.md

Document in selected template:

AE (standard SaaS):

• 50/50 base/variable OTE
• Quota = OTE × 5 (e.g. $140K OTE → $700K quota)
• Linear or accelerated commission above 100%
• 90-day ramp; recoverable draw optional months 1–3

SDR:

• 60/40 or 50/50 base/variable
• Comp on qualified meetings held (not dials)
• $150–250 per qualified meeting; bonus for SQO conversion
• Promotion path to AE documented in JD

CSM:

• 70/30 or 80/20 base/variable
• Variable on NRR, GRR, or expansion ARR
• No variable on activities — outcomes only

Phase 5: Where to Post (GTM Roles)

Role Level	Primary Channels
SDR/AE	LinkedIn, RevGenius, RepVue, Compgauge
Manager/VP	Pavilion, Betts, LinkedIn, investor network
RevOps	RevOps Co-op, Pavilion, LinkedIn
GTM Engineer	RevOps Co-op, LinkedIn, Clay community, Pavilion referrals
CSM	Gainsight Pulse, Support Driven, LinkedIn

Full channel matrix in job-posting-strategy.

Phase 6: Revenue Systems Alignment

Roles must map to systems — load revops-tech-stack for tool ownership:

Role	Typical Systems Owned
SDR/AE	CRM, sequencer, enrichment
RevOps	CRM admin, forecasting, routing, data hygiene
GTM Engineer	Clay, n8n, enrichment, sequences, signal plays, CRM sync
Sales Enablement	LMS, playbook, battlecards
Demand Gen	MAP, ads, attribution

Output Format

Deliverable package:

• Completed JD (templates/job-description.md)
• Comp plan summary (templates/comp-plan.md)
• Org placement (templates/org-chart.md)
• Posting channel recommendation

Run scripts/check-output.py before delivery.

Quality Check

• JD uses constraint-first structure (why role exists now)
• Outcomes are measurable at 90 days and 12 months
• Compensation range included (OTE + equity)
• Quota math shown for variable roles (OTE × ~5)
• No rockstar/ninja or years-only requirements
• Org reporting line and stage context included
• Roberge traits reflected for sales roles (not generic "hustle")
• Promotion path stated for SDR → AE
• Role timing aligns with sales-team-building hire sequence

Common Pitfalls

1. JD without org context. Candidate can't tell if they're hire #2 or #20. Fix: title includes stage and team size.

2. Quota not tied to OTE. $200K OTE with $400K quota = rep leaves. Fix: Bridge Group ~5:1 ratio.

3. SDR comp on activity. Pays for dials, not pipeline quality. Fix: qualified meetings held + SQO bonus.

4. VP Sales too early. 70% failure before $2M ARR. Fix: follow hire sequence.

5. Comp hidden. RepVue-savvy candidates skip. Fix: publish range.

6. Same JD for SMB and enterprise AE. Different skills, different comp. Fix: separate role catalog entries.

7. GTM Engineer vs RevOps conflation. Forecast owner ≠ Clay builder. Fix: gtm-engineer-hiring.md role table; split titles at scale.

8. Hiring GTM Engineer before process exists. Automates broken CRM stages. Fix: Operating Model ≥6 (pipeline-management) before FTE.

Execution Artifacts

• references/framework-notes.md — Framework index and authority routing
• templates/output-template.md — Primary deliverable shell
• scripts/check-output.py — validates JD deliverables
• references/hr-gtm-playbook.md — Stacey Nordwall + Pavilion People Ops for revenue hiring, comp, ramp HR systems
• references/gtm-engineer-hiring.md — role definition, timing, comp, tools, handoff
• templates/gtm-engineer-jd.md — constraint-first GTM Engineer JD
• references/role-catalog.md — full JD blocks per GTM role
• references/comp-benchmarks.md — Bridge Group-style comp tables
• references/saas-comp-strategies.md — IC and leadership comp strategies
• templates/comp-plan-sdr.md, templates/comp-plan-ae.md, templates/comp-plan-manager.md, templates/comp-plan-vp-cro.md, templates/comp-plan-spiff.md
• references/org-by-stage.md — revenue org charts by ARR
• templates/job-description.md — master JD template
• templates/comp-plan.md — OTE, quota, accelerators
• templates/org-chart.md — reporting structure template

Related Skills

• job-posting-strategy — Channels and sourcing beyond the JD
• hiring-by-role — Interview scorecards after posting (GTM Engineer → gtm-engineer-scorecard.md)
• hiring-agencies — Agency pilot before first GTM Engineer FTE
• clay-toolkit / n8n-automation — Tool stack expectations in JD
• revenue-team-onboarding — Day 0 systems access for GTM Engineer
• sales-team-building — Hire sequence, PODs, comp models
• first-hires-playbook — First 10 hires beyond sales
• revops-tech-stack — Systems each role owns
• employment-compliance — Legal posting requirements by state
• executive-compensation — VP/CRO clauses, Pavilion gates, board memo
• gtm-leadership — Hire/fire decisions, difficult conversations, comp approval