Sales Development Representative

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For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we'll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

Job Summary
As a Sales Development Representative (SDR), you will be a critical part of the Charles River commercial team. Your primary mission is to identify, engage, and qualify prospective clients to fuel the sales pipeline for our portfolio of services. You will work closely with marketing, inside sales, field sales, and scientific subject matter experts to generate high-quality leads, conduct initial outreach, and set the foundation for long-term client relationships.

This role is ideal for a self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment, has strong communication skills, and is passionate about helping customers advance their scientific goals.

Essential Duties And Responsibilities

• Proactively source and qualify new business opportunities through a combination of outbound prospecting (calls, emails, LinkedIn, other data sources) and inbound lead follow-up.
• Conduct discovery conversations with prospective clients to understand their research needs, qualify, and determine solution fit.
• Collaborate with marketing to follow up on campaigns, webinars, tradeshows, and digital leads.
• Accurately log and maintain all lead and prospect activity in Salesforce CRM.
• Book qualified introductory meetings for Client Services, SMEs in appropriate Service Lines.
• Maintain a consistent daily cadence of outreach activity, balancing volume and quality.
• Research target accounts and industries to develop tailored messaging and outreach strategies.
• Partner with sales leadership and scientific experts to refine messaging and targeting approaches.
• Meet and exceed monthly KPIs for lead generation, qualification rates, and pipeline contribution.
• Stay informed about Charles River services, therapeutic areas, and drug discovery and development trends to engage prospects credibly.

Other Duties

• Build internal scientific and commercial relationships including knowledge of service lines and capabilities.
• Partner with Commercial & Operational leadership to understand areas of need and gaps in pipeline inquiry volume to prioritize areas of prospecting focus.
• Collaborate and communicate across sites, divisions, and functional teams to deliver on client expectations and ensure comprehensive solutions are proposed when needed.
• Required to initiate Confidentiality Disclosure Agreements (CDA) where needed and MSA agreements when required.
• Perform all other related duties as assigned.

Job Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's degree (B.A./B.S.) or equivalent in business, marketing, or science related discipline.
• Experience: 3-5 years sales, sales development representative, inside sales, or related experience. Experience in a contract research and/or pharmaceutical setting with knowledge of drug discovery a plus however not required.
• An equivalent combination of education and experience may be accepted as a satisfactory substitute for the specific education and experience listed above.
• Capable of working with a minimum of supervision remotely, able to handle multiple tasks, and effectively prioritize based on departmental goals. Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Organizational skills and attention to detail required.
• Proficient in word processing, spreadsheet, and database software including Salesforce, LinkedIn Navigator, ZoomInfo, Crunchbase. Ability to work effectively and efficiently to meet deadlines. Understanding of business/sales process required.

Compensation Data
The pay range for this position is $33.00/hr. - $36.00/hr. + commission. Please note that salaries vary within the range based on factors including, but not limited to, experience, skills, education, certifications, and location.

About Corporate Functions
The Corporate Functions provide operational support across Charles River in areas such as Human Resources, Finance, IT, Legal, Sales, Quality Assurance, Marketing, and Corporate Development. They partner with their colleagues across the company to develop and drive strategies and to set global standards. The functions are essential to providing a bridge between strategic vision and operational readiness, to ensure ongoing functional innovation and capability improvement.

About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients' clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client's unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people's lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

We're committed to providing benefits that elevate your quality of life. Based on your position these may include: bonus/incentives based on performance, 401K, paid time off, stock purchase program, Health and wellness coverage, employee and family wellbeing support programs, and work life balance flexibility.

Equal Employment Opportunity
Charles River is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to providing equal employment opportunities for all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, ancestry, age, mental or physical disability, family status, pregnancy, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.

It is unlawful in some states (including Massachusetts) to require or administer a lie detector test as a condition of employment or continued employment. An employer who violates this law shall be subject to criminal penalties and civil liability.

If you are interested in applying to Charles River Laboratories and need special assistance or an accommodation due to a disability to complete any forms or to otherwise participate in the resume submission process, please contact a member of our Human Resources team by sending an e-mail message to This contact is for accommodation requests for individuals with disabilities only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.

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