Full-Time
Outbound Business Development Representative
BDR
SolarWinds
1,001-5,000 employees
IT infrastructure management and observability software
No salary listed
Charlotte, NC, USA
In Person
On-site in Charlotte, North Carolina; no remote work.
 Sales & Account Management (1) |
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- Experience: 1-3 years of experience in outbound sales, lead generation, or business development, preferably within the SaaS or IT infrastructure space.
- The "Hunter" Mentality: A self-starter who is energized by the challenge of cold outreach and possesses the resilience to handle rejection with a professional, positive attitude.
- Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with the ability to simplify complex technical concepts into "value-based" stories.
- Tech Savvy: Proficiency with Salesforce, Outreach (or similar sales engagement platforms), and AI-assisted prospecting tools.
- Strategic Prospecting & Discovery: Execute high-volume, high-quality outbound campaigns using a multi-channel approach (phone, email, social). Leverage AI-driven prospecting tools to identify "intent signals" and tailor your outreach to specific customer pain points.
- Account Mapping & Research: Deep-dive into targeted accounts to identify key decision-makers (IT Managers, DBAs, DevOps Leads). Understand their current tech stack and business challenges before making the first contact.
- Technical "First-Touch" Demos: Conduct high-impact, 5-minute product demonstrations. You must be able to quickly show value to technical audiences, proving that SolarWinds can solve their specific infrastructure or database headaches.
- Lead Qualification: Rigorously qualify prospects using established frameworks (e.g., BANT or MEDDIC) to ensure every meeting handed over to the Sales Representatives has a high probability of closing.
- Pipeline Orchestration: Maintain 100% CRM hygiene in Salesforce. Submit weekly and monthly "pipeline commits" and collaborate closely with the sales team to ensure a seamless transition of opportunities.
- Market Intelligence: Act as a "boots on the ground" resource, providing Marketing and Product teams with feedback on recurring customer objections and emerging market trends.
- Success Metrics & KPIs: Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs): Number of qualified opportunities accepted by Sales Representatives per month.
- Outbound Activity: Daily and weekly volume of cold calls, personalized emails, and social touches.
- Meeting Conversion Rate: The percentage of initial conversations that result in a scheduled and completed meeting.
- Pipeline Value: The total dollar value of the "pipe" generated for the sales organization.
- Technical Curiosity: A genuine interest in how IT monitoring and database management work; you don't need to be an engineer, but you must be a fast learner.
- Strategic Thinker: Ability to look at a territory and determine which accounts to prioritize based on data and research rather than just calling a list.
- Collaborative Spirit: A team player who enjoys sharing "what’s working" with the broader BDR team to help everyone win.
SolarWinds provides IT management and observability software that helps organizations oversee their technology infrastructure. Its platform gathers performance and configuration data from devices, applications, and services and presents dashboards, alerts, and automated workflows to detect and resolve issues across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. It stands out by offering a single, scalable ecosystem that covers network, systems, databases, applications, and IT service management, supported by a broad partner network and a history of strategic acquisitions. The company aims to help IT teams and MSPs prevent outages, optimize performance, and maintain security and compliance in diverse environments.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
IPO
Headquarters
Austin, Texas
Founded
1999
Get referred to SolarWinds
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- SW1 shipped broadly in 2026.4, expanding AI workflows across observability and IT operations.
- SolarWinds was recognized again in Gartner's 2026 Observability Magic Quadrant, strengthening credibility.
- Partner expansion across Africa in August 2026 signals channel momentum and new international bookings.
What critics are saying
- CVE-2025-40551 in Web Help Desk was actively exploited in February 2026.
- SolarWinds' CEO exits September 30, 2026, while the company searches for a successor.
- The 2020 SUNBURST legacy keeps security buyers wary, slowing enterprise deals through 2026.
What makes SolarWinds unique
- SolarWinds pairs SaaS, self-hosted, and hybrid observability without forcing rip-and-replace.
- SW1 agentic AI, launched April 2026, automates dashboards, configs, and log triage.
- 2026 Gartner recognition and on-prem deployment options fit regulated hybrid enterprises.
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Benefits
Health Insurance
Paid Vacation
Paid Holidays
Remote Work Options
Flexible Work Hours
Wellness Program
Mental Health Support
Phone/Internet Stipend
Home Office Stipend
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 0%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%CDK names new CEO. September 3, 2026 CDK Global has named Sudhakar Ramakrishna President and CEO, effective Oct. 5, as the automotive retail software provider undergoes a leadership transition following several years of investment in its technology platform. Ramakrishna will also join CDK's board of directors, according to an Aug. 27 company announcement. He succeeds Brian MacDonald, who is retiring and will become a senior strategic advisor to Brookfield and CDK during the transition. The change puts an experienced technology executive at the helm of a company whose software is embedded in dealership operations, as CDK increasingly focuses on artificial intelligence, analytics and customer insights. Ramakrishna most recently served as President and CEO of SolarWinds, an infrastructure management software company. He previously led Pulse Secure and held senior positions at Citrix, Polycom, Motorola, 3Com and U.S. Robotics. His experience spans cloud technology, mobility, networking, security and collaboration. "We are grateful to Brian for his leadership and the lasting impact he has had on CDK. He returned to the company at an important moment and led a multi-year transformation that strengthened CDK's strategy, product roadmap and financial foundation," said Doug Bayerd, Managing Partner in Brookfield's Private Equity Group and a CDK director. CDK said it has invested more than $500 million over several years to develop its platform from a system of record into what it describes as a system of intelligence and engagement. The company said its automotive-specific data includes 257 million unique customer IDs representing most U.S. consumers and vehicles on its platform, providing a foundation for AI, analytics and customer insights. "CDK has the people, scale, expertise and product depth to help customers get more from the solutions they rely on to operate their businesses," said Ramakrishna. "Our opportunity is to deliver more customer value and success through innovation, disciplined execution and reliable delivery."
SolarWinds accelerates partner growth across Africa. Johannesburg, 02 Sep 2026 Sheetal Kalra, Channel Account Manager, Middle East, Turkiye and English-Speaking Africa at SolarWinds. (Image: AI-enhanced) SolarWinds is expanding its channel opportunity across Africa, giving partners new opportunities to grow their businesses through its IT infrastructure management, monitoring and observability portfolio. This is according to Sheetal Kalra, Channel Account Manager, Middle East, Türkiye and English-Speaking Africa at SolarWinds, following a series of customer and partner engagements across the continent. Kalra says: "Partners across Africa are showing strong interest in the opportunities SolarWinds can bring to their customers, particularly around our latest AI innovations. We are seeing significant potential across East, West and southern Africa, and our focus is on working closely with partners to help them develop the capabilities, pipeline and customer relationships needed to grow." Kalra says partners in Africa are highly receptive to the opportunities for them to grow with SolarWinds. The company recently announced updates to its partner programme, offering new tiered benefits with more incentives and higher discounts at higher tiers; enhanced marketing investments including proposal-based marketing funds: co-brandable assets and ready-to-execute campaigns in a box; improved enablement opportunities and a better partner experience overall. She notes that distributors such as ATS Network Management play an important role in extending SolarWinds' reach across the region and supporting partners as they develop their capabilities and customer opportunities. Through continued innovation and its refreshed partner programme, SolarWinds aims to further expand its presence across Africa while creating new growth opportunities for its channel ecosystem. Kalra says: "One of the biggest changes that we have brought into our partner programme is to revise our channel-initiated revenue targets for our partner community. We have also brought in some new competencies that our partners have to fulfil for them to get elevated to higher partnership tiers. In response to feedback from our partners, we have also strengthened the commercial benefits and price protection available at higher tiers." SolarWinds has four partnership tiers - authorised partner level, followed by advanced, premier and elite. Each level, from advanced partnership to elite partnership, has its own revenue targets, required competencies and discount structures. "We encourage our partners across Africa to take advantage of these opportunities by investing in training, achieving the necessary certifications and developing the competencies needed to progress through the partner programme," she says. "SolarWinds enables partners to conduct demos and proofs of concept, helping them build confidence and trust with their end customers. ATS Network Management also provides technical support and guidance, allowing partners to develop their capabilities and gain the experience they need to eventually manage the business independently." Kalra adds: "I have taken it as a personal challenge to ensure that, before the end of this year, we see a significant number of partners across Africa progress into higher tiers. I'm already having very active conversations with the partners across the whole of the country. We want to help our partners build stronger pipelines, develop the right competencies and ultimately become more self-sufficient in growing their SolarWinds businesses. Our goal is to give them the commercial, technical and enablement support they need to build sustainable customer relationships and grow profitably."
SolarWinds names new finance chief as CEO plans exit. Fri, 28th Aug 2026 (Today) SolarWinds has announced a chief executive succession plan and appointed Samuel Monti as Chief Financial Officer. President and Chief Executive Officer Sudhakar Ramakrishna will step down at the end of September. Cullen Childress will serve as interim Chief Executive Officer while the board completes the transition. Ramakrishna will remain an adviser and shareholder, and SolarWinds expects to name a permanent successor in the coming weeks. Monti will succeed Tim Karaca, who told the board earlier this year that he wanted to pursue opportunities outside the company. Karaca will remain an adviser through the end of the year. The changes affect two of the most senior roles at the software group as it continues work on its observability and IT management products. Childress has been with SolarWinds for more than five years and has overseen the product portfolio, including development of the SolarWinds platform and the newer SW1 Agentic platform. Leadership change The board has been conducting what SolarWinds described as a structured succession process in recent months, with Ramakrishna involved. His departure will end a tenure of nearly six years as the company's top executive. Childress will be supported by Ramakrishna and the existing senior leadership team during the handover, in a move intended to maintain continuity for customers, partners and employees. Monti brings more than three decades of experience in finance, accounting and operations roles at public and private software companies. His previous positions include Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer. Most recently, he was Chief Financial Officer at WP Engine. Before that, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Epicor Software, where he helped shape a software-as-a-service financial strategy that delivered double-digit recurring revenue growth and a threefold increase in enterprise valuation. AI backdrop The leadership changes come as SolarWinds continues to develop its agentic AI roadmap, with further product additions expected later this year. The succession process comes amid a broader push by software suppliers to weave AI tools into established product lines while managing costs and investor expectations. At SolarWinds, the appointment of a new finance chief alongside a chief executive transition suggests the board is reshaping senior leadership as that strategy advances. Ramakrishna linked the transition to the company's current position and its next phase. "This transition has been planned deliberately, and the leadership team, strategy, and roadmap are stronger than at any point in my nearly six years here," said Sudhakar Ramakrishna, President and Chief Executive Officer of SolarWinds. "Sam is the right partner for this next chapter - he has scaled and transformed complex software businesses, and he brings the energy and operating rigor SolarWinds needs as we take agentic AI to market. SolarWinds is an integral part of who I am, and I intend to stay close to it." Monti said he joined the company because of its market position and product direction. "I joined SolarWinds because the combination of a trusted brand, a deeply loyal customer base, a world class partner community, and a genuine AI-driven product opportunity is rare," said Samuel Monti, Chief Financial Officer of SolarWinds. "My focus is on giving this team the operating clarity and capital to move quickly - on our customers, our partner community, our product, and on the growth ahead." SolarWinds did not disclose financial terms for Monti's appointment or provide further detail on the shortlist for the permanent Chief Executive Officer role. It said only that the succession process has been led by the board and that Ramakrishna's successor is expected to be announced soon.
SolarWinds announces CEO succession plan and appoints Samuel Monti as Chief Financial Officer. SolarWinds, a leading provider of simple, powerful, secure observability and IT management software, announced a planned CEO succession and the appointment of Samuel Monti as its Chief Financial Officer. Sudhakar Ramakrishna, President and Chief Executive Officer, will conclude his tenure as CEO on September 30, 2026, following a structured, board-led succession process he has helped lead over the past several months. Ramakrishna will remain an advisor to the company and continues to be personally invested in its success as a shareholder. The company expects to announce his successor in the coming weeks. Cullen Childress will serve as the company's interim CEO through the transition. Childress has been with SolarWinds for over 5 years and has led the company's product portfolio, including the buildout of the SolarWinds platform and the new SW1 Agentic platform, announced in April. Childress will be closely supported by Ramakrishna and the company's existing senior leadership team, ensuring continuity for customers, partners, and employees. Monti will succeed Tim Karaca, who informed the board earlier this year of his interest to pursue outside opportunities, as CFO. We are grateful for Tim's many contributions over the last four years and for his collaboration with the board to set up the organization and Monti for ongoing success. Karaca will remain an advisor to the company through the end of 2026. "This transition has been planned deliberately, and the leadership team, strategy, and roadmap are stronger than at any point in my nearly six years here," said Ramakrishna. "Sam is the right partner for this next chapter - he has scaled and transformed complex software businesses, and he brings the energy and operating rigor SolarWinds needs as we take agentic AI to market. SolarWinds is an integral part of who I am, and I intend to stay close to it." "I joined SolarWinds because the combination of a trusted brand, a deeply loyal customer base, a world class partner community, and a genuine AI-driven product opportunity is rare," said Monti. "My focus is on giving this team the operating clarity and capital to move quickly - on our customers, our partner community, our product, and on the growth ahead." Monti brings more than three decades of finance, accounting, and operational leadership across public and private software companies, including prior roles as chief executive officer, chief operating officer, and chief financial officer. Most recently Monti served as Chief Financial Officer at WP Engine. Previously, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Epicor Software where Monti built and led the SaaS financial profile strategy that resulted in double digit recurring revenue growth and a 3X enterprise valuation. Monti's "customer value orientation" leverages broad leadership, operational and capital acumen, and is ideally suited for our next phase of growth.
SolarWinds has announced a CEO succession plan and appointed Samuel Monti as chief financial officer. Sudhakar Ramakrishna will step down as CEO on 30 September 2026, with the company expected to announce his successor in coming weeks. Cullen Childress, who has been with SolarWinds for over five years, will serve as interim CEO during the transition. Monti will replace Tim Karaca, who expressed interest in pursuing outside opportunities. Karaca will remain an advisor through the end of 2026. Monti brings more than 30 years of finance and operational leadership experience. He most recently served as CFO at WP Engine and previously held the same role at Epicor Software, where he led a SaaS financial profile strategy that delivered double-digit recurring revenue growth.