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:

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.

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):

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)

Full channel matrix in job-posting-strategy.

Phase 6: Revenue Systems Alignment

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

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