Lead Development Specialist

About the Role

We are a services-led cyber security company helping organisations protect, detect and respond to threats through cyber security services including penetration testing, consulting and incident response.

As a Lead Development Specialist, you will be the first point of contact for organisations coming to MWR for the first time. You will work through our website enquiries and supplied leads, qualify them, and position MWR as the right partner. We are often one of several companies quoting, so how well you respond, scope and follow up makes the difference. The role centres on lead qualification and new business development.

Your focus is opening doors, not building a portfolio. When a new client has the potential to become a long-term relationship, the Head of Sales will move it to our account sales team after the first engagement, so you can stay focused on new opportunities. Clients whose work is one-off stay with you, and enquiries from existing clients always go to the person who owns that account. You will work closely with our technical and delivery management teams, but you do not need to be a technical expert.

Key Responsibilities

Lead qualification and conversion

• Respond promptly to website enquiries and supplied leads.
• Qualify leads by understanding the customer's need, budget, decision-makers and timeline, and close out those that are not a fit.
• Run discovery conversations that position MWR's capabilities and credibility with security, IT and procurement stakeholders.
• Work with technical teams to scope engagements accurately.
• Prepare and present proposals and quotes, then negotiate and close within agreed pricing.
• Follow up on lost quotes to understand why, and share what you learn with sales and leadership.

Handover and retained accounts

• Make sure deals you close start smoothly, with a clear handover to the delivery management team.
• Provide the Head of Sales with a clear summary of each new client after the first engagement, so they can assess its growth potential.
• Hand over accounts cleanly to the assigned account owner, with full context in the CRM and introductions to the client where appropriate.
• Look after the accounts that stay with you, including any repeat requests.

Outbound prospecting (secondary)

• Where time allows, suggest outbound prospecting ideas, such as target sectors or campaigns, and run them once agreed with the Head of Sales.

Pipeline and reporting

• Keep leads, opportunities and forecasts accurate and up to date in the CRM.
• Report on lead sources, conversion and reasons for lost deals.
• Keep up to date with the threat landscape and regulatory drivers so you can talk to customers credibly.

Essential Requirements

• [2+] years’ experience in a sales or lead development role focused on qualifying and converting new leads, ideally within IT services, MSP/MSSP or technology.
• Proven record of converting leads into closed business, ideally where you were competing against other quotes.
• Comfortable handling a high volume of leads, prioritising quickly and closing out unsuitable ones without losing momentum.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the confidence to deal with senior stakeholders.
• Commercial awareness: able to build quotes and negotiate terms within agreed pricing.
• Organised and self-driven, with disciplined follow-up.
• Competent with CRM and standard office tools.
• Genuine curiosity about cyber security and the ability to explain technical services in business terms.

Desirable

• Prior experience selling professional or managed services (rather than product resale only).
• Understanding of security service types, such as penetration testing, security awareness training and incident response.
• Experience responding to RFQs or tenders.

Key Competencies

• Qualification discipline: knows when to pursue a lead and when to walk away.
• Responsiveness: acts quickly on new enquiries, because the first good response often wins.
• Consultative selling: ties services to customer risk and outcomes.
• Resilience: stays motivated through a high volume of leads and the quotes that don't land.
• Team-first: hands accounts over willingly and sets colleagues up to succeed.
• Integrity: honest about what services can and cannot deliver, which matters in security.

Performance Measures

• Speed of first response to new leads
• No leads left open without a next step
• Qualified-lead-to-proposal and proposal-to-win conversion rates
• Value of closed deals
• Lost-deal reasons recorded and shared
• Handover quality (rated by the receiving account owner and the Head of Sales) and CRM accuracy

What We Offer

• Competitive base salary plus a flat commission rate on every deal you close, with no cap
• Hybrid working model
• Funded training and certification, plus exposure to technical teams
• A route into a full account sales role

Applications are restricted to EE/AA candidates in line with employment equity policies