Sales Development Representative - Intern (Placement)

Location: Manchester, Lancashire, United Kingdom

Sales Development Representative - Intern (Placement)

This role has been designed as 'Hybrid' with a requirement that you will work on average 2 days per week from an HPE office.

Who We Are

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is the global edge-to-cloud company advancing the way people live and work. We help companies connect, protect, analyze, and act on their data and applications wherever they live, from edge to cloud, so they can turn insights into outcomes at the speed required to thrive in today’s complex world. Our culture thrives on finding new and better ways to accelerate what’s next. We know varied backgrounds are valued and succeed here. We have the flexibility to manage our work and personal needs. We make bold moves, together, and are a force for good. If you are looking to stretch and grow your career our culture will embrace you. Open up opportunities with HPE.

Job Description

Location: Manchester, UK / On-site

Role: Sales Development Representative (SDR)

Start Date: 1st July 2027

About the Role

Hewlett Packard Enterprise is looking for an ambitious, commercially minded Sales Development Representative to join our Digital Sales organisation.

As an SDR, your primary mission is simple: create qualified sales pipeline through high-quality outbound prospecting.

You will identify and engage prospective customers, uncover business and technology challenges, develop relationships with key decision-makers and create new opportunities for HPE's Digital Sales teams.

This is not simply a high-volume calling role. We are looking for individuals who are curious about our customers, confident engaging senior stakeholders and capable of turning research, insight and conversations into meaningful commercial opportunities. The role provides an excellent foundation for someone looking to build a career in technology sales and progress into a customer-facing sales position within HPE.

What you’ll need

Potential interns must be in their 2nd year of a four-year degree which requires (or has an option for) 3rd year to be a one year's industrial placement

On track to achieve 2:1 or above

You must be eligible to work in the UK and be available to commence the placement at the beginning of July 2027 for 13 months.

Keen to develop your skills and interested in building a career in technology sales.

What You'll Do

Generate Qualified Pipeline

Proactively identify and engage new prospects across HPE's target accounts.

Create qualified sales opportunities for the Digital Sales organisation.

Take ownership of pipeline generation targets and consistently work towards achieving them.

Qualify opportunities based on customer need, business impact, stakeholders, timing and potential commercial value.

Work closely with Digital Sales representatives to ensure opportunities are effectively transitioned and progressed.

Execute High-Quality Outbound Prospecting

Conduct consistent outbound activity across telephone, email, LinkedIn and other digital channels.

Develop personalised outreach rather than relying solely on high-volume generic messaging.

Research target organisations, industries and stakeholders ahead of engagement.

Use customer news, strategic priorities, technology trends and market events to create relevant reasons to engage.

Engage customers with curiosity and a consultative mindset.

Identify business challenges, technology priorities and potential areas where HPE can add value.

Build relationships across multiple stakeholders within target organisations.

Develop an understanding of how technology decisions are made within enterprise and commercial customers.

Capture high-quality information that helps the wider account team progress each opportunity.

Partner with Digital Sales

Work closely with Digital Sales Account Managers to understand their territories, priority accounts and pipeline requirements.

Agree target account lists and prospecting strategies with sales representatives.

Collaborate on account plans and whitespace opportunities.

Provide regular insight on prospect engagement, market trends and customer feedback.

Maintain clear ownership and communication throughout the opportunity handover process.

What Success Looks Like

Success in this role will be measured primarily by the quality and value of pipeline created, supported by leading activity and conversion indicators.

Key measures could include

Qualified pipeline created

Number of qualified opportunities generated

Pipeline accepted and progressed by Digital Sales

Outbound customer conversations

New stakeholders engaged

Meetings generated from outbound prospecting

Prospect-to-opportunity conversion

Opportunity progression and conversion

Coverage across priority accounts

Consistency and quality of CRM data

The objective is not simply to generate activity. Successful SDRs create opportunities that convert into real sales pipeline and ultimately revenue.

Skills & Experience

Previous technology sales experience is not essential.

We are particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate:

Strong verbal and written communication

Confidence communicating by telephone

Excellent interpersonal skills

Commercial awareness and curiosity

Strong organisational and time-management skills

Ability to research organisations and stakeholders

Ability to work towards measurable goals and targets

A willingness to learn about enterprise technology

Resilience and a strong work ethic

A growth mindset and desire to develop a career in sales

What you can expect from us

A competitive salary

A central Manchester office location

Diverse and dynamic work environment

Work-life balance and support for career development

An amazing life inside the element!

#unitedkingdom #intern

Accessibility

HPE is committed to creating an inclusive and accessible workplace and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including those with disab