Manager, Demand Operations

Grant Thornton · Chicago · $112,000–$168,000 (stated in the posting)

Grant Thornton is seeking a Manager, Demand Operations to join the team. Approved office locations can be found below.

Role Summary

The Manager, Demand Operations is responsible for managing inbound lead processes, executing targeted outbound prospecting, activating priority accounts, and accelerating early-stage pipeline. This role oversees the progression of demand from initial intake and qualification through personalized outreach, meeting generation, and successful transition to sales or delivery teams.

The Manager uses buyer signals, industry triggers, persona-aligned messaging, account research, and sales intelligence tools to identify high-potential prospects, prioritize accounts, re-engage dormant relationships, and penetrate whitespace opportunities. Working closely with leaders, CREs, Marketing, and Sales Excellence, the role ensures coordinated engagement and converts inbound interest and targeted outbound activity into qualified, revenue-generating conversations.

Key Responsibilities

Lead Management & Pipeline Enablement

Manage the inbound lead process end to end, including intake, qualification, prioritization, assignment, and progression of qualified opportunities through established service-level expectations.
Coordinate engagement with leaders, CREs, subject matter experts, and other stakeholders, ensuring timely lead acceptance, preparation, participation, and follow-through.
Drive rapid client engagement by facilitating outreach, scheduling meetings, preparing briefing materials, coordinating stakeholders, and monitoring progress against target response and meeting timelines.
Maintain ownership of early-stage pipeline momentum until opportunities are successfully transitioned to sales or delivery teams.
Maintain process governance and pipeline integrity by ensuring CRM records, opportunity data, activity tracking, action items, and status updates are complete, accurate, and current.
Monitor adherence to lead-management SLAs, identify stalled opportunities, and escalate issues that could delay client engagement or pipeline progression.

Targeted Outbound & Prospect Activation

Plan and execute structured outbound prospecting sequences to re-engage dormant accounts, activate colder prospects, and penetrate whitespace segments.
Develop personalized outreach using buyer-signal insights, industry triggers, persona-aligned messaging, engagement history, and account-level research.
Use sales intelligence, intent, and CRM platforms to identify target contacts, prioritize accounts, and optimize outreach timing.
Craft and execute professional outreach across approved channels, including personalized email and LinkedIn messaging.
Test and refine targeting, sequencing, and outbound messaging based on response patterns, conversion trends, and campaign performance data.
Coordinate outbound activity with priority solutions, industries, accounts, and broader demand-generation programs.

Meeting Generation & Sales Motion Enablement

Convert qualified inbound and outbound engagement into introductory calls, discovery sessions, and solution-oriented meetings with relevant decision-makers and influencers.
Provide subject matter experts and engagement leaders with clear, structured pre-call briefs that include buyer context, pain points, engagement history, qualification insights, and recommended next steps.
Coordinate meeting logistics and stakeholder participation to support effective and timely client conversations.
Track meeting outcomes, document action items, and ensure downstream follow-up occurs within established SLAs.
Facilitate clear, timely handoffs by providing sales or delivery teams with the qualification insights and engagement information needed to advance opportunities.
Work closely with Sales and Sales Excellence to apply qualification criteria, use approved messaging, and enable coordinated sales motions.

Data Integrity, Measurement & Continuous Improvement

Maintain complete and accurate contact, account, lead, and opportunity information within the CRM, including touchpoints, dispositions, qualification notes, buyer insights, and next steps.
Monitor inbound response times, outbound activity, sequence performance, connection rates, meeting generation, pipeline progression, and conversion outcomes.
Identify patterns and gaps in lead quality, account alignment, prospect engagement, routing, and conversion.
Use performance data and test-and-learn approaches to improve targeting, messaging, workflows, and lead-to-meeting conversion.
Partner with Sales Excellence and Revenue Operations to strengthen qualification practices, optimize workflows and dashboards, and improve campaign-to-sales feedback loops.
Other duties as assigned.

Success Measures

Timely intake, qualification, assignment, and progression of inbound leads.
Qualified meetings generated through inbound and targeted outbound activity.
Effective activation of priority accounts, dormant relationships, and whitespace opportunities.
Conversion of demand activity and prospect engagement into qualified pipeline.
Speed and quality of lead follow-up, meeting execution, and sales handoff.
Early-stage pipeline progression and adherence to established SLAs.
Accuracy and completeness of CRM, activity, and opportunity data.
Continuous improvement in outreach, meeting-generation, and conversion performance.

Required Qualifications

Bachelor’s degree in Marketing or another relevant field, or equivalent experience.
Minimum 5–7+ years of experience in demand generation, inside sales, business development, sales development, or a related B2B role.
Demonstrated experience managing inbound lead processes and executing targeted outbound prospecting and account-activation motions.
Strong written communication skills, including the ability to develop concise, personalized outreach for inbound follow-up and outbound prospecting.
Strong verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate value propositions and support discovery conversations across industries and buyer personas.
Experience using CRM systems, sales engagement platforms, and sales intelligence tools.
Strong project management, organization, and cross-functional collaboration skills.
Ability to manage multiple inbound and outbound motions concurrently while maintaining disciplined follow-through.
Analytical mindset with the ability to interpret buyer signals, performance metrics, and conversion patterns and translate them into action.

Preferred Qualifications

Professional services or solution-based marketing and sales experience.
Experience supporting account-based, priority-account, or whitespace activation programs.
Familiarity with marketing automation, lead-scoring models, qualification frameworks, and pipeline reporting.
Experience working across Marketing, Sales Excellence, Revenue Operations, and client-facing teams.

The base salary range for this position is between $112,000 and $168,000. Placement within the pay range is at Grant Thornton’s discretion, and it is based on multiple factors, including but not limited to, job -related knowledge/skills, experience, business needs, progression within the role, geographic location, and internal equity. At Grant Thornton, compensation decisions are dependent upon the facts and circumstances of each position and candidate.

At Grant Thornton, we believe in making business more personal and building trust into every result – for our clients and you. Here, we go beyond your expectations of a career in professional services by offering a career path with more: more opportunity, more flexibility, and more support. It’s what makes us different, and we think being different makes us better.

In the U.S., Grant Thornton delivers professional services through two specialized entities: Grant Thornton LLP, a licensed, certified public accounting (CPA) firm that provides audit and assurance services ― and Grant Thornton Advisors LLC (not a licensed CPA firm), which exclusively provides non-attest offerings, including tax and advisory services.

In 2025, Grant Thornton formed a multinational, multidisciplinary platform with Grant Thornton Ireland. The platform offers a premier Trans-Atlantic advisory and tax practice, as well as independent American and Irish audit practices. With $2.7 billion in revenues and more than 50 offices spanning the U.S., Ireland and other territories, the platform delivers a singular client experience that includes enhanced solutions and capabilities, backed by powerful technologies and a roster of 12,000 quality-driven professionals enjoying exceptional career-growth opportunities and a distinctive cross-border culture.

Grant Thornton is part of the Grant Thornton International Limited network, which provides access to its member firms in more than 150 global markets.

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