Manager, Demand Operations at Grant Thornton in Chicago, IL

Job description

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, an