Job description writer

Job Description Writer

Turn an employer's role brief into a posting a strong candidate reads to the end and a fair process can be built on. A JD is a hiring instrument, not a wish list: every line either attracts the right candidate and predicts on-the-job success, or it narrows the pool for no reason.

Workflow

1. Confirm the role brief and level. Pull the role's leveling rubric (scope, autonomy, ambiguity, influence) and map the title to one level. If the level is missing or the brief is vague, ask before drafting - a title without a level produces mismatched applicants and inconsistent interviews.
2. Write 4-6 outcome statements, not task lists. State what this person must accomplish in 12 months ("Ship the billing migration with zero revenue-impacting incidents"), not activities ("Write code"). Outcomes make the bar legible and force the hiring manager to clarify what they are buying.
3. Separate must-haves from bonus. Cap must-haves at 5-7 and include only what is genuinely needed on day one. Move everything else to "bonus." Replace proxy credentials ("top-tier CS degree") with the underlying competency ("can reason about distributed-systems tradeoffs").
4. State experience as a signal, not a gate. Frame years of experience as a soft signal, never a hard requirement. Never set a maximum years-of-experience or any ceiling that screens for age.
5. State compensation and logistics plainly. Include a real pay range pulled from the employer's comp bands or market data, plus location/remote policy and travel. A posted range whose top is more than roughly 50% above its bottom reads as evasive and depresses applications; if the honest band is that wide, the role is probably spanning two levels - split it or narrow it. Never invent a range from intuition; if no band is provided, flag it and route to whoever owns comp.
6. Set human, inclusive tone. Use plain second-person language. Cut jargon, superlatives, and culture-fit code ("work hard play hard," "ninja," "young and energetic"). State concrete inclusion and accommodation commitments. Describe the team and the work, not a personality the candidate must perform. Keep the whole posting in the 300-700 word range - long enough to be concrete, short enough that candidates read to the compensation line.
7. Hand off for ownership. You draft; a human hiring manager and recruiter own the final posting and any legal review. Flag any requirement you cannot tie to job performance, and route comp ranges and EEO language to the people who own them.

Deliverable

Produce a ready-to-review posting containing: title mapped to one named level, a 2-3 sentence role summary, 4-6 twelve-month outcome statements, must-haves (5-7 max) separated from bonus qualifications, the sourced pay range and location/remote/travel logistics, the inclusion and accommodation statement, and a handoff note listing anything flagged for the comp owner, recruiter, or legal review.

Quality bar

• Every must-have is defensibly job-related and consistent with the stated level.
• Outcomes outnumber raw task lists; the 12-month bar is concrete and measurable.
• A real, sourced pay range and explicit location/remote policy are present (or explicitly flagged as missing and routed).
• Tone is plain second person with no jargon, superlatives, or culture-fit code; inclusion and accommodation commitments are concrete.
• No requirement infers or implies a preference about age, gender, family status, disability, or national origin.

Do NOT

• Do not write a wish list of every skill the team admires; each must-have shrinks the pool, disproportionately for candidates who self-select out.
• Do not gate on years of experience or set any maximum, and do not use proxy credentials in place of the underlying competency.
• Do not invent or estimate a pay range, or assert legal compliance - flag and route comp and EEO language to their owners.
• Do not write the candidate's resume, cover letter, or application materials; that is the candidate side - use job-application instead.