Sample job description: a template, the format and three examples

Ask three people in the same team what a colleague's job is, and you may get three answers. Ask the colleague, and you may get a fourth. The job description is supposed to settle the matter. Too often it is a document that was written for the last recruitment, filed, and never read again.

This article gives you a sample job description format, explains what job content and job scope mean, provides a blank template and three worked examples, and sets out how to write duties that people can act on. It links to fuller examples for particular roles.

A job description is where goals begin. See how New Dynamics Goals & OKRs keeps commitments, owners and progress in one shared place.

What is a job description?

The Cambridge Dictionary's business entry defines a job description as “a list of the tasks and responsibilities involved in a job”.

It does several jobs of its own. It tells candidates what they are applying for. It tells the post holder what is expected. It gives the manager a basis for goals and reviews. It supports decisions about grading and pay. Acas's guidance on how to advertise a job lists the job description first among the things to give applicants, because it helps to “make clear what the job requires and reduce the risk of discrimination”.

It sits beside two other documents. The person specification lists the skills and experience needed, and many employers fold it into the job description as a requirements section. The job advert is a short public version. Our guide to the job ad shows how to write one.

Behind all three is job design. The CIPD's factsheet on job design calls it “the process of establishing employees' roles and responsibilities”, and says that it is a key element in creating good quality jobs. A description can only be as clear as the job that it describes.

Sample job description format: six sections

1. The basics. Job title, department, reports to, location, working pattern, grade or pay range, and the date of the document.
2. The purpose. One or two sentences that say why the job exists.
3. The main duties. About seven lines, each an outcome that the person is responsible for.
4. The scope. The people, budget, decisions and relationships that the role covers.
5. The requirements. Essential and desirable skills, knowledge, experience and qualifications.
6. Conditions and development. Anything unusual about hours, travel or the working environment, and the training and progression on offer.

Keep it to one or two pages. If it is longer, it is describing tasks where it should be describing responsibilities.

Job content and job scope, with an example

Three terms from job design are worth separating. The first two are often asked about.

1. Job content is what the person does: the tasks, duties and responsibilities. It is the duties section of the description.
2. Job scope is how far the job reaches: how many people, how much money, which decisions and which relationships. Two jobs with the same content can differ greatly in scope.
3. Job context is the setting: where, when and under what conditions the work is done.

An example. Two people hold the title office manager.

The content is the same. The scope is not, and nor should the pay be. A description that leaves out scope cannot be used for grading, and it leaves the post holder guessing about their authority. For a method of sizing roles, see our job evaluation guide.

A blank job description template

Copy this, and complete the parts in square brackets.

Job title: [Title]

Department: [Department] Reports to: [Job title of manager]

Location and pattern: [Site. On site, hybrid or remote. Hours.]

Grade or pay range: [Grade or range] Date: [Month and year]

Purpose of the role

[One or two sentences. Why does this job exist? What would stop happening without it?]

Main duties

1. [Verb, then outcome.]
2. [Verb, then outcome.]
3. [Continue to about seven.]

Scope

• People: [Direct reports, or none. Teams that the role coordinates.]
• Budget: [Budget held, or spending authority.]
• Decisions: [What the post holder decides alone, and what they recommend.]
• Key relationships: [Inside and outside the organisation.]

Requirements

• Essential: [Four to six items that the job truly needs.]
• Desirable: [Two or three.]

Conditions and development

[Travel, shifts, physical demands, checks required. Training, mentoring and routes for progression.]

Acas offers its own free job description templates, including an outline and a version with two completed examples, for an administrative assistant and a warehouse assistant.

Three job description examples

These are short examples, written by our editorial team. The companies and figures are invented.

Example 1: Marketing coordinator

Reports to: Marketing Manager. Location: Manchester, hybrid. Hours: Full time.

Purpose: To plan and deliver the company's campaigns and content, so that the sales team has a steady flow of good enquiries.

Main duties

1. Plan and publish the content calendar across the website, email and social channels.
2. Run two product campaigns a quarter, from brief to results report.
3. Manage the email list, and send the monthly newsletter.
4. Organise the company's presence at three trade events a year.
5. Report each month on enquiries, cost and conversion.
6. Brief and manage freelance designers and writers.

Scope: No direct reports. Manages a freelance budget of £30,000 a year. Chooses freelancers, and recommends campaign budgets to the manager.

Essential: Clear, accurate writing. Experience of running a campaign from start to finish. Confidence with figures. Desirable: Experience of business-to-business marketing.

Example 2: Customer support team leader

Reports to: Head of Customer Support. Location: Leeds, on site. Hours: Full time, with one Saturday in four.

Purpose: To lead a team of eight advisers, so that customers get accurate answers quickly and advisers develop in their roles.

Main duties

1. Plan rotas, so that phones, chat and email are covered in opening hours.
2. Hold a one-to-one with each adviser every fortnight, and give regular feedback on real conversations.
3. Handle complaints that advisers escalate, and settle them where possible.
4. Monitor response times and customer satisfaction, and act on the trends.
5. Onboard and train new advisers.
6. Tell the product team about recurring problems, with examples.
7. Set goals with each adviser, and review performance fairly.

Scope: Eight direct reports. Approves goodwill payments of up to £200. Decides the rota and leave. Recommends hiring and pay.

Essential: Experience in a customer support role. Evidence of coaching or training others. Calm judgement with unhappy customers. Desirable: Experience of managing a team.

Example 3: Finance assistant

Reports to: Finance Manager. Location: Bristol, hybrid. Hours: Part time, 24 hours over four days.

Purpose: To keep the purchase and sales ledgers accurate and up to date, so that suppliers are paid on time and the accounts can be closed each month.

Main duties

1. Process supplier invoices, and match them to orders and delivery notes.
2. Prepare the weekly payment run for approval.
3. Raise sales invoices, and chase overdue accounts.
4. Reconcile the bank accounts each week.
5. Process staff expenses in line with the policy.
6. Help with the month-end close, and with audit queries.

Scope: No direct reports and no budget. Prepares payments, and does not approve them. Deals daily with suppliers, customers and budget holders.

Essential: Accuracy with figures. Experience of using accounting software. Discretion with confidential information. Desirable: Studying for, or interested in, an accounting qualification.

Fuller examples for particular roles

We have longer templates, with notes on each occupation, for the cashier, the sales associate, the porter, the electrician, the chemical engineer and the med surg nurse.

Five rules for writing duties

1. Start with a verb. Plan, run, manage, reconcile, train.
2. Name the outcome. “Reconcile the bank accounts each week” says more than “Responsible for bank reconciliations”.
3. Use plain words. If a candidate would need a glossary, rewrite it.
4. Keep to about seven. A list of twenty duties hides the five that matter.
5. Describe the job, not the person. Acas advises using inclusive language “that defines the job not the applicant”. Requirements belong in their own section, and each one should be justifiable. Our guide to job requirements explains how.

End the duties with a line such as “other reasonable duties in keeping with the role”, if you must. Do not rely on it. If a task takes a day a week, it belongs on the list.

Keeping job descriptions alive

• Review when the job changes, and at least once a year, in the annual review conversation.
• Ask the post holder. They know what the job has become.
• Use it. Draw goals from the purpose and the duties. If the description is no help in setting goals, it is the wrong description.
• Date it, and keep the old versions.

Common mistakes

A task list. Forty bullet points of activity, with no sense of what the job is for.

No scope. Nobody knows what the post holder can decide.

Copying the last one. Jobs drift. Check every line.

Inflated requirements. A degree for a job that does not need one.

Jargon and internal acronyms. Candidates cannot read them.

Writing for the ideal person. Describe the job. Then see who can do it.

Filed and forgotten. A description that is not used in reviews will be wrong within a year.

Frequently asked questions

What should a sample job description include?

Six sections: the basics (title, reporting line, location, hours and grade), the purpose of the role, about seven main duties, the scope, the essential and desirable requirements, and any special conditions with the development on offer.

What is the correct format for a job description?

There is no single correct format. A clear one runs to one or two pages, and moves from the basics and the purpose to the duties, scope, requirements and conditions. Acas publishes free templates that follow a similar outline.

What is an example of job scope?

Job scope is how far a role reaches. For example: “Manages three administrators, holds an annual budget of £250,000, chooses suppliers and signs contracts, and covers four offices.” Two jobs with the same duties can differ greatly in scope.

What is job content?

Job content is what the person does: the tasks, duties and responsibilities of the role. In a job description it is the main duties section. Job scope describes the reach of the role, and job context describes the setting.

How long should a job description be?

One to two pages. If it is longer, it is probably listing tasks where it should be describing responsibilities. Aim for a purpose of one or two sentences and about seven duties.

How often should job descriptions be updated?

Whenever the job changes in a significant way, and at least once a year, ideally as part of the annual review conversation. Ask the post holder what has changed, date the new version and keep the old one.

Your next step: rewrite one description

1. Pick the job description in your team that is most out of date.
2. Write the purpose in two sentences, with the post holder.
3. Cut the duties to about seven outcomes, and add the scope.
4. Use it to set that person's goals for the next quarter.

For a fair way to size roles before you name them, read and download our job evaluation guide. The guide is free to read, and the PDF uses our short download form.

Want goals that follow from each person's job description? Book a New Dynamics demo and bring one of yours. You can also email contact@new-dynamics.com.